PHILOSOPHY 101.

Stiram Sukham Asanam: equal parts effort to ease

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are a collection of 196 Indian sutras on the theory and practice of yoga. They were compiled prior to 400 CE. So… they’re pretty old and are respected amongst yogic and spiritual scholars alike.

These ‘threads’ (as sutra translates from the Sanskrit) of wisdom offer guidelines for living a meaningful and purposeful life.

And when you start to explore them, you realise just how far off track we’ve come with yoga in the modern world. Patanjali, in all of the sutras, rarely mentions the physical postures, what we so commonly think of as ‘yoga’. He refers to alignment zero times and mentions no words that come close to flexibility.

Instead the sutras discuss how kleshas (obstacles) can be overcome through meditation, how the practices of yoga can calm the chatter in your mind, how we can live in harmony, and so many other rich philosophical ways of viewing life.

One of the few lines that refers to the physical postures (asanas) goes like