I took a yoga class several years ago with my good friend and amazing yoga teacher (Raquel Pennington) that I will never, ever forget. It was the first time I had finally made it to that particular class of hers- which I had been planning to and “trying to” take for months. It was a mid-morning gentle basics class. Gentle was an idea I loved and knew I needed, but I didn’t really understand it in my own body or in practice fully. I understood the concept and even taught it. I can honestly say I didn’t get it though. This time, I made it to the class and she opened with the theme of the practice: be soft. We were essentially going to learn how to soften and surrender energy for 75 minutes. It sounded perfect and I was ready. She had us set up all of our props so we could begin in a gentle, supported reclined position. I mean very supported. Bolsters, blocks, blankets- all the comfort. Everyone made their way down easily. Meanwhile I was having a pretty hard time just getting myself situated. I was fidgeting, wiggling, trying to adjust the props and my body here or there until eventually my friend came up to my mat, she put her hand on lightly on my forearm and kindly said, “Sam. Just stop moving.” It was pose number one. We weren’t going to be there for more than a couple minutes, but I was already uncomfortable and wanted to be comfortable and I guess I needed to stop moving. Upon my friend’s instruction, I stopped. It didn’t relieve all my wants and feelings of needing to keep wriggling around or try to get comfortable or try to relax. But for that pose and in each pose after that, I was definitely becoming aware that I maybe didn’t know how to stop. I learned what being soft entailed: surrendering. It was pretty mind-blowing to experience so much challenge. It was a huge lesson in self-awareness and a revelation that there was an entire way of doing things that I thought I knew but didn’t know how to actually do. I’m sure I had practiced a theme like this or in this realm before. But this day maybe I was paying more attention, I was more open and ready to try. It felt like an invitation and I was accepting it the most consciously and in full participation. At the time I could only imagine what kind of balance this would probably manifest physically and beyond if I continued practicing this way- which I had every intention to and absolutely did. It’s one of the classes in my practice thus far that sticks out the way that it does because it illuminated an imbalance and

For the most part, I think it’s pretty safe to say that we all know somewhere deep inside how we do things. I believe that whether we’re fully aware of it or not we know that we are more inclined to co-participate with life in one way more than another. Realizing it fully is a different story. And then beyond that, whether we know, realize and then look to practice finding or creating balance is also a whole other. Clearly just based on what I’ve shared personally here and in other journal entries, there’s knowing and then there’s practicing. Practicing is the process of knowing through some type of action.

The Buddhists have a proverb: "To know and not to do is not yet to know" 

I remember seeing that quote etched into a bench overlooking the ocean somewhere on a dock in Morro Bay recently. I kept staring at it and kept feeling it strike. Because we all do this. We know but often don’t practice. Thank goodness for yoga. This class woke me up to what I knew but didn’t really know yet. I hadn’t practiced truly surrendering my power. I didn’t really know how to let go so I could relax on bolsters. Was this how I was doing everything? (turned out, pretty much yes…) My go-to quality was effort. I knew how to do so much and too much. And since that class it has been a continuous work in progress.

The concept this week is to draw awareness to both of the opposing but balancing qualities of effort + surrender. When we practice both effort + surrender on our mats we enter into a divine opportunity to cultivate a balanced experience, to experience the other side of things while appreciating the side we are on. We get to consciously attend to whatever subliminal or deliberate requests have been made within. Maybe requests that have been made for some time but haven’t been given attention- until now. Remember, we all know inside what we need even we are not making big, fully-conscious choices to attend to them. Be it the mind, the body, the heart, our Spirits. Whatever part or parts of us is whispering or yelling because it’s overworked and exhausted, in need of complimentary support. This practice is our graceful act of truly knowing how to tip the scale. Now does that mean leaning on one end is wrong or bad? I don’t believe so. It’s all about balance- which we can understand to mean that we are learning to teeter. Because we will always lean to one side, work harder than we need to, or sometimes not give as much energy as we need to feel supported and strong. This is simply a space to up the learning curve and to embody more than just our usual way, or one way of being. We are often yearning for the opposite of what we know and do regularly. Sometimes it’s subtle and sometimes, like in my case in that one class, it’s big.

