A smile is a curve that sets everything straight. We've been there before… we are engaged in a pose with great intensity, maybe shrugging our shoulders, tight at the hips, but mainly, scrunched up in the face. I've heard teachers many times say that the most advanced variation of any pose is just being in it, finding stillness and accentuating it with a smile. This is very true.
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“Yoga isn’t just about showing up on the mat. It’s about showing up in your life, in your day; it’s about opening your heart while standing firm and strong and believing in yourself.” Standing firm in what you believe in... opening your heart. Two concepts that can be burdensome for many. I'm finding it a lot easier to find belief and open-up while practicing asana on the mat. For others, it's the other way around. Away from the mat ... boy, that's tough for me. On your mat, your dealing with your own shit, independently and you are cultivating awareness from within. When you transition, away from that, relating that consciousness to day-to-day happenings and relationships is the true test and when the yoga - the union - really begins. One of my all-time favorite teachers, Marko Galjasevic, said… "We are all aspiring yogis." People such as Mother Teresa, the Dalai Lama and Ghandi… those are the true yogis. Many of us are taking a yogic journey and living a lifestyle to cultivate awareness, provide devotional service to those in need and are committed to being positive and nurturing positivity to all those you come in contact with. Those are attributes in a yogi. Being a yogi is not doing handstand in the middle of a room, or getting into a full split with ease. Nor is it just becoming a yoga teacher and having a class full of admiring students. It's about the life you lead and how you enrich the life of others. A great man sets an example by his actions. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in. Remember this when you step onto your mat. Asana practice is not about the ideal form. Nor is it about mimicking what's on a cover of a magazine. Or, what droves of people think is beautiful on Instagram or Facebook. It's about feeling, which is individual and each one of us owns it -- that is beautiful. Falling out of pose, trying to get into the next one, holding onto the frustration and making-up for the last pose… let it go. Move onto the next "atha." The next now. As I stated in another blog post, those are the necessary "cracks" that let the light in. Every breathe is a now. Every pose is a now. You fall trying to get into Bakasana… you move on. The cracks are necessary. The light truly illuminates once it penetrates complete darkness. So embrace the falling, the toppling over, or the times where you perceive the "perfect offering" is not attainable. Smile. Laugh. And then go towards your next "now" and remember that cracks truly let the light in. Why be in darkness? |
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