Photographer: Ian Britton
If you are struggling, it doesn’t mean you are working harder, gaining more benefit, or are offering better value to others. It means you are struggling.
Struggle is an emotional connection we apply to our circumstances. It is the adding on of suffering. No one does this to us. It is emotional stuff we add on to the practice. When we challenge ourselves, it does not require that we add emotional worry, pain, or a sense of suffering to what we do. We can allow the emotions to pass on through.
Emotions automatically change, just like thoughts. If you notice you are struggling with any challenge, see if you can give yourself a little time to investigate the emotional experience, and let it go.
If you are truly hurting yourself, causing physical pain, with your practice then you should stop. Yoga should not cause injury.
However, there are times when yoga will be uncomfortable. In order to move into new levels of practice it is necessary to work with discomfort. This does not mean hurting, or experiencing added emotional stress. If emotions arise during yoga, just be with them, and allow them to pass through as they naturally will.
In my own practice, I am working consistently at the edge of my ability. I spend time each day working on the poses that challenge me. This means going slow, allowing myself to experience the myriad sensations and emotions that arise as I work to be kind to myself through whatever emotion arises. Perhaps there could be frustration, fear, disappointment, or other unpleasant emotions that may come up as I practice. The thing is that these emotions are not actually indications that I am doing something wrong. They just arise sometimes, and I can wait them out. They are not me. They are not useful, except that they keep me firm in my effort to steady my mind.
We can remember that: effort toward steadiness of mind is practice (Patanjali I: 13). As we work with challenging poses and other challenges in life, applying this effort is our practice of yoga.
We can also look to Patanjali’s yoga sutras for suggestions on working with obstacles. I will share some ideas on this tomorrow.
Pose of the Day: Your chosen challenge.
Yogic Concept of the Day: I can just apply myself and let the good work happen without a struggle, knowing that I am doing something of value that benefits myself and others.