On the mat we can look at how we hold ourselves in each shape. Each shape being different than another and representative of circumstances that we can relate to as feeling similar in our bodies. We become aware of how much energy we are putting into the pose, how much effort we are giving to be in the pose. At the same time, we become aware of how much we are releasing and relinquishing in the pose. Can we surrender some of our effort?

We work this message into our asana practice by playing with what effort + surrender can mean. This is done often and in so many intelligent and sophisticated ways by so many different teachers. No one class on this theme is ever the same and always enlightens. The universality and numerous ways to experience the dynamics of effortful energy and surrendering of energy is greater than one class or one teacher or one category of pose. In my class this week, we are pairing effort + surrender a couple different ways: one way is through identifying and feeling physical engagement (contraction) and stretch (expansion) in our poses. As one of my other friend-yoga teacher, Keric says, “I think it’s safe to say that we all come to yoga because we want to get stronger and also to become more flexible.” I/we hear it all the time. And often we conceptualize one to mean only effort or only surrender. When in reality, the body attains both at its best when we are engaged as we stretch. Without enough engagement, a muscle that is lengthening can be at risk of stretching past it’s true capacity. Maybe putting our tendons at risk of stretching- which they aren’t really meant to do. And on the other hand, if we are looking to engage and we are so engaged that we are tense, we may end up producing more tension and a limited range of motion and potential. Flexibility is way more complex than what we think of as stretching, but in general, the flexibility of muscle (or group of muscles) relies heavily on the balance of contracting (effort) and relaxing (surrender). Then we can talk about lengthening the muscle without worrying about it. Just as an example: in TT this past weekend during our anatomy module we learned about thigh muscles and discussed “yoga butt”. Heard of it? Happened to you? It happens to a lot of yoginis in practice when there isn’t enough focus on engaging but more focusing on extending and lengthening. In “yoga butt’s” case, in the hamstrings. The imbalance can lead to a sharp pain caused by a strain, pull or even tear at the upper hamstring close to the sit bones. All “yoga butt” needs is a little effort! We can practice that in other areas of the body similarly. Effort and surrender.

The second way is through exploring and playing with balance in inversions (or any pose where your head is below your heart/upside down stuff!). Going upside down is such an “abnormal” physical concept as we grow older- until or unless practiced of course. Which makes it a perfect petri dish for cultivating and balance. If we put in too much effort when we go upside down, the body and the pose itself can feel tense, rigid and restricted. Meanwhile, if we are too surrendered and don’t apply enough effort, we can often feel like we’re lacking the support we need and want when we’re going upside down. With enough of both, we can produce a feeling that is both steady and free- on our hands, our forearms and our heads! Finding balance is about putting in enough effort and also not trying too hard. As Raquel would say, “work smarter, not harder.” Duh. But also, that’s really hard and we’ll both be the first to admit it. And that’s exactly why it’s a never-ending balancing act.

Our teachers in class encourage us to participate by way of observation, noticing, and feeling. At the end of the day, as much as the teacher is guiding you, the ultimate guide and teacher is always going to be our very own selves. We practice getting to know effort by seeing what it’s like to fully and genuinely try. We learn to relate to surrender by learning to grip less and consciously let something go- to not try so hard that we unconsciously stifle our own postures and experience. The observing, noticing and feeling maybe leads to finding a voice inside that learns to assert itself more when things aren’t quite right or even to ask how things are going. We can always ask ourselves in any pose if it feels like we are truly being effortful enough. Does the way this pose feels provide me with the information I need to confidently say that I’m putting in my fullest effort? Can I relax or soften somewhere? Broadening our perspective to know we’re not just giving ourselves the answer we always do or the answer that’s based on what we think we’re doing is part of what we gain in the process. In the end we’re doing more than teaching our bodies what effort and surrender are. We’re teaching ourselves on every level what it can mean to do both. If we can develop a voice that learns to check in on our balance while we’re on the mat, that voice leaves the mat with us and guides us into finding more balance in other aspects of our lives. Magic.

I love the notion that balance isn’t on one side, it’s somewhere in the middle of both and requires both. It feels far more representative of how life feels- always in flux and always doing that teeter. We can learn to teeter with it. We can learn to ride the waves. We can learn to find a rhythm that supports and nourishes our strongest, most flexible and expansive spirit. Learning to weigh in and even out is a way of learning our true potential.

