I was lying on my yoga mat this morning, this little two- by six-foot piece of rubber material, and I was thinking how lucky I was to have found yoga. Twenty-five years of practicing postures, developing muscle strength and flexibility, learning to relax completely and to breathe freely and deeply. Wow! I'm sure my life would have been fine without yoga, but today I find myself at 61 years of age to be in excellent shape. I believe yoga had an important role in helping me get here.
As a blind person I spent lots of time over the years supporting and encouraging visually impaired people to live life fully and to never give in to the oppressive society's distorted view of the blind. I wrote articles and books and led workshops focused on blind liberation and blind power. I loved assisting blind folks away from the victim role they were conditioned to believe in and toward a stronger, more conscious view of themselves. Those were fun and rewarding times.
Now, after years of leading workshops and writing books, I wanted so much to pass on the chance for other blind folks to have a safe and easy introduction to yoga. Maybe yoga could benefit them as much as it benefitted me. So Gretchen Hein, a Kripalu certified yoga instructor, and I produced the 5-CD package, "Beginning Yoga for the Blind and Visually Impaired." It took quite a while, but I am pleased with the results. I think it's a useful, informative and fun way to learn yoga. If you want to find out more, you can go to www.blindyoga.net. It's a small achievement, but one that actually could have a positive effect on many lives in the years to come. -- Marty Klein