balance effort and ease

Saucha-santosha-tapas-svadhyaya-ishvara pranidhana-niyamah 2.32
The code of inner practice for the yogi is cleanliness, contentment, self-discipline, self-study and reflection and pure surrender to your creative source.

Yoga is the martial art of the mind and the strongest opponent you'll ever face is your ego. I read that somewhere and surely, it's true. With the niyamas, Patanjali's second limb of the eight-folded path of yoga, the sage offers us guidelines to gracefully navigate everyday interactions.

Saucha - purity, cleanliness - refers to various purifying yogic practices such as using a neti pot to rinse sinuses, scraping the tongue to clean the mouth, dry brushing to stimulate cell renewal and flow of lymph. It also includes uncluttering our home, the space around our mat and ultimately, our mind.

Santosha - contentment - is not to be confused with complacency. We can practice contentment by honoring in gratitude what we have. It anchors us in a quiet place without the stress of striving to achieve something...including a particular pose. Instead, let the pose (or life) come to you. After my hip surgery, I made peace with possibly never squatting again. I continued my regular modified practice in contentment of what showed up on the mat. One day, I found myself dropping into a squat. There it was. I had not even pushed for it.

Tapas - self-discipline - is the to be seen in balance with contentment. Tapas describe the effort it takes to get something done and it has to be considered in balance with Santosha. In a differentpart of the Sutras, Patanjali says "Effort without strain, ease without dullness." If we can live life there, it should be a pretty smooth ride.

Svadhyaya - self-study - through self-observation we create a space from where we can decide how to create, instead of living in a reactive state. In fact, creating and reacting use the same letters. You choose the order in which you put them by recognizing your natural tendencies through observation.

Ishvara Pranidhana - surrender to the universal life force - no matter how we name the energy that's bigger than us, if we recognize it we can use it. Instead of trying to push the river, we can surrender to its currents. Surrender to what is, let go of what was, ad have faith in what will be. Surrender is to give oneself up to the original cause of one's being. What is that if it's not to share the Love and the Joy that we are embodying?!

Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time,
enjoying one moment at a time,
accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
taking this world as it is - not as I would have it - 
trusting that all will turn out alright,
I surrender.
(Reinhold Niebuhr)

​