In my practice and in my life, learning how to try less and relax more has opened up everything on and off the mat. I am better at applying effort without feeling like it has burdened. I don’t feel taxed when I give and I don’t feel incapable or out of my body when it comes to relaxing or stretching. I don’t do poses with my face anymore (you know what I’m talking about). Off the mat, I don’t work myself into a total state of malfunction. I have more energy because it’s not mostly going in one, exhausting, effort-based direction. These are just ways that this lesson and this practice have helped me grow and feel better. Your balance may be on a different end or could be already highly cultivated and practiced. This is just a reminder that there is a middle and that’s where the balance exists. It’s also a reminder that life moves, we move and things move constantly. We forget and we lean. Through practice we can remember the potential is there for us to see and continue to truly know. So whether you make it onto a mat with me in class or you simply read through this to upload the concepts and let them ruminate and sink into your heart to practice in your own ways- this is ultimately about discovering how to fortify the power you already possess so you can keep using it efficiently. Finding balance in our hamstring muscles or in our inversions becomes a way of understanding this bigger message of finding balance in maybe everything. The revelatory experiences we have in poses and practices in our highest and most balanced state transforms into a radical spiritual discovery as they expand our consciousness and help us move in a higher more balanced way off of our mats.

My partner and I moved into our new home recently and went through the fun process of deciding where everything would go and finding “permanent” locations for furniture, plants and posters and trinkets based on each thing, each room and the function and feel of all of those things. Some of that is pretty obvious. The bathroom is the center of all things bathroom. The kitchen is the center of all things cooking, eating, socializing. Etc. But what exactly goes where and how? And more importantly why? How should we arrange our stuff, our space?

Naturally, we started talking about feng shui.

Neither of us know too much about it but have been playing on what we know, going for what ends up feeling best. The least amount of space cut off, the most open, and works with the other features in the room. You know, so that things aren’t in a place that feels off or somehow in the way. It isn’t always obvious to figure that stuff out! For example, while arranging our bedroom I wanted the bed in one place facing one direction and his idea was to put it in a completely different place I wasn’t sure about (but in the end is actually a little better). It took trying both locations and feeling them out to both agree that his way just felt better. And there was so much more than the bed to decide on. Does putting any piece of furniture in this corner of the room in relation to the other piece of furniture in the same corner actually work or are we just putting stuff in a place? How does one thing feel in one place rather than another? Weird? Awkward? Unpleasant? Right? SO much to consider. I wanted to see where we were in the process of making the room feel like things were flowing well so I did what everyone else would do: I Google’d feng shui.

In short, feng-shui is a some-5,000 year old art & science tradition rooted in Eastern (Chinese) philosophy based on arranging & centering the energy of the natural world around you in way that offers the most harmony & balance. Feng-shui literally translates to mean wind-water. The basic principles are the Natural Elements and connecting how we align with different shapes, colors, textures, and attributes of our outer environment. It is a deep philosophy with much more than I am going into here, but the idea is that the harmony & balance created is increasing and even creating positive energy.

I mean, that’s yoga isn’t it? A practice of centering energy and organizing our body parts in different ways so things feel clearer and better.

I know I’m not the first person to draw a connection between yoga and feng shui. Feng shui is definitely something I’ve always felt yoga reminded me of. Energy realignment and clearance. A way of transforming the way things are “organized” and “arranged” on and in the body for the better, in as much of a way as we can. In my own practice, anytime I’ve felt a little off in mind, body and/or Spirit (often times I now feel they are all off if one is off), yoga has consistently been like one, big holistic readjustment with a consistently positive result.

The truth is that our bodies already do most of its own big, vital feng-shui on its own. Things get moved around inside all the time for our betterment. It pulls what it needs into different places where it’s needed the most to improve the function and flow of energy! It’s really amazing. When we’re injured or sick, our body knows exactly how to recruit and rearrange to make healing can happen faster. For example, when we break a bone, whatever nutrients we take in that synthesize and support bone growth get drawn to that broken bone automatically so it can heal & grow!

