the middle.

in my friday evening yoga class last week (my favorite way to head into a weekend!), my teacher spent the class focusing our minds on the idea of strength and stability versus ease and apathy.  she described it as the difference between muscling through something (maybe a pose our body just isn’t ready for yet, and our pushing leads to injury or discontent with our practice) and just allowing things to happen to us, without putting in effort (and we never see the results we want and can’t grasp why not). 

in yoga, neither of these approaches is ideal; we must find the balance, the middle ground.  and as i went through my vinyasas and my warrior twos and my tree poses that night, i remained focused on that lesson and its application to practically everything in life.  in work, in our personal relationships, in all things fitness, we can try to force something, but we won’t be as successful as when we take a few steps back, take time to physically and metaphorically breathe, and approach again with some of that ease.

on the flipside, good things don’t always come to those who wait: there must be some action, some effort, some advancement, if we are ever to achieve what we are looking for. 

there is nothing new in this lesson, and yet in a moment of struggle/stress/conflict, i find it easy to lose the focus on that middle balance and either push and push to get through it or throw my hands up and let whatever happens, happens.  so i welcome such a reminder.  i hope you agree.

 

 xo. di. 

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