31 days of praise…

I’ve been working, off and on for the last year on a devotional of sorts. It’s one part devotional, one part daily exercise, one part worship…lots of parts to one whole, like the people who I hope will read it. 

I’m calling it 31 days.  Each day will have one position that will give you, the reader, a spiritual and a physical focus. You learn one position each day, praying through the verse which informs the position and then every 7 days you will have a sequence of movements or a short “doxa” time.  At the end of the 31 days you will have 4 separate “doxa” sequences that may also be linked together and repeated. I’m very excited about the direction it’s taking.  I’m hoping to have a draft ready for the printer in the coming months.  I’ll be sure to let people know via the website and also on the mailing list!

If you’ve not signed up for the mailing list I hope you’ll take a moment to do that.  It’s the best way to know about trainings and upcoming workshops.

http://visitor.constantcontact.com/optin.jsp?m=1101342232570&ea=

peace

angela

workmanship…by Debbi Ladwig

It all started with a snag. A single strand of yarn had been torn. How, I don’t even know. But, before long, the intricate stitches that held together my beloved cable-knit sweater began to unravel. The sweater that had become a favorite has now become all undone. Major trouble started with a minor snag. And the sad condition of my sweater – the unraveliong of its wonderfully complex design – got me thinking about a Psalm of David’s.

Here is a portion of it:

David acknowledges that God “…made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous – and how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb” (Psalm 139:13-15, NLT)

What makes the human design so wonderful goes beyond the amazing complexities of cells and tissues, and organs and arteries. God has intricately woven together an intellect with emotions with a physical body with a soul. All interdependent. Altogether uniquely human. The condition I’m in at any given time has everything to do with how I’m knit together. When physically fatigued, my brain often becomes fried and my emotions raw with vulnerability. Emotional stress strains my physical well-being. And when snags in my schedule cause my spirit to suffer for lack of time spent with my Lord, you know it… theunraveling begins.

In these daysof jam-packed schedules, economic uncertainties, and demands coming at us from all sides, how DO we keep it all together? I believe that, when Jesus restates the commandment from the Book of Deuteronomy, “You must love the Lord yor God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength”(Mark 12:30, NLT), He is giving us a prescription – preventative medicine, actually – for holistic health. By honoring God with all that I am – body, soul, spirit, mind – I respect the fact that His workmanship is, indeed,marvelous. And, I truly believe that He, in turn, honors my appreciation of both the design and the Designer. And… that all may go well with me.

in the garden…

I’ve reposted this from my Mrs Metaphor blog...

As a personal trainer I have been programmed, at least it feels in part, to think of the body as a machine. Just as I always considered my spiritual life a “house” I was building…my body was like my “car” I guess. I’m responsible for changing the air filter and the oil and keeping it clean.

It all fits, right? Put that together with the house that my spiritual life has become. I park my car in the garage of this house. The car doesn’t even LIVE in the house. You see how this is? Do you see this picture in your head? What does that feel like to you? To me, it’s so disjointed. So wrong. That my body would be so isolated from my spiritual life…I mean, sheltered by the house, of course but outside the LIVING of it! Wow.

It’s overwhelming how wrong this feels to me.

BUT

AND

Let’s move from this picture. Let’s move to another picture. Our bodies are NOT a car, they are NOT a machine. They are a living, growing, changing organism. They are organic in nature…like our spiritual lives. Our bodies are a GARDEN. We tend it. If something dies we mourn it. If it’s sick we nurse it back to health. It’s a part of us. We do not leave it in the garage at night. We ARE our bodies and our bodies are US. We ARE the garden…each of us.

Now, move this piece in. This tree of our spiritual lives is planted right in the center of that garden. It is a part of the garden. The centerpiece. Maybe it’s a young spruce. Maybe it’s a fine, strong oak. See it there in the center of you, the center of the garden of you. It informs everything that happens in that garden. It’s roots reach deep down into you and it’s branches reach up BEYOND you…into the air and the sky and the clouds…into the very heavens above, yes?

Put this picture place of the mechanized, unfeeling and unmoving one that the world has supplied in years past and be the garden today…water that garden, feed that tree, swing from it’s branches and delight in the miracle that is YOU.

live here.

ready for retreat…

We’re very excited to see that the next DoxaSoma retreat will be held in Lansing, IA at Village Creek once again.  We had an awesome time last year.  It was a beautiful time of being present with God and with one another in a lovely, restful setting.

The retreat this year will be held April 24-26th.

You can contact Debbi Ladwig for more information: dladwig@villagecreek.net  or visit the website for Village Creek.  You may also download the brochure.

Come for a time of rest and renewal while you deepen your practice of DoxaSoma.

What CAN you do?

I speak a lot of “I can’t.”

I can’t get to gym.

I can’t get motivated to work out at home.

I can’t give up my (insert sweet of choice.)

 

I’m sure I’m not alone in this…yes?  The thing is this…this is the thing…we can spend a lifetime living out “I can’t.”  It’s easy. We barely even need to try.  Our culture supports it fully.  It’s cheaper than the alternative and in this economy who would blame us for not paying out money for a personal trainer or healthy food or a gym membership or a babysitter to attend a class at the community center?