On the mat, we connect to our physical alignment as one way of becoming more conscious of how we orient ourselves in space, which we believe ultimately effects much more than the physical. We practice creating postural foundations with more awareness in an effort to highlight what we call our own optimal blueprint each of us has for our own bodies. As we place our bodies on the mat consciously and set up foundations for each pose which honor our anatomy and the space of the inner + outer we draw our awareness to ways we can find, maintain and create the clearest pathways so that we feel good. So that our poses feel good. We honor our structure- he structure we believe to be the home of our Divine spirit, of Consciousness. Stepping onto our mats becomes a way of feeling alignment, organization, and optimization through our physical orientation, of course bigger and better poses that have a higher potential for success and enjoyment. But beyond all of that, maybe and hopefully also connecting us to knowing ourselves and the harmony on a deeper than physical level.

Alignment becomes a practice of honoring ourselves which in turn allows us to begin the work in each pose with ease. This ease is our harmony. We are physically, mentally and energetically more connected to the shape which also means that we’re more in touch with our practice.

The right and wrong aspect of where things go and how things are “supposed” to be in our practice varies based on how we feel each day. Right and wrong are things I look to stray away from. The intention is to feel our best and have the highest potential. We strive for optimal by way of what the body understands as neutral, closest to the design of our anatomy and in acknowledgement of what unique tendencies we have individually. Off of the yoga mat, we live most of our lives out of alignment physically and each of us is physically unique. But collectively, anatomy is a general commonality which helps us come together to start on the same page.

I believe that the very act of setting up on the mat to move or wiggle is an act of honoring where we are, what we feel and the power and need to rearrange things in one way or another so that when we are done, things feel better in as many ways as possible. Maybe our mind feels clearer. Maybe our hip feels less tight. Maybe an ache is relieved. Maybe we feel taller. Maybe a stress is decompressed. Maybe our breath is longer and fuller. In my experience, if we go for one, just like we practiced last week, the possibilities are endless and often come in package form in bits and pieces. There is a way to get our bodies to connect to even the hardest of things with a sense of simple and gentle understanding. And then from there, the energy works more highly. In class, I have been relating the idea of energy flowing within the body to a flow of energy we already understand at least a little bit - circulation. We want that to be full and we want that to be free. When energy, like our circulation, is decreased, obstructed or restricted there is less harmony and more work is required. Rearranging things to find a more neutrally balanced spacing of things shifts the feeling of effort and allows for the true challenge and true potential of the pose to freely be experienced and expressed. We don’t have to work as hard as we maybe thought we did. Muscles aren’t fighting so much to keep a limb lifted. We get to feel a hint of the floatiness we’ve heard our teacher mention in class.

From my understanding, feng shui is not a practice of saying that other ways of arranging and connecting to external objects and their energy are necessarily wrong. It’s more a practice of acknowledging that there might be ways that don’t necessarily support the highest flow of energy and then doing based on that. In the Anusara yoga practice we understand neutral and optimal alignment similarly. It’s a guide and a roadmap that we can access and work into our bodies so that they can feel the joy of an enhanced way of being. We become aware of what the foundation is and then we do it. It’s the first step to discovering that a-ha moment or that moment in class where things “click” for us. After some time we maybe find that type of experience begins to trickle into more of our lives. More things feel like a-ha moments, more things start to click. Things align and flow with ease.

This is what we have been practicing being aware of in class this week. And technically every class is always alignment based, even if the theme isn’t centered around it or the physical practice is focused on it. Anusara yoga is a style of yoga that focuses heavily on alignment. Because of that, there is more time, energy, and care put into that aspect every class. It is the first step of everything we do physically and the first most important principle before the rest of the pose is prioritized. It’s not the only way to practice. It’s one way with a high intention: more freedom with the body and ultimately more freedom overall. We are setting ourselves up with awareness to create more space, more flow of positive energy, creating positive energy and even radiating that positive energy outwardly which changes the way the pose feels on the outside and the practice feels beyond our mat space.

I have always believed that the yoga practice is a pretty general systemic way of increasing function and freedom. No matter the style or its commitment to alignment and anatomy. It still offers that potential and service. But beyond that, there comes with that an intimate practice of spending time with ourselves to deliberately understand the intricacies of our design, how we move and how we are moved. We align what we can get to most easily and understandably and in the process start to also align everything else along with that. We get to participate with parts of ourselves that are out of reach, less in control of, and interconnect. To me, alignment has been the #1 way of feeling and understanding that where we put things matters. As a practitioner, finding practices over the years that connect me to my alignment has helped me gain a higher awareness to when things don’t feel good or right. And that when I realize that, I also know that whatever is off can be adjusted. There’s nothing wrong with me.

