Issue #5 - Yoga for finding balance
Spring and the equinox - this is my favourite season
Dear friends,
How are you? I do hope you are well.
As you may have noticed, the long, dark evenings are slowly being replaced with the promise of lighter, brighter times.
For those of us who struggle in the winter months, this news is likely to be even more welcome.
I do my best to try and love each season for what it brings, and I usually relish winter’s call to rest, deeply and without guilt.
The summer months bring their joys, too, but, for me, I love the transition seasons of autumn and spring.
For the ancients, spring was seen as the beginning of the new year, at the moment of the spring equinox. The spring equinox was, and still is, celebrated because it is when the length of day and night are equal. There is a balance between the two.
This all ties rather beautifully into yoga because yoga (especially hatha yoga) is very much about balance. Finding balance. Being balanced.
Of course, there are many balancing poses in yoga which are great to explore at this time, but, for me, reflecting on the ways in which I balance—or would be wise to try and balance—my own sun (ha) and moon (tha) energies, both in my personal practice and, more generally, in my life, is when I feel the most power and the most balance.
As Jilly Shipway writes in Yoga Through The Year (a book I shall refer to quite a bit in this issue):
Yoga helps us reconcile opposing parts of our self, creating optimum conditions for healing to occur.
Looking to the natural world for inspiration, we know that if we plant something now, the sun’s energy on Earth at this time will enable it to grow, and I love feeling for the urge we have to get out more and to do more. The time for hibernation has come to an end.
I also love how I begin to feel a burst of energy for the ideas that I have been nurturing throughout the darker side of year. The ideas that I have been pondering over and incubating.
The spring equinox marks the time of year when the focus is on creating, and it is the time for striving for that which we wish to bring to fruition. Because there is an increase of more active, rajas energy all around us and it can help us to accomplish amazing things.
Yoga is a key component of making the most of this precious time that we have, here, now. Not least because it enables us to tune in to the wisdom we each hold in our bodies and in our hearts - so that we can act authentically and avoid being swept away by the restlessness of the season.
Knowing what it is we most want to put out into the world, focusing on it, and not burning out while we do it, is what yoga empowers us to do.
For instance, with the balance between night and day, dark and light, being equal, we may feel the rush of energy, but we still need rest.
We should also try to remember, and remind ourselves daily, that yoga won’t eliminate stress from our lives. But our practice should enable us to handle stress more effectively. It offers us a sense of balance because we won’t be so easily knocked down by the curveballs that may—and very likely, will, at some point—fly at us.
This season also speaks to the yogic concept of finding balance between effort (sthira) and ease (sukham). Anybody with an interest in anatomy and fitness will know that to stay healthy and keep our bones strong, sometimes we must put them under a little bit of stress. But too much stress would likely lead to injury. So we must also rest them. Well, it’s the same with our minds, and with our hearts, and with our entire being.
We all know there’s risk of burnout when we do too much, and there will be a unique setpoint for this, for everybody, and, for me, the journey of my yoga practice has been, and continues to be, about discovering my own setpoint. The setpoint that I ignored when I didn’t have yoga, and yoga has helped me to not only find it, and observe it, but to honour it as well.
Yoga also helps me to respect and accept the ride that is my life. With its ups and downs and moments of tension and peace. It also enables me to acknowledge the varying setpoint in response to the events of my life. And, as was said last time: we need to be real with ourselves and our lives in order to know our setpoint and to gain a sense of balance.
Balancing Tiger (Vyaghrasana)
I love this pose! Not just because it is grounding (something that is really important at this time of year), but also because it is a balancing pose with a version that pretty much everybody can try.
While looking for a website that gave accessible instructions and images for this pose, I found Gaia. Please check it out before attempting the version of the pose in the above photograph.
“The tiger lies low not from fear, but for aim.” Sherrilyn Kenyon
I love playing in this pose. I start off gently, taking one arm away at a time in table-top. Then, maybe, I will try with one leg lifted.
I love noticing my core muscles engage.
I love finding the balance and being with my breath.
And I love that if I am feeling more wobbly, that I can keep my movements low to the ground, and that if and when I feel to, I can lift both an arm and a leg and reach around for my foot. And breathe. And I feel so empowered. Much like a tiger.
Many years ago, when I used to volunteer for Oxfam, I came across a book titled: Tiger Heart, Tiger Mind, and, at the time, it completely changed the way I was looking at things.
Now I cannot do this pose without thinking of the powerful imagery of that book and of the tiger’s heart and the tiger’s mind, and how focused the tiger always appears to be. Majestic and fierce, of course, but with the ability to pad gently through even the densest jungle.
In China, the tiger is the embodiment of Yang energy, which is positive, and it’s associated with the sun. Symbolising wonderful things such as energy, protection, and generosity, among others.
In India, the Bengal Tiger is the national animal, and there are countless myths and legends surrounding them.
One of my favourites is of the tiger as a vehicle (vahan) for the warrior goddess Durga. Durga and her tiger are said to symbolise the powerful union of the scared feminine force and Mother Earth that are fearless in the face of evil.
(Please note: this is the case mainly in Western India. Whereas for many other areas, such as in southern India, Durga’s vahana is more commonly thought of as a lion.)
When I am in tiger pose, I like to imagine that my body is the tiger, and that my higher self, channelling Durga, is a warrior goddess.
It has been said that when you bring the image of Durga to mind, she can empower your aspirations and guide you through all of life’s dramas.
Durga also apparently embodies the ability that each one of us has to transform ourselves and to release anything (behaviours, challenges, beliefs, fears) that may be holding us back.
Seen as the most powerful of all deities and the source of everything, this awe-inspiring mother goddess encourages you to honour and express the feminine force in the universe and in yourself (whether you are a man or a woman). Durga’s creative energy can inspire and intensify your own fruitfulness. Call on her to help you fulfil your potential, produce wondrous works of art, or birth new ideas. Durga can help you as you fight the good fight. Ask her to lend you her formidable energy and wisdom so that you can stand up for what’s right. She’ll help you defeat the demons around or within you and emerge victorious.” Skye Alexander
So, with that in mind, I wish you all a tiger heart and a tiger mind, and may you all have a peaceful, balanced start to March.
With love, peace and endless kindness,
Louisa
xx
Please find your journal page for this month’s theme in a separate email, and here is my new Balance playlist that you may enjoy listening to.