Tebow on the Mat

According to Tim Tebow, God doesn’t care if you win or lose, and that’s a very good thing this morning in Denver.  It is the same lesson in the Bhagavad Gita where the outcome of the battle is not the point.  In fact, you don’t even find out how it ends in the text.  No, the point is how you decide to live your life.In case you have been living under a rock, or are one of the 20 million people who do not come to my yoga class, the way the Denver Bronco Quarterback plays the game teaches us about life and yoga.A lesson in presence.  It doesn’t matter to Tebow what happens in the first half of the game.  Even last night he took the ball in the last four minutes of the game and ran it for 30 yards when a lot of other quarterbacks would have quit.  The only thing that matters to Tim Tebow is “now.”   He doesn’t feel sorry about the last crummy pass.  That ball is gone.  The only one that counts is the next attempt.  The first half is just the first half.  It doesn’t have to be what happens for the rest of your life.  A lesson in taking feedback.  Putting the past in the past is great, but it can also teach us if we listen.  Tebow tries to learn from his mistakes.   When he’s told to improve, he does.  He brings respect to the human condition of imperfection. A lesson in giving to the highest.  I know, I know.  Bible verses on his face, gesticulating on the field and saying that God talks to you.  Oy vay.  But the lesson here is not about who is your God, but do you have a God.  When you have a higher purpose for your life, then you are able to achieve more.  This is an essential lesson of yoga and the Bhagavad Gita. We can do the craziest things on and off the mat if only we offer to the highest, whatever that may mean for you.A lesson in Grace.  Tebow teaches us that there is a Divine power in the Universe.  If you have been watching the games you know that Tebow often seems to play in a miraculous sort of way.  Even my husband said we are all going to church next week!  It’s been so long, I’ll have to find it on the GPS.A lesson in perseverance.  Right?  Whining doesn’t work. A lesson in how to sit on the bench, and wait for it.  See perseverance above.  The Universe delivers when we’re ready to receive and not a minute before.A lesson in suffering.  Josh McDaniels.  Need I say more?  The former head coach of the Broncos ripped out the heart and soul of our team, mistreated our players and once had the janitor tell a longtime Bronco that he had been put on leave.  OMG!  It makes the wins soooo much better when you live through a losing season.  This is a feeling NY Yankee fans will never understand, because some things are not for sale and cannot be bought, like redemption.  It’s also a lesson that in the mud, in despair the lotus flower grows because it was McDaniels who brought Tebow to Denver.Michelle Berman Marchildon is the Yogi Muse.  She’s the author of “Finding More on the Mat,” a yoga memoir available in January from Amazon.com.