A funny thing happened as I fought with myself, tensing in such an awkward position. There I was breathing deeply, left leg outstretched behind me, right foot curled uncomfortably underneath my hip, upper body folded to the floor. Pain shot along the length of a hamstring.

“I’ve just got to get through the next couple of minutes” my mind advised me as my shoulders and belly tensed in preparation….and then I noticed what my mind was doing.

Helpful as it was trying to be, I didn’t have to “get through” anything. The whole point of the yoga pose is to meet your edge.  You don’t want to hang on to something that hurts, rather to feel the edge of discomfort – and let go, softening into it.  I’ve found, paradoxically, by letting go a little and trusting myself I can often handle more than I think – maybe even go a little further than I thought possible. Sometimes I can’t, and that’s ok too.  Because by consciously making a decision to relax into how things are (rather than how I want them to be) I stop fighting.

Here’s to developing the wisdom of letting go.

Photo by Blake Wheeler on Unsplash