Rahim Buford — RMSI Yoga Class

~ Yoga On Wednesday~

My spiritual day commences in the middle of every week on Wednesday – a perfect time to restore balance if needed. Yoga on Wednesday provides me with peace and stimulates every fiber of my being. Beginning with the preparation: a grateful meditation in the morning and a ritual-like process of going around the unit of RMSI (prison) with the sign up list and later making sure that we have the appropriate space to perform our Yoga-Unity with instructions from Julie to come around 2:20 pm. This has been every bit of it. Yoga at RMSI is very special because each class invigorates me with a feeling of aliveness that nothing else compares to and no other prisons in Tennessee have (this) practice, which breaks into the miscellaneous monotony of prison life and actually gives something uniquely rewarding to all participating. For me, the “I AM SOMEBODY” and “I AM ALIVE” is the result of every session. Yoga affords me an open intimacy with myself and our group that doesn’t involve a lot of thoughts or prejudiced attitudes. It’s all about the yoke of unity and experiencing the vitality of breath, energy, and the art of body expression through various asanas. One of the many great benefits is developing natural strength working with my own body and the residual effects of better health – less aches and stiffness - more flexibility and confidence.

To feel alive everyday is yoga, because I am aware of my connection to all of life and I am one with life, yoked! To be excited and free is yoga because the mental effects of practicing enlarges the way I perceive myself and reality, thus giving me more realization. And to be devoid of time is yoga too, because you are object and essence while engaged in the yoke, which leaves only being.

I would be delighted to share the above with as many new faces from the ‘free society’ as our space will accommodate. This will give more meaning to our experience of “Journeying Toward Wholeness”. Yoga is also an expression of community or common unity, even with those of us in exile. Our Breema Principle of No Judgment and Full Participation encourage what I believe we personify through Yoga –

In the spirit of love, community and peace. Namaste!