You may remember that last month we talked at length about the subject of suffering and surrender. It’s not an easy topic to unravel in one’s life, as it’s a many-limbed beast that can haunt your steps for a lifetime or longer. But the more I dance around the edges of surrender, I do think it’s possible. That probably sounds ridiculous — of course surrender is possible. Many people are living their lives in a peaceful state of surrender at all times. I’m just not one of those people, and I wasn’t sure if I ever really could be.

As I continue to ponder the hows, the thing I keep coming back to is gratitude. If you’re tired of hearing about gratitude, I apologize. I know the new age universe is all about gratitude, and it can grow tiresome. But, there really is something to it. Hear me out and take from it what you will.

With autumn’s arrival, I wanted to focus on the idea of letting go, just as the leaves begin to do at this time of year. It always seems so poetic to recommend that we mimic nature and simply release what is no longer serving us. I admire how easily the trees seem to shed their leaves, only to lay themselves bare for several months, vulnerable to the unending chill and winds of winter. They do not cling hard to all that growth, they simply let it go when the wind tickles their fancy.

Something I often hear on the wide landscape of American Yoga is that one should find their “edge" in the posture and stay there, with some (thankfully) adding that you shouldn’t push yourself past your edge. The concept isn’t purely American, though I think its been exacerbated by our cultural consciousness that has been conditioned to believe that if you aren’t pushing yourself, you’re failing.

Last month we explored what Hatha Yoga is, and it got me thinking about how many people haven’t even been fully exposed to what Yoga actually is, let alone the different paths of Yoga. Here in the West (when I say West, I mean West of India), most people see Yoga as a form of exercise, and while for some there may be many physical benefits, at its core, classical Yoga has absolutely nothing to do with exercising your body. In fact if you remember from last months blog post, the physical postures really didn’t get much attention until much more recently along the historical timeline of Yoga.

When I first began my foray into the vast world of Yoga, I thought of Hatha Yoga as a style of class that was offered at my local studio. All I really knew back then was that my life was falling apart after a bad breakup, and the slower pace of the Hatha classes matched my mood and the energy I could muster, way better than the fast Vinyasa classes also on offer, ever could. My mind was always racing at a rapid pace, and so when I was able to get into my body and actually be still, I began to heal.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but somewhere along the way, we forget that we are the beholder. We turn that power over to the outside world, consistently letting others define our beauty with their own insecurities. We seek out validation from everyone but ourselves, some even going to extreme surgical lengths in search of that validation. We are inundated with media and marketing, all designed to spawn unworthiness that leads to someone else’s wealthiness. It’s a trap intended to keep you spending from your first babysitting gig to your last social security check, and it’s largely working.

For me, the word powerful has always had either a neutral or positive connotation to it. To be honest, it conjures up visions of some fabulously witchy women of old, standing around a bubbling cauldron, working to set things right in the world. I think I’ve held the word tight, only attributing it to those who wield it well, so it’s never felt like a negative thing to me. So it’s interesting to me that some people see power, and thus the idea of being powerful, as a negative thing.

If you’ve taken Yoga classes before, you may have heard a teacher refer to some postures as “heart openers,” and while it’s a romantic notion to think that a yoga posture can help you to open your heart, I think it’s helpful to clarify this concept and perhaps the intention behind it.

I’ve avoided writing this post all month, but here I am on February 28th, the day before March begins, and my time has run out. No more lallygagging, dillydallying, procrastinating or putting it off for me. Unless I can find one more metaphor for wasting time… google says: fiddling around. No more fiddling around for me. Most of my life I’ve considered myself lazy, but one day Jason lovingly pointed out to me that perhaps I just work best on a deadline. His reframe of my lifelong pattern was so freeing! But… here I am… and it’s deadline day.

This month we’re exploring my favorite I am statement: I am ENOUGH.

I start each class with, “(inhale) I am (exhale) Here. (inhale) I am (exhale) Enough.” I do so, because I believe that these are the two hardest truths for many of us to embrace. As we discussed in January, the ability to be present for our lives is vital for our continued growth and happiness. But I believe that embracing our Enough-ness is the key to truly living out our fullest potential as humans.

Three simple words. Yet why do I have such a hard time embracing the truth they impart? Throughout my life I've found it nearly impossible to remain present for more than a few seconds at a time, unless there is something really, really captivating happening. Yes, there have been moments where I sit in a state of bliss as a breeze dances across my face, the ocean laps at my feet, or a delicious sip of wine rolls around in my mouth, but those moments are usually fleeting. Very quickly my analytical mind kicks in and starts to break the moment down into pieces. It pins little thoughts about the past to it, either in an effort to tear the moment down or bolster it up: "Was this ocean breeze as good as or better than yesterday’s when I simultaneously watched that majestic pelican soar by?” Then I realize I’ve left the present, blissful moment, and I begin to scold myself for not being able to stay present. Which subsequently leads me to scolding myself for scolding myself. After all, I should, “bring myself back with compassion,” shouldn’t I? Oooff. Being inside this mind is a lot.

Let’s talk about one of Yoga’s most ubiquitous props, the Yoga blanket. You might hear a teacher offer up the idea of sitting on the edge of a blanket when you’re practicing seated postures, but how do you know if it’s helpful for you or not? We’ll take a quick look at the spine and pelvis, which are the two main factors in this decision, along with a few muscles that might play a roll, so that you can decide what’s right for you. 

Has it been awhile since you’ve stepped onto your mat?

I guarantee you, you are not alone; friends and students often reach out asking for advice on how to get back on their mat after a hiatus, and I confess, I never have any solid advice.

My physical practice has really been on the back burner lately, and I’ve often navigated the emotions of feeling like a fraud. Here I am teaching almost daily, owning this new studio, creating content and trying to urge people to get on their mats and reap the vast rewards of the practice — and yet I cannot seem to get on my own mat.

In this post we’ll explore some of the frequently used terms you might hear in a yoga class or conversation. There are a few topics that I look at more deeply, and others where I just skim the surface. In the future, many of these topics will get their very own blog post, so stay tuned for lots more to come. Wherever you find a Sanskrit word, there will be two recordings; one with a technical pronunciation, and another featuring how you’ll most likely hear the word pronounced in English.

So much of what we see as Yoga in the West is really just exercise. In fact, the mere concept that we label our studio classes as “Yoga” classes implies that the main purpose, the end all be all of Yoga, is the physical practice alone. That couldn’t be further from the truth — but I digress.

In the future, we’ll go into more detail about the practice of Hatha Yoga, and where it fits into the larger picture of the practice. But for now, I wanted to touch on why I choose to (re)name the studio, Sthira Sukham Yoga.