Dream big, work hard, and never stop pushing

 Until...?
 
I love the 'never stop pushing' slogan. It sums up an approach to life that is all around us. The poster of it caught my eye this morning in a shop on Gloucester Road.
 
It is a common method to think you are getting the most out of life when you are busy and doing more, pushing harder, and it reflects an inherent dissatisfaction with what we currently have. 
 
If we get busy enough, if we do enough things, if we dig deeper and keep going until we get to the end of the week and collapse in a heap, did we win?
 
What is the prize?
 
 
Yoga asks something else of us

We all have things we would like, or need to do. Work, life, family, relationships, desires, fun, creativity. There is space for all of these and they are all important.
 
Yoga doesn't suggest that we sit around all day taking it easy and never getting anything done.
 
Nor does it suggest that we power up and push through for an hour and that we will come out rebalanced and serene at the end. We might just come out stretched, wired and pumped for more. 
 
For every extra push, there is an equal and opposite reaction. A push back. A toll is taken. If we just keep pushing, at some point we are at risk of falling over. 
 
 
Sthira / Sukha
 
There is a verse from Patanjali's Yoga Sutras which sums it up nicely. 
 
It states that when practicing yoga, every posture and practice should have in equal measure: 
 
Sthira: sturdiness and effort
 
Sukha: ease and openness.
 
Both are equally important.
Without both, you're missing the mark. 
Yoga has balance built in.
 

Return to balance
 
Do we personally need more of one or the other?
 
If we tend to push forwards in life and only stop when we are exhausted or are forced to, then more ease and openness could be exactly what we need. 
 
If we tend to be a bit lacklustre and drift through our days, then more focus and effort may be the right balancing force.
 
We often have a dominant mode, personal to us.
It might feel hard to do the other.
And there lies your practice...
 
Each posture and each practice can support effort and ease in equal measure.
 
 
Our life needs both
 
Too soft and you'll become lethargic and unmotivated, too much and you'll eventually be exhausted. 
 
And along the way as our yoga practice develops, we notice that life isn't inherently dissatisfactory. We might just be looking in the wrong place for satisfaction. 
 
Have a balanced week 🌞