Morning reflection

 Saturday Reflection – Listening to My Inner Teacher

This morning, around 4:22 a.m., I rose from the park bench where I slept and stepped into the cold air with gratitude in my heart. My teacher lives inside of me, and today I listened. On my mat before the sun came up, yoga felt like science — each breath, each push-up, each stretch revealing a new law of patience. I wanted to rush past 600 push-ups, but the lesson was clear: slow down, stay on the floor, feel the body, let the spine grow strong again.

By 6:30 a.m., my practice had lasted two hours. My spine hurt with healing pain, the kind the old yogis speak about. Sitting in lotus pose is still my mountain, but I know on the other side of this pain is freedom. I’ve been meditating twice a day for only 10–15 minutes, but my body is calling me to go deeper, to breathe more through my nose, to feel all the senses awakening. When I run now, I let gravity pull me, and my jogging feels like a prayer.

Later at church, the readings from Zechariah and Luke washed over me. I have never once heard them say, “And Jesus meditated,” even though meditation is in the scriptures. So I sat, meditated, and listened. I thought about animals — how a dog or cat simply stretches, no noise, no rush, just presence. Nature is a teacher too. As I walked to take Holy Communion, the whole scene felt like comedy, like a play, like God showing me how people speak of the Bible but ignore its deepest truths — gluttony, discipline, silence.

I see now why my grandmother wanted me to study physics, why Buddhism feels like a philosophy, why animals might be my next teachers. My journey today is about patience, discipline, and truth. I jogged to the park after church, still thinking, still feeling sensations rise in my body.

But I am grateful — for this earth, for the lessons, for the space to stretch, breathe, and listen to my inner teacher. Even if friends don’t talk to me anymore, this morning practice is my greatest companion.

Yoruba Yogi