A Petition

Today, for the first time in a LONG time, I went to yoga. Much, much needed yoga. I do a kind of yoga called Kundalini at a center called Golden Bridge. It's kinda THE place in L.A. to do Kundalini Yoga. And today, to make the experience complete, I took an all women's class from Kundalini guru Gurmukh. She travels the world to teach Kundalini. She has a DVD. She's 60+ and looks FANTASTIC.

Anyhow, Kundalini is a very spiritual kind of yoga. You often chant. It's very much about cleansing yourself. And there's always a goal for that particular session. To set up the goal for today, Gurmukh informed us that, at the end, she would be reading to us from the book, "Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India, and Indonesia".

So we did our session. I was exhausted and knew that I would be sore tomorrow. Gurmukh then read the excerpt as we sat in easy pose with our eyes closed. In the story, the writer was waiting for her husband to sign their divorce papers. She had waited and waited, called her lawyer continuously, only to hear that her husband still refused. As she drove with her friend, she expressed her frustration with this situation. Her friend asked her if she'd prayed for this to be resolved. The woman admitted that she never used prayer to ask for something. She just used it to ask that she have the strength to deal with whatever came her way. Her friend told her this was stupid. Since we are all part of the universe, we can ask the universe for help in any given situation.

Now, as I was listening to this, I thought of myself and prayer. I don't really pray. But my reason is different. I have problems asking God for something when I'm not really sure on God to begin with. I have issues believing that there is a God that would have a world where my child (and MANY other children I now know) have to struggle and suffer beyond reason. So I feel like a hypocrite asking God for help when I'm not a big believer. But, with the reasoning that you're not praying to God for help but praying to the universe for help, (as it said in the book) well that's different. I'm part of the universe. I don't have issues believing in the universe. I know it exists.

So in the story, the woman opened her notebook and wrote a petition to the universe asking for her divorce to be settled so that she could move on with her life. She signed the petition. Her friend, who was driving, said that while she couldn't actually sign it, but that she would mentally sign it. The friend then asked the woman who else she knew who would sign this petition. The woman listed family, friends, people who'd passed away, famous people she'd never met who she thought would be in support of her emotional pain finally ending. With each name she said, her friend affirmed that that person had signed. Once all the "signatures" were obtained, they sent the petition off to the universe. Then, as one might predict, the women got a call from her lawyer. Her husband signed the divorce papers. The universe had answered.

Next, as part of our yoga, we were all supposed to think of our petition to the universe. My petition was, of course, for Soren. It went something like this...

Dear Universe,

Please heal my son Soren. He is severely disabled due to Epilepsy. We have tried everything: drugs, diet, therapy, and alternative medicine. He's the sweetest, most beautiful boy imaginable, and all I want is to see him grow to be a typical boy.

When I thought of who would sign this, tears began streaming down my face, because it's all of you. All of you who read this blog, people who don't read this blog, people who write to me about Soren, have taught Soren, suffered through therapy with Soren, dreamed of Soren, read to Soren, done art with Soren, or had even one thought of Soren. In fact, I don't know anyone who wouldn't sign my petition to the universe for Soren.

So I thank you all for your signatures. And I will now pray, every day, that the universe says, "Yes!"

Amy