"Sistering" in Carpentry and Yoga

Another admission for you, dear readers.

I am a huge, only recently self-diagnosed, addict lover of podcasts - I have come into the practice of listening to the On Being podcast while walking my dog. The episodes become available during the week, but I usually save them until I can take them in in their entirety on a longer weekend walk. Bongo, my faithful walking companion never seems to mind the extra distance that it takes to consume the whole conversation - but he loves a walk of any duration and is therefore not introduced for any reason other than I get to share this picture of his goofy face.

What I find resonates most for me is the element of spirituality the skilled interviewer, Krista Tippett is able to bring to her conversations with authors, economists, poets and writers - whoever her guest(s) happen to be. Tippett manages to gently nudge each person to say how they view their lives from a spiritual perspective, which I find reassuring.

This aspect of her interviewing process was prominent in her interview with Glennon Doyle and Abby Wambach - though the topic was identified as "courage" - spirituality came shining through. By spiritual, I do not mean religious - I use that word to connect to a person's awareness of spirit, their own. The recognition of that extra layer of humanness - yet that is immortal - that we all have.

I love this part of our being - because it offers an ability to connect on a deeper level. I mean, what are we, if not spirit? The body gives out one day - and we go on in spirit - depending on your belief system, to another life, another reality, or another consciousness or to live on in someone's memory. So the spirit is an essence at once ephemeral and wispy, untouchable and difficult to track - yet so very real, present and vital if we pay attention to it.

Here's where I found a connection between spirituality and the concept of "sistering" - which is a term coined by carpenters. In carpentry, when a "joist"  - a structural component of a building, usually the floor, becomes weak, builders will add a board on one or both sides of it. This is called "sistering".

How perfect. I challenge you to think of a more appropriate word for supporting. I can't.

To support the floor - or foundation of a room - you sister two boards on either side of the structural joist. I thought to myself - this for sure is carpentry, but it too is yoga! Most poses build from the ground up. The foundation of nearly pose has an element of support from the outside in to the mid-line. In Virabhadrasana II - Warrior II, the foundation of the legs depends on support from the inner thighs just as much as the quadriceps.

My teacher training class has to learn and teach a sixth portion to our assigned sequence of vinyasa yoga. I am nervous about it. The spirit, if you will, is weak. I practiced Warrior II so many times by myself and I noticed when I wasn't supporting well. I practiced the new sequence and I knew I needed some support.

So I made an attempt to bring sistering into my practice this week. All hail the power of the group text which helped a few of us get together to practice after class today to encourage each other. We lent support - not in a physical sense like a couple of 2X4 boards would - but in the sharing of spirit.

Here's hoping I'm supported well on Thursday.