We’ve had quite a weekend here in the United States. The heavy, weighted energy from Friday (Trump’s Inauguration) was thankfully replaced when the clouds parted to give way to the light of the sun & the millions who marched in solidarity. No matter if you are in support or against, the Women’s March showed how women, men, and children from different races, ethnicities, sexualities, religious & cultural backgrounds can come together to empower each other.
In fact, all those people were practicing yoga, even if they have never even stepped foot on a mat. What we witnessed is Unity. The word yoga, comes from the sanskrit “yuj” which means to join, unite, yoke. Their unification empowered each other & their strong message. It took courage to stand, to have a voice, but joining each other/unifying with each other helped to them stand taller and speak louder.
I am reminded of the Bhavagad Gita which is a story of a warrior, Arjuna, who is faced with a battle he’s unwilling to fight. He relies upon the wisdom and guidance of Lord Krishna to help him unders
tand his dharma (purpose). Lord Krishna tells Arjuna that there’s no need to fear and hide from life & duty. In book two, verse seventeen, Krishna assures Arjuna to trust in his oneness with God.
We’ve all been faced with times of challenge where we feel alone or cannot muster the courage, maybe even feeling disconnected to God or any higher Spirit, family and friends. As the story of the Bhavagad Gita and the Women’s March tells us that courage cannot exist in isolation. Judith Lasater states in Living Your Yoga, “Just as a flower needs sun, air, soil, and water to bloom, your courage depends on your interdependence with people and things. You must contemplate deeply to understand that when you do what is possible, you are not in a free fall, but are cradled by your interdependence with the world around you.”
When you lay your mat down this week, see how you can strengthen your courage muscle through your practice. When and how can you overcome resistance or fear? Feel the unified energy of your fellow students to elicit the courage you need on and off your mat.
Namaste, my friends.
*Lasater Ph.D. P.T., Judith (2010-06-30). Living Your Yoga: Finding the Spiritual in Everyday Life (p. 43). Rodmell Press.
*Women’s March in Chicago photo credit: Christine Truco via ABC 7 Chicago
*Yoga Within You Chacala 2016 Yoga Retreat photo
Every so often students will either tell me after class, email or text to say how they enjoyed my class. It’s always nice to hear. The other day a student texted me that “So & So” didn’t think class was hard, but she herself loved it. I replied saying, “That’s too bad. I’m sorry to have disappointed So & So. I hope the philosophical lesson wasn’t too hard for So & So. I’m glad you liked it though.” (Yes, I was being sarcastic.)
I mulled on that freaking text for days. I taught that same sequence to all my other classes, where the feedback was “that was great”, “that was challenging”, “that was HARD.” In fact, my husband took my class last night and commented afterwards, “that was brilliantly sequenced.” I laughed because I thought he was brown nosing the instructor, but he backed up his response saying how he appreciated how I weaved my theme into a carefully, thought out class. Thanks, Babe. Glad you noticed. That’s the SAME class So & So didn’t think was hard!
So, since I was attached to the feedback I received the other day (hey, I’m only human), I went back to read the text again. “So and So didn’t think class was hard. So & So SKIPPED ALL THE HARD POSES. I loved it!” Well, there it was!!! It wasn’t HARD because he SKIPPED poses! (insert rolled eyes & a shaking head).
This diatribe isn’t trying to solicit praise. It’s more about this question….”WHY DOES YOGA HAVE TO BE HARD?” What makes yoga hard anyway? Does it have to be hot? Does it have to move fast? Do you have to do tons of chaturangas? Do you have to have crazy loud music and a military-style practice?
WHAT MAKES YOGA HARD?…..Being present IN the practice makes yoga hard. So & So probably didn’t find it hard because he wasn’t quite present in the practice. Yes, it’s perfectly fine to skip postures. That’s not the point. Even if you skip something because it doesn’t feel right or you’re not quite at that level, you should still be in the moment.
Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra 1.14 states: “The practice is firmly grounded when it is persistently done for a long time, without interruption, and WITH EARNEST, REVERENTIAL ATTENTION & DEVOTION.” In other words, practice with commitment and with complete awareness and presence.
What makes yoga challenging or hard is when you’re actually IN the moment. It’s not about standing on your hands or twisting into a pretzel or pushing yourself beyond your limits. It’s about FEELING THE FEELS—the good ones and the bad ones, the ones you do, the ones you skip.
Let me ask you this…What makes LIFE hard? Tons of stuff makes Life hard. But we know when its hard because we’re in it and PRESENT. If we were living life lackadaisically, all the hard crap would just glaze over us without even a thought or feeling.
We are all sometimes challenged by the Life that’s before us all, sometimes even feeling overwhelmed at its difficulty. Sure (and ironically), we sometimes seek a challenge in our practice too, but we should also seek its ease. As the practice of yoga teaches us, being forceful with our bodies, or in Life, has proven to be unhelpful on our mats or off our mats. We don’t need to push our bodies hard in order to be well or fulfilled. And the efforts we make to meet the challenges don’t need to be a struggle.
Feel the ease & namaste, friends.