Humans are cyclic in nature, which implies we are continuously in a state of flux and our requires are ever-changing. Our yoga practice provides us a constant platform in which to honour this malleability, assistance our circulation of prana (energy, life force) and take the knowledge with us off the mat.
The qualities of yin and yang
Yoga Sutra 2.46, sthira sukham asanam, approximately equates to “a consistent and comfy seat” or “resolutely abide in a excellent area”. The significance of sthira is “to be steady or firm, mindful, present and alert”, which is complementary to the significance of sukham, “to be soft, at relieve, unwinded, tranquil and comfy”. While this Sutra was traditionally an direction for your meditation seat, we can technique all of the yoga postures, even our practice as a entire, with this belief.
The dichotomy of sorts is a event of holding opposing qualities at once — extensive yet contractive, fixed yet vibrant, yin yet yang — a dance inbetween effort and ease. “We enhance the qualities of engagement with letting go … sthira and sukha type a state of balance (sattva) that is without agitation (rajas) or inertia (tamas),” composes Deva Parnell, creator and director of Discovery Yoga .
Mindfulness and the breath
Mindfulness and the breath play such a crucial function in harmonising our circulation of prana and cultivating the previouslymentioned sattvic state. Author and yoga instructor Erich Schiffmann explains the breath as “the main provider of prana”. We requirement existence — an awareness of what’s occurring within and around us — to be able to determine what we require. Mindfulness is a tool we enhance in our practice and is one of the most important abilities we can take with us off the mat. And when it comes to the breath, mindful breathing is the driving force behind finding effort and ease minute to minute, posture by position.
We can usage the power of our breath in so numerous various methods with the sthira-sukham approach in our practice. In a tough position, it might indicate stabilizing an extreme, contracted sensation in the body with calm, extensive breaths. When lying down in savasana or yoga nidra, we can awaken the mind and body with deep, diaphragmatic breathing to motivate a complete oxygen exchange. Practising nadi shodana, a pranayama method, will assistance balance the 2 primary nadis (energy channels) in the body by equalising your yin and yang energies.
Embodying the philosophical mentor
On a wider level, oscillating inbetween effort and ease in your practi