This Week in Yoga: Precision & Stability

Hi, Yoga Friends,

If you practiced in the studio with me a couple weeks ago, you might remember our focus was precision and stability.  Precision is the quality of being accurate, and stability refers to firmness, solidity, steadiness, secureness, & strength.

Being precise about how we position our base, the foundation of any yoga pose (made up of any combination of our feet, knees, hands, forearms, head or sitting bones) has direct bearing on the amount of stability we experience during the time we’re there.  Giving each posture a good amount of time (or breaths) allows us to be mindful about where we place what, and in what way; and it also allows for curiosity and experimentation so that we find the best expression of a pose for our own unique body.

Given enough repetition, whether in the same practice session, or over weeks, months, or years, this precision and stability lead to knowledge imbued with wisdom and confidence.  Acumen is the ability to make good judgments and quick decisions, and aplomb refers to self-assurance when in a demanding situation.  These are the fruits of a dedicated yoga practice.  There’s a beautiful sweetness about moving from pose to pose as if it is what you were born to do.

However, nothing is permanent.  So, regardless of where we happen to find ourselves at the moment, not only will our circumstances change, but we will change, too.  This is practice in nonattachment, which is an acknowledgment of humility, impermanence, and letting go of control.  There are nice things about nonattachment; for instance, when things feel ridiculously difficult and overwhelming, it won’t necessarily be that way forever.  Alternately, there are challenging things about impermanence:  when life feels smooth, easy, and sweet, we know it probably won’t remain at this height always.

This is why it helps me to think of balance as a verb.  Instead of viewing it as a state of ease, equilibrium, stasis, and perfection, I practice balance dynamically, as an action, moving back and forth between extremes, honing in on what feels like center when and where appropriate and beneficial.  And this is my invitation to you ~ consider balance as a verb; bend and straighten your standing knee in warrior III; sway back and forth often (as much as possible, really) in tree pose; find yourself forgiving and gentle when you drive all the way to your dad’s house and then realize you’ve forgotten the key that will allow you to prep for the sale on his behalf.  Move between your extremes and find what feels like center to you; rest there for as long as it lasts; and when the ground beneath you shifts, shift with it; when your center slips, slip with it, precision & stability, acumen & aplomb radiating from you like the beacon of light and love you are.