Dear all

Last week was a bitter-sweet one for me - on Saturday I celebrated my
birthday - being spoilt by friends and loved ones, as well as having the
first Moksha social event at the studio. The celebration was tempered by the
fact that my mother had passed away the previous evening and whilst we had
been expecting it by virtue of recent illness, the finality of death can
never really be fully planned for. Our family mourns our loss but I wanted
to explore causes for celebration in her passing. Death is, after all, a
consequence of life and cannot be avoided, so it's odd that we spend so much
time avoiding talking about it.

I could think of three reasons to celebrate: Firstly my mother has been
liberated from the physical suffering that she endured for the last decade
in her body. Although she always recovered (like a street fighter getting
off the floor after a seemingly terminal beating), she spent a lot of time
in pain and illness.

Secondly, like the Irish do when they have a wake, we celebrate a honourable
life as matriarch of a clan that has 5 children, 9 grandchildren and 3 great
grandchildren as its legacy. Despite battling many barriers and hardships,
she instilled a deep sense of wrong and right in all of us, making many
sacrifices to give us the opportunities that she had never had. I am proud
to have counted her amongst my friends as well as my mother. Many of us will
aspire to live a life as rich in texture, sheen and resplendent in its final
glory for observers to reflect on.

And finally, we have cause for celebration at the reuniting of my parents -
for 10 years my mother missed my father and longed to be with him again to
continue a journey that began 60 years ago. When I reflect or meditate on
her passing, the clearest image I have is of them together and happy - it
brings a tear-chasing smile to my heart.

These are personal musings but I thought they might be important to share in
the context of yoga because at the end of every class we have an opportunity
to confront death as we lie in savasana (corpse posture). Often described as
the most challenging of postures, we are called upon to surrender our
physical body to inactivity in the same way that we do at death. The body is
absolutely still - the only movement being that of the breath and in this
posture we do not react - to thoughts, itches, muscular twitches, noises,
insects or any other distractions.

The challenge is to observe the body almost as an external observer would -
like the soul might look down on the body as it departs. I encourage you to
take each and every one of these opportunities to reflect upon the many
things you have to be grateful for in your life - let us first surrender to
life such that we are no longer afraid of death. Yoga offers that
opportunity and we should be very grateful for it, because it is in itself a
celebration of life and love. When death comes, love remains.

Regards,
Chris and the Moksha team

"Life doesn't come to you, you go to life."
~ Denise Loker