Just as chanting can encourage us to lengthen our exhales-potentially relaxing us-so can reading a pentametric line aloud! (And just as chanting can catapult us out of our daily mode of speech and into a realm where things are a bit less intelligible but a little more magical, so can Elizabethan English!) The iamb (an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable, duh-DUM) is said to simulate the heartbeat, while pentameter (a ten syllable line) is a line that can be comfortably recited on one long exhale. Why: Sonnets are written in iambic pentameter. That then I scorn to change my state with kings. (Like to the lark at break of day arisingįrom sullen earth) sings hymns at heaven’s gate įor thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings Haply I think on thee, and then my state, Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising, Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,įeatured like him, like him with friends possessed,ĭesiring this man’s art and that man’s scope, When, in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes,Īnd trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries, Here are thirteen favorite poems of mine that “rhyme” neatly with some aspects of yoga class, along with a few suggestions as to when (and how) you might “enjamb” them. This kicks my days off to a good start poetry refreshes not only my vocabulary but my perspective, catapulting me into a rich world of analogies that primes me for noticing connections where I saw none before. (You can find more tips on finding and sharing poems here.) I tend to look for “yoga poems” over breakfast. And, by reading my old favorites aloud, I often discover new meaning in them. In searching for one perfect poem for class, I may discover a dozen new poems I can’t believe I lived without. I’ve found the project of sharing poems in class over the course of the month doesn’t just broaden the poetic horizons of my students-it also broadens my own. Every April, National Poetry Month offers an opportunity for us to include more poetry in our daily lives…and perhaps in our yoga practices! Yoga class is fertile ground for us to implant a love of poetry: Our students, who have made the choice to step away from the exigencies of daily life and tune in to the subtlest of sensations and sounds, may be uniquely receptive to a poem or two.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |