The Balance between Strength and Ease

The balance between Strength and Ease is a favorite yoga topic of mine. It's that middle place where you find Yoga, or Union. Trying, but not too hard, and also relaxing, but not too much, is what the yoga practice is all about, both physically and spiritually. You are finding stability, but without the struggle or strain.

When you are practicing asanas (the poses), you want to use enough effort in the poses to maintain your stability and balance, but not so much effort that your muscles become hard and immobile. Something rigid will get knocked down easily, but something too soft will have no structure or integrity.  You want to use your muscles to create stability, but with a concurrent sense of relaxation so you still have the ability to adapt to shifts of weight.

Imagine Tree pose (or any 1-legged balance pose). The standing leg needs to use enough strength to support the body weight, or you will fall down, but if you make your muscles too hard, you will also fall over. Balance is found by adjusting and adapting to the small shifts in weight on the foot, so if you don't have enough ease in your body, you will be unable to adapt and you will fall over. It's like a willow tree in the wind; the willow bends but doesn't break, it adjusts to the wind and the branches don't snap off.

When practicing yoga poses, you want to use enough effort in the muscles to create stability, but simultaneously use enough ease to be able to keep your balance.


This also applies to life. While it's important to be able to stand up for yourself, you also need to be open to new information. You don't want anyone to walk all over you and take advantage of you, but at the same time, if you are too rigid in your mindset, you will be unable to create meaningful connection. Balancing your inner strength with your inner compassion creates proper boundaries so that you can feel more connected to the people that matter, and have more peace inside of yourself. 

Some arguments are worth making, some causes are worth standing up for and getting behind, and some are not. How you wish to spend your energy matters. Practicing yoga helps you hone your ability to practice strength and ease at the same time. And with that, comes wisdom.


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