In today’s episode we explore Yoga Sutra 2.46: “The pose should be steady and sweet.” We dig into what this looks like both on and off the yoga mat, including how to find yourself in the flow of it.
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Transcript
(00:04):
Welcome to Love, Curvy Yoga, the podcast where we’re trying to find our rhythm again and hope you are too. Now let’s get into it.
(00:12):
[MUSIC]
(00:17):
Hi, Anna here. Okay, let’s do our check-in. How are you feeling? Really let yourself pause and ask. And what do you need in your body? Last week I talked about how tight my jaw has been and this week I have noticed that it’s released some. Emphasis on some, but still I’ll take it. I have really been trying to bring awareness there and soften and that has been very helpful. I’ve also realized what a barometer my jaw is like, Whoa, I’ve noticed that the more I’m like, “I’m fine!! Everything’s fine!!!” that the tighter my jaw becomes, which is pretty helpful information even though I would love to get the message sooner and not have it come to that. Oh, well, baby steps, right. Okay. Up next in our main segment, where are you in the dance?
(01:30):
[MUSIC]
(01:36):
As you may know, this month in our online studio, our theme is inner and outer strength and flexibility. So each day of the week we’re exploring a different inner quality through one of our video practices and the inner qualities are drawn from one of the yoga sutras, and the yoga sutras is a foundational text in yoga. So I am exploring each of these in my weekly emails. So if you’re a member you can check that out there. But there’s one that I wanted to dive into here on the podcast and that is yoga Sutra 2.46 which is what’s inspiring our inner quality on Thursdays, which is effort and ease.
(02:21):
So in Sanskrit, this Sutra is Sthira Sukham Asanam. Sthirah is steady, and there are lots of different ways to translate these words, but steady is a pretty common one. Sukah is sweet and Asana is seat or pose. So one pretty common translation is “the pose should be steady and sweet.” Now this originally referred to the meditation posture, but over time it has expanded to all poses and certainly also to life off of the yoga mat. So you may have also heard this described as a balance of effort and ease, steady and easy, steady and comfortable, et cetera. And I have to be honest, for a long time this was hard for me to relate to. I got it intellectually, let’s say, but actually doing it was way more of a challenge, and it honestly often still is. But I have practiced it more in my body now so I have a more visceral sense of it than I used to. I think the best way for me to describe it or that I think about it is kind of like a wave or a dance, something that is fluid moving and always in conversation with itself.
(03:49):
I’m sure you have heard as I have the, I don’t think millions is too much of an overstatement, of conversations out there about for example, work life balance. How do you find it? Is it all BS? Why am I not doing it better? Is it even possible to do it better? And I think our whole framework towards this question is not helpful. It’s not is it possible or is it not possible? But more where am I in the ebbs and flows of it right now? Am I dancing to the rhythm or am I going way faster than the song really calls for what would help me move more toward flow? And I think toward is really important there. It’s actually a word I like to use a lot when I’m teaching. So for example, you might’ve heard me say work your legs towards straight in a forward bend for example. And I’ll usually, say, follow that up with that’s just the direction that we’re going. But that doesn’t mean that you’ll be there today or ever. And I think that toward is process oriented.
(05:01):
So continuing with this on the mat, think about what a balance between steady and sweet, effort and ease looks like there. How many times have you heard your yoga teacher say don’t forget to breathe or relax your jaw — as you know, I am saying that to myself many times right now. So when you hear a teacher say that they may be noticing in that moment that a lot of people are more on the effort side of things than the ease side of things. On the flip side, you might also hear a yoga teacher say something like, engage your core or don’t collapse here. And in that moment they may be noticing a lot of people are more, not even on the ease side of things, but more on the collapse side of things because ease definitely does not mean giving up or in or not trying.
(06:01):
I think our society has a hard time not making everything polar opposites, but I’m sure you’ve experienced this in your life. There’s a difference between someone who brings a loud tone and the intense face to a challenging situation and someone who takes a deep breath and makes space for themselves and others in a challenging situation. And on the mat you can absolutely do Savasana with effort and you can also absolutely do handstand with ease. It has so much more to do with the how than the what and I think we’re all always in a dance really probably multiple dances.
(06:47):
Where are you in the effort and ease of pandemic? What about the steadiness, sweetness of work or family life? And we don’t ask ourselves these questions to be hard on ourselves but more to remind ourselves that we are in a dance because it’s easy to forget — and to see what would help us dial in more to the frequency that would most support us. Okay, up next a few reminders and invitations.
(07:27):
Reminder: all of life is this dance so you’re going to be in lots of different places at lots of different times and it’s okay to take a moment and listen for the song before you figure out where you want to jump in. Also, most important reminder, you are doing great.
(07:51):
Couple of invitations to reflect on this week. So number one, what’s it like to explore steadiness and sweetness on the mat? What does it feel like in your body? I think that’s really important information. When we can start to notice how things like this feel in our bodies on the mat, because the mat is kind of this concentrated experience, then it becomes easier to identify those sensations. And I think also importantly when you’re not having those sensations off the mat. And then the other question is what is one area off the mat where you might like to explore that inquiry of steadiness and sweetness?
(08:38):
Okay, a couple logistical reminders. We are still exploring inner and outer strength and flexibility this month in the studio. So if you’re a member, you can check that out there. And if you’re not, you can join us at curvyyoga.studio and use the code curvy C U R V Y to save 50% off your first month. If you have questions, comments, or ideas, I would love to hear them. You can email them to me at podcast@curvyyoga.com. Let’s close here with one breath together. We’ll inhale and exhale. The light in me honors the light in you. Namaste.
(09:30):
Stay tuned next week where we’ll see where the dance takes us.