Celebrating The First International Day of Yoga
Yoga_Life_Winter_2015_WEB
Yoga_Life_Winter_2015_WEB
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LET MY LIFE BE A PRAYER<br />
sing. I remember feeling like one <strong>of</strong> the nurses had weighed<br />
me down, when in fact they had strapped my arms so that<br />
I wouldn’t disturb the intravenous system they had set up.<br />
I could hear my wife’s voice, but I wasn’t able to communicate<br />
out loud to tell her I wanted to be released. I could hear a good<br />
friend <strong>of</strong> mine singing to me (he was in the room singing) and<br />
I wondered why he was singing one <strong>of</strong> my songs on the radio.<br />
Other experiences I definitely perceived as “out <strong>of</strong> body”<br />
Ken giving a concert at Sivananda<br />
Ashram, Val Morin, Canada<br />
“Throughout this whole experience<br />
I actually felt incredibly lucky. I had<br />
the immediate love <strong>of</strong> my family and<br />
the support <strong>of</strong> many friends. I had<br />
had a life saving medical intervention<br />
and not died. <strong>The</strong> gurus had been<br />
present with me throughout. I felt that<br />
God’s grace never left me. ”<br />
experiences. I experienced going to a small African Canadian<br />
church in Nova Scotia where there was to be a rehearsal for my<br />
funeral. <strong>The</strong> next year when I was on tour there, I tracked down<br />
the church. Although I’d never seen it before, the setting was<br />
just like my hospital experience: a small bay, a lone pine tree, a<br />
gravel road and on the other side, a small white church. Inside,<br />
the church in Birchtown, N.S. was much smaller than what I<br />
remembered, but I felt it was the same place. Perhaps even<br />
more striking was that I felt the hospital had been visited by<br />
Swami Vishnu and he had conferred on it a status in his True<br />
World Order. My perception <strong>of</strong> the space kept changing, but<br />
throughout I could see the large pictures <strong>of</strong> Swami Sivananda<br />
on one side and Swami Vishnudevananda on the other and<br />
in between them some swirling colour that was sometimes<br />
a dancing Siva and other times a beneficent Saraswati.<br />
After nine days in the hospital a new doctor became in<br />
charge <strong>of</strong> my case. I was on life support and getting worse.<br />
Fortunately she ordered new tests and they revealed that I had<br />
a torn mitral valve in my heart. I was wheeled underground<br />
across the street to the hospital where they did open heart<br />
surgery and on Sept. 22 they operated and were actually able<br />
to repair the torn flap in my heart. (On another bright note,<br />
while I was opened up they were able to see that my arteries<br />
were very clear, with no sign <strong>of</strong> plaque – another testament<br />
to my years <strong>of</strong> vegetarianism and daily yoga practice.)<br />
Finally four days after my surgery I knew where I was.<br />
I could barely move by myself, I had tubes all over me and the<br />
only sadhana I could do was to “rest in dharma”, trusting in<br />
the universe. It felt to me that it had been much longer than<br />
two and a half weeks since I had first entered the hospital.<br />
Somehow though, throughout the whole time there, I felt<br />
incredibly supported. Family and friends had been right there<br />
the whole time. <strong>The</strong>re were many communities praying for me.<br />
Almost all <strong>of</strong> the hospital staff were great. <strong>The</strong> hospital physio -<br />
therapist began working with me. I told her I was a yoga teacher<br />
as well as a musician. As she later said to me, “<strong>The</strong> idea isn’t<br />
just to be able to function when you get out <strong>of</strong> here, but to be<br />
at least as good as before you came in.”<br />
It wasn’t until I got out <strong>of</strong> intensive care and moved up to<br />
the regular cardiac ward that I realised in what bad shape I really<br />
was. I still had a feeding tube through my nose and I had<br />
become concerned about my steady diet <strong>of</strong> genetically modified<br />
soy with vitamins as my only source <strong>of</strong> nutrition. However when<br />
I asked for a pencil and paper to write a note to the hospital<br />
dietician, I found I couldn’t even write. I had been asking for<br />
several days for someone to bring in my smallest guitar and<br />
when they did I found out that I couldn’t even hold it!<br />
But now I had the actual picture <strong>of</strong> the gurus in front <strong>of</strong> my<br />
bed as well as a healing Buddha my brother had brought in and<br />
an image <strong>of</strong> the Last Supper. Although I still couldn’t walk, I was<br />
now able to prop myself up in the hospital bed. I began getting<br />
up at 6am and doing my meditation. I couldn’t do asanas, but<br />
I could still practice bhakti and I began chanting and singing<br />
spiritual songs after my meditation. Between 6.30am and<br />
7.30am all the nurses were on a shift change so I was undisturbed.<br />
I was diligent with my exercises and the physiotherapist<br />
worked with me every day. I regained a lot <strong>of</strong> the movement<br />
<strong>of</strong> my arm, I was relearning to walk and before I could go home<br />
I had to accomplish going up and down stairs. Finally after forty<br />
days in the hospital I was sent home.<br />
It felt so good to be where it was quiet and where I could<br />
eat organic food again. I had cancelled all my work for the rest<br />
<strong>of</strong> the year so I was able to focus on healing. A great physio -<br />
therapist came to the house and he knew that my goal was to<br />
be able to do the sun salutations and stand on my head again.<br />
Shortly after Christmas I accomplished that goal. I made my<br />
first singing appearance at the Toronto Centre for the annual<br />
Christmas party. When I finally got in to see the cardiologist<br />
he said to me, “You are, in three and a half months, where<br />
I’d expect someone to be in six months to a year.”<br />
Throughout this whole experience I actually felt incredibly<br />
lucky. I had the immediate love <strong>of</strong> my family and the support<br />
<strong>of</strong> many friends. I had had a life saving medical intervention and<br />
not died. <strong>The</strong> gurus had been present with me throughout. I felt<br />
that God’s grace never left me. <strong>The</strong> one time I actually cried tears<br />
was near the end <strong>of</strong> my hospital stay and I could finally play my<br />
guitar again. I was singing a song that I had written a number<br />
<strong>of</strong> years earlier and suddenly the words were much more pr<strong>of</strong>ound<br />
to me:<br />
Our time upon this planet is surely but a span,<br />
And things are bound to happen which we cannot understand.<br />
So in both joy and sorrow, I take Your outstretched hand,<br />
And let my life be prayer<br />
YOGALife |Autumn/Winter 2015<br />
49