Effortless Effort

Placing ourselves in a yoga class or on a solo hike, puts us in the perfect place to help our loved ones.  Counter-intuitive, right? 

Let’s back up to one of life’s Big Truths:  love is patient.  Impatience is noisy with its grumbles and its sighs, its complaints and its stomps.  But patience is quiet and strong.  It is patting and hugging; it is seeing past.  Patience weaves into almost every aspect of our relationships.  It is there as we react during the short-term moments, and there as we navigate the long-term changes of life.  It’s foundational.

So besides berating ourselves for being impatient and vowing to be more patient next time (neither of which work), how do we grow stronger in patience? 

Yoga says when you put yourself into places where you can practice being aware and present, like a yoga class or a hike, you are becoming stronger in patience. We master a yoga pose not when we achieve the most strength or flexibility, but when we have mastered the ability to relax our impatient effort and become patiently present (Sutra 2.47). By working through our self-frustration with that balance pose or our discontent when halfway up that hiking hill, we are learning to be kind to ourselves and not expect perfection at all times. We are practicing self-patience.  Yoga says the more we practice self-patience and effortless effort, the more it will radiate out from us and towards our loved ones. 

By quietly strengthening ourselves, we strengthen our relationship with others. 

Until next time, 

Laura