These are investments in ourselves.  Who has the time and money for THAT?

This year, though…I’m realizing that the window is closing for me on “getting back” to where I was even one year ago.  Life crept in.  It filled up my time.  It squandered my money.  It likes it’s Starbuck’s run.

This year let’s use this language together…”What CAN I do?”

I can get on the floor right now and do 10 push ups.

I can take the stairs.

I can make one healthy food choice a day instead of a non healthy food choice.

What CAN you do?

Let’s live there and see how that feels.

DoxaSoma in Nashville, TN

We’re very excited to offer a session of DoxaSoma at Church of the Redeemer in Nashville during the season of Advent.

details of this class:

Join us Wednesday evenings at 7pm on Dec 3, 10, and 17th to help bring focus to this season of Advent with a time of meditation on scripture, physical strength building and flexibility training integrated with the praise of God in DoxaSoma. Classes are adaptable for all skill levels.

If you would like more information please contact  angelacarlson@doxasoma.com. You may also find more information at www.doxasoma.com This class will be taught by DoxaSoma founder and developer,

Angela Doll Carlson, an ACE certified personal trainer.

Classes held at

Church of the Redeemer, Nashville

920 Caldwell Lane
Nashville,  TN   37204

Instructor Training: Winter 2009

We are excited to announce that we will be holding a Teacher Certification Weekend Training in Chicago, IL January 2009.  The exact date is TBD.  

This 15 hour training covers the basics of the practice of DoxaSoma, breakdowns of each position with scriptural and physical teaching points, leading scriptural meditations and fundamentals of stretching.

This is the first step for anyone interested in teaching a class or for anyone who just wants more depth of knowledge in their practice of DoxaSoma.

The hours for the training are set tentatively for:
Saturday 8:30am – 6pm
Sunday 12:30pm – 6pm
If you’d like more information on this training please contact us at angelacarlson@doxasoma.com

We hope that you will be able to join us for this Certification Weekend!

Love’s Immensity

Scott Cairns, a remarkable poet and longtime favorite of mine has published a book recently called “Love’s Immensity” in which he has translated the teachings of early church mystics, desert fathers and mothers.  He has set them in verse, each one a delicious bite, a moment to savor.

 

I thought I would post one here for you today to demonstrate the way the early saints viewed the integration of body and spirit.  I hope that you will consider picking up this book and letting it walk alongside you.  It is a good companion on the road.  Read it slowly.  Read it often.

 

Capable Flesh

-Saint Irenaeus (c.125-c.210)

The tender flesh itself

will be found one day

-quite suprisingly-

to be capable of receiving,

and yes, full

capable of embracing

the searing energies of God.

Go figure.  Fear not.

For even at its beginning

the humble clay received

God’s art, whereby

one part became the eye,

another the ear, and yet

another this impetuous hand.

Therefore, the flesh

is not to be excluded

from the wisdom and the power

that now and ever animates

all things.  His life-giving

agency is made perfect,

we are told, in weakness-

made perfect in the flesh.

On Waiting….

by Karen Moses, Certified DoxaSoma Instructor/Instructor Mentor
Waiting for anything in life can be stressful if the
end result is all we look for. On the other hand many
interesting things can take place during that time of
waiting. We never know what lessons to expect to
learn, but increasing expectations for the waiting
time can bring joy and understanding.

This winter our snowblower has broken down numerous
times. Every time it stops working we have to wait at
least a week for the repair crew to come to our house.
Of course we can’t let the snow pile up for a week so
we find other tools to assist us during the wait.
Shoveling may not be as quick and it certainly is more
tiring, but it is all together more strengthening.

Of course when I’m running late to work I get stuck at
the longest traffic lights. After moments of
stressing out over the tardy factor I remembered the
verse, “Be still and know that I am God.” Breathe.
Instead of staring at the light that isn’t changing to
green I nothice the trees across the street that are
being blown by the wind, but not knocked down. What
beauty, what strength, this is an image I can take
with me to work.

Many of us are waiting on God to do something in our
lives over the course of some unknown time line. I’m
waiting to find my niche in the world of ministry, to
meet my future spouse, and to see my friends and
coworkers surrender their lives to Christ and be set
free. We are all waiting for the fullness of His
kingdom to be revealed. If I look too hard for these
things I stress out and doubts start to arise. But if
I trust that our Father has perfect timing then I can
turn my gaze toward Jesus and ask what He is doing in
this time. Oh Lord, open our eyes to the greater
picture as we wait. Let us enjoy your beauty and your
strength both in nature and people.

“Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily
at my doors, waiting at my doorway.” Proverbs 8:3-4

“I am coming soon. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” Jesus

Steps to a Strong Back…

A good way to begin this New Year is to find those areas of our bodies which hamper our ability to move freely, to breathe deeply, to lift the burdens we carry both metaphorically and literally in our daily lives and build strength and flexibility there.

This first installment will focus on the upper back. Remember to initiate and follow through this movement NOT from the arms but from the shoulder and upper back area.

Do this each day starting with 1 set of 5-8 repetitions and working up to 2 sets of 8-12 reps.

If you own rubber tubing you can add some resistance to the movement in this way.