Depending on the amount of time we have or have not spent working in the ways that the yoga practice invites us to work, we can often find ourselves doing more or less work to even simply find neutral alignment. Neutral doesn’t mean natural which means it can often feel like a lot more work than we imagine it might to focus on something as “simple” as where we put our feet and how to place them. In the same way, depending on how things are organized or not, deciding to free-flow the energy in a room could be anywhere from a little work to a lot. In class Tuesday, I related some of what happens in the yoga class to the idea of Spring cleaning to achieve something like feng shui or its result - which we all know is a big project of getting into as many rooms and compartments as possible and clearing things out to open it up. Because we all know stuff gets stuffed everywhere somehow and we just can’t get in and do all of it all the time. We’re lucky yoga is something we can be guided through. It’s like asking a cleaning company to come over or for Marie Kondo to come and help you perform a miracle cleansing of your home with you. It can be easy to clean out and reorganize some spaces. Other areas on the other hand are harder to get to, require more time and energy and sometimes feel like an overwhelming project that doesn’t seem to end. Going inward to connect to the body within the body is a process and a journey toward connecting to who we are on the inside. Finding what’s been stored, collecting. Seeing what’s been piling up in a corner. Maybe looking at a room as a whole and just seeing if the way things have been arranged is functional, if it feels good. And so, like with all things we practice on our mats, alignment and learning to connect the anatomical dots to make things easier rather than harder takes time to learn.

This is not a technical practice of fixing or correcting what is wrong. It is a practice of recognizing where things feel their best and then simply adjusting.

We are bodies, vessels if you will, made up of and full of energy and it just isn’t always flowing freely. It gets blocked sometimes. A lot of the time! And so we rearrange and find where things may feel better. If we can align on our mats and find something that brings the body closer to feeling good, we believe that offers us space. Space to breathe more. Space to feel more. For some of us it’s one less little battle in our poses. It’s one less thing to worry about it. One less disruption, distraction and obstruction to how we feel and flow in the class. Clearer channels and pathways, less blockages where we feel trapped or limited.

When we align our bodies on the yoga mat I believe we are feng-shui-ing ourselves over and over again. We gain the priceless gift of feeling harmony in our bodies, enjoying being in our bodies more and feeling how that special organization we’ve created expands how we connect to everything around us.

What is it that we are looking to achieve when we practice yoga? What is our intention? Do we have an “end” goal or maybe multiple “end” goals we are working toward? What are we doing here? And when will the hard stuff be easy?

In class this week we shift our focus onto the power of practice as the way to connect the means to the ends, making our goals and our intentions more and more possible. The yoga class setting is a great example of this concept because we already know it as a practice. We go to class to do just that. This gives us a frame of reference to connect to regarding how we do things. We can relate to what we do in that space and environment to how our capabilities grow through our bodies in different exercises and poses we do in class. It’s all practice.

What does that mean then? If we are always practicing, when will the practice get us to where we want to be… maybe where the practice isn’t needed anymore?

First we need to look at why we show up. Why we go to yoga in the first place gives us the idea of a goal or that something is being worked toward. Whatever it is, be it mental, physical, emotional, spiritual, a combination of or all of the above. These are the reasons for practicing. Maybe there was one thing that got us onto a mat initially and over time that thing changed into something else or more reasons for showing up continued to present themselves. But in the beginning there is always a reason. Maybe we think of it as a problem needing a solution, a question needing an answer, maybe the simple pursuit of joy and happiness. But the reason is the intention or a version of an end. We show up once, sporadically or over and over again to connect ourselves to the means.

Then, we need to go through the motions over and over again in order for what we are practicing to sink in and slowly change us. The more we practice the better we get at whatever it is that we’re doing. The more we put our bodies through the different exercises and poses, the more our body parts respond positively to what was less attainable before. It for sure takes time, but by practicing, we get better at all the things we thought we were “bad” at before or just simply didn’t know how to do.

