One day a learned man was passing by the farm. He saw the odd looking chicken.
Then he said to the farmer, "Hey, that's no chicken. That's an eagle." But, the farmer said, "Um, um, no, no, no man. That's a chicken; it behaves like a chicken."
And the man said no; give it to me please. And he gave it this knowledgeable man. And this man took this strange looking chicken and climbed the mountain and waited until sunrise. And then he turned this strange looking chicken towards the sun and said,
"Eagle, fly, eagle." And the strange looking chicken shook itself, spread out its pinions, and lifted off and and soared and soared and flew away, away into the distance.
God says to all of us, you are no chicken; you are an eagle. Fly, eagle, fly. And God wants us to shake ourselves, spread our pinions, and then lift off and soar and rise, and rise toward the confident and the good and the beautiful. Rise towards the compassionate and the gentle and the caring. Rise to become what God intends us to be--eagle, not chickens.
(Desmond Tutu, cleric, activist, and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate)
One of my favorite yoga poses is "Garudasana--eagle pose".
Garuda is a divine bird, the Lord Vishnu's carrier, with the head, wings, talons and beak of an eagle and the body and limbs of a man, which why the pose is commonly referred to as eagle pose.
As you stay balanced with one leg wrapped over the other, and both arms tightly interwind each other in front of you...it's pretty much challenging, not to sway hither-thither, not to mention about the fast beating heart and rapid breaths. In no time, you are drenched with sweats dripping all over your face, body and the floor. And yet, when you undo the tanglings of the limbs...there is a certain sense of satisfaction and relief boosting your confidence levels...
That's why, if you can master this pose after the initial awkard hesitations and fallings...Garudasana not only, strengthens and stretches the ankles and calves and improving balance, but also, opens up your heart to soar toward the sky! You realize that, you are no timid chicken who keeps looking down, but instead, an eagle, with gigantic wings and sharp gaze to be able to fly far and wide into the vast sky. What a freedom to break free of all the limitations of chicken that was imposed by others as well as ourselves....!!!
Let's remind ourselves one more time...our God given identity...we are no chicken, but an eagle!!!
