The past few days I've been talking a lot in classes about the microcosm and the macrocosm. The way you do anything is the way you do everything. If you change your relationship to stress on your yoga mat and during your meditation practice you can change your relationship to stress off of your yoga mat. The yoga mirror is always there. You have to look at it. This is the beginning of svadhyaya--Self Study. Before we are able to get to the stillness and study the most subtle element of ourselves that is only revealed when the mind is quiet we have to understand the pattern of distraction that is keeping us from getting to that stillness. We replace negative patterns with patterns that will lead us to a more positive outcome and then eventually we let those patterns drop away as well. What is being revealed to you on your yoga mat? What are your patterns? What is coming up for you in the fire of your practice? What are the ways your mind distracts you when you are trying to concentrate? Do you fidget your body instead of confronting the intensity of the fire? Do you let your mind wander somewhere else? Where does it go? Does it go to the future? Does it focus on something from the past? Do you judge yourself? Do you judge other people? When negative emotions rise to the surface do you blame others? Who do you blame? Your teacher? The students around you? The temperature of the room? People from your past? Whose voice is in your head commenting on everything you're doing? Mom? Dad? What pattern are you stuck in? This is the deeper work of yoga? Are you looking at the yoga mirror? What is being revealed? Are you practicing yoga or just making an asana of yourself? ;) Happy Friday, yoga tribe!