Attainability and possibility. Those are the two things I have found to be worth striving for and always gained through the years of practicing, teaching and practicing. The appeal of ideals and perfection are nice at first and can serve as wonderful inspiration and motivation but rarely draw us closer to who we are, where we are, and our true potential. It all goes back to the effort we put forth toward breaking through the barriers and perceived limitations. The effort we apply to be on the path that reminds us that we are more. And long as we walk the path and do the things, the things will come.

So what we want, whatever it is, even if it isn’t related to anything in the yoga class, asana or yoga practice - is about continuously exploring and experimenting with the means to the end. When we commit to that exploration and devote ourselves to the work we put into any and all goals or intentions, we cultivate and manifest the attainability and the possibilities. In a sense, we train for the very things we want to be a certain way- while keeping in mind that it takes time for anything to change and transform. Practice makes possible. Practice until possible. Practice sustains possibility.

A phrase has been going off in my mind the last few weeks, so much so that I woke up at 5:30am one morning with it loud in my head:

Everything is a muscle.

Of course, only muscles are actually muscles! But in my mind, the idea is that everything is and works similarly to muscles. They are inherently flexible. We can train them to be strong and more flexible. We also do things with our bodies that we don’t necessarily do with intention. So thinking in terms of muscles helps me remember that whatever we do is what we are practicing, whatever we have done the most has been practiced the most and is going to be the strongest known path. That means that certain things can end up feeling impossible or like they are definitely not for us. And that may actually be true in that moment based on where you are in that class or in that moment. We can feel it when we try to go to far in the opposite direction. It doesn’t really work out. And we can feel it when we fall out of practice. It feels like a setback. Whatever we know most will always dominate with more ease even after we have begun practicing a new way. Think of how long it takes for the tightnesses in our bodies to collect and harden. Think of how long it has been since practicing something that encourages strength and endurance. What other energetic muscles in our lives have we been flexing one way for so long that balance or change is inspiring us to do differently?

We have no choice but to honor our true capacity in order to reach our full potential. Until we have taught the part of us we are working on a new way for long enough for it to begin understanding that newness, we breathe and remember that it works even when it doesn’t feel like it. We remember why we are practicing and that the only way out is through. To get to the other side we have to keep going. We can retrain the muscles and teach them to work in different ways. We can do that with the way our minds work, the way perceive things, the way we connect and relate to things, and the way we know things to be true. Those are all “trainable”. Other ways of moving, thinking, doing, believing, seeing, and being are attainable and possible. If in the moment it doesn’t seem that way, it isn’t that that’s right- it is simply that it’s only right for right now. And the way toward anything else, toward more or different, is through practicing a new and different way. Training = practicing. It involves participating. And then the practice becomes this powerful and beautiful work you have employed yourself in, which becomes a constant reminder that you are always more than capable.

By showing up fully to our practices we honor where we are, who we are, our highest intentions, goals and wishes, our patience, devotion and our power to manifest.

The yoga practice reminds us that all things take time while also helping us remember that we are moving toward things that were ultimately always a part of us, even if it doesn’t feel that way or if we forgot to the point of not knowing how to attain it. No matter how many breaks or pauses exist between practices, what has been worked on becomes a part of us. Even if we forget. We are in a time and culture of super extreme resource in the palm of our hands! We barely have to think to answer questions, we can just google it! All of the ways and answers are out here, we simply need to take the steps and let them work. We practice as a commitment to ourselves and our commitment to ourselves is our practice. In the end they are one, no matter the smaller reasons or goals. We commit to ourselves through the ups, downs, changes, and lulls. We marry ourselves in mind-body + heart-soul and through that devotion unlock our full, infinite potential. Yes! I believe there is always a way and anything is possible. Learning yoga, kicking up to handstand, going up into urdvha dhanurasana, meditating, running, doing a pull up, getting better at climbing problems that aren’t our style of climb, gaining strength, being flexible, learning to move just one toe, or wink both eyes not just one, learning to play an instrument, becoming vegan, learning a new language, making better financial decisions, saying no to things that don’t make us happy, saying yes to things that do- the list goes on forever-.. but…

when we commit to practice our True Nature is revealed and we recognize more and more that all the things are possible.

So my question to you this week:

What feels impossible that you would like to make possible?

Let’s practice.

