Dear Yoga Friends,  

There are certain qualities we can bring to life that are really helpful in living a full, rich, life of our choosing. Non-judgemental curiosity, patience, and a willingness to begin again can reduce the negative through processes that often arise when we meet a situation in life we wouldn't necessarily choose. How do we bring those qualities to our yoga practice and how do they help us, on the mat and in life?

When we explore yoga poses that take us to the edge of our current comfort zone interesting things can emerge for us! When we explore 'advanced' yoga poses, or poses that require a playful, cautious, curious approach, we can learn that we are adaptable as humans. Perhaps more adaptable that we once thought. We can learn that a bit of patience can turn a situation that seems very 'stuck' into one that has a bit of spaciousness. We can notice our tendencies to struggle, or give up, or give out!, or wish things were a slightly different way. We can notice things are subtly changing all the time and we are, perhaps, not exactly what we thought we were! Usually in this process we also find we're less grippy, less tense and just a little softer and more open than we had been, even if the pose wasn't perfect! 

When we explore advanced yoga poses together the goal is to have some fun! It doesn't matter the shape of your body, let's get up close and interested in the shape of the thoughts!! 

Michael Stone. The Inner Tradition of Yoga

Yoga begins with an honest meeting of our present experience, which means seeing as best we can all aspects of ourselves and our world, including what is most difficult or painful.

How much suffering have we felt through our inability to tolerate and live in the midst of change? How much difficulty do we experience from our reactions to the interactivity of feelings, thoughts, movements in the body, and memory?

The sense of ourselves at an innermost level is entangled with our reactions to the gross and subtle movements in the mind and body. The mind and body belong to a moment-to-moment process, not to our clinging habits nor to the ways we want things to be or wish they were.

Yoga is freedom from this satisfaction-dissatisfaction cycle we call 'me and 'mine'. 

Looking forward so much to seeing you on the mat to explore playfulness, patience and the ever-changing nature of our human condition!

Kindest regards, 

Sylvia. 

sylviayoga.com