Since the 200hr TT began about 6 weeks ago, all of my teaching has centered around the material being covered week to week. It’s been a primary driver of inspiration and content and I’ve found that as both a student and a teacher, it has really deepened my understandings of these foundational elements to the yoga practice. I’ve found that they’re sinking in and permeating a little more than the last time I looked over these things and definitely further than when I was in any of the TT’s I’ve taken. It’s pretty cool to continuously learn from material you’ve already learned and notice that it makes far more sense and even different sense. I feel like yoga (and life) is a lot of that- repeated lessons, stories, archetypes- redundancies all over the place resulting in things “clicking” more every time.

One of the major philosophy and history topics starting this week is The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. It’s often referred to, themed around or taught out of in yoga classes. In yoga TT’s it is given a good portion of time to be deeply introduced and illuminated.

In my opinion, you don’t have to know every bit of yoga history and philosophy. The Sutras don’t have to be memorized and engrained in order to practice yoga, be a good yogi or be a great teacher. And you definitely don’t need all that for the yoga practice to work.

But is that stuff significant? Are The Yoga Sutras an incredibly important part of yoga’s lineage? Totally. And if you have heard of Patanjali and The Sutras and know what I’m referring to at all, then you also know that it’s a lot. The complexity and density of this material just doesn’t absorb during first ingestion and getting it through to students is a challenge. Just the idea of writing out the concepts for my teachings beyond the classroom is daunting. It’s extra teaching and not just sprinkled into or contextually attached to the practice. And I’m definitely no scholar on this subject matter. But I have found it useful. And thanks to the scope of lens of the Non-Dual Tantric yoga philosophy which I teach, practice and study myself, this Dual Classical text can still serve us.

The practice this week is being pulled from this text, so I thought I’d honor it with the humble introduction I would have appreciated before becoming a teacher and the kind that now as a teacher I’m not always able to give fully or articulately while teaching every single class dedicated to The Sutras.

| so |

Who’s Patanjali and what are The Yoga Sutras?

Very simply:

Patanjali was the author of the Yoga Sutras-

(sutra can be translated to mean “string” or “thread” but more commonly refers to discourse or a collection of aphorisms )

The Yoga Sutras is a doctrinal text that was written over 1,000 years ago containing 195/196 sutras (aphorisms) which became known as a theoretical, systematic & practical manual of spiritual philosophy which was known at the time as yoga- not quite exactly the same as what we know yoga to mean today or in the way we refer to or understand it. This was the first time the historical yoga teachings had been organized and synthesized from older traditions. Prior to this, teachings were usually offered orally, so accessibility of all of this synthesized yoga teaching and knowledge and wisdom was a pretty big deal at that time. This made spiritual exploration accessible. Whoa. The Sutras grew to become one of the foundational texts in the yoga world and is a staple text in most, if not all, yoga teacher trainings.

When practice is dedicated to this subject, how? It was so long ago…

My intention is to unpack some particle of this in a digestible way for us to be able to apply on and off the mat, based on things that feel the most sunken in and resonate. Offering lessons from The Sutras that I feel I understand well enough to share confidently so students can connect more deeply to what it is that we’re doing on our mats and take us into an even more intentional place.

In truth, yes, this was a very long time ago and the text has been translated over and over again by scholars, teachers and specialists of different kinds which leaves a lot of room for debate as to what Patanjali meant, what the translations of things are and how everything is viewed. Some students and teachers treat this text as a sort of bible and there are some who don’t think it’s relevant anymore. I’m sure it had a lot to do with the way that I was taught, but personally I continue to believe that there is so much substantial, enriching material to be found within, no matter how many times I skim through it, study it, or am taught about it in different ways. This is where we as practitioners and teachers can definitely turn our heads and potentially broaden our understanding of the practice we know and love so deeply and/or pull from its deep-rooted wisdom. It has been a truly great learning tool and to this day continues to enlighten how I practice, teach and perceive things. A full written text that encompasses a full system, a guideline, a philosophical viewpoint and history of yoga from before yoga became yoga as we know it today? That’s invaluable. It may be old and not necessarily aligned with what I believe spiritually, but it furthers my practice. And with an open attitude, all ideas have the ability to guide us. At least that’s how I see it.

If something stands out and strikes a chord, challenges our perception, draws us closer to what we are doing and brings a bigger way to play with what we know and how we practice, why not invite that wisdom into the yoga class and offer that experience to students? It might get us closer to where we are looking to go. In fact, it might even take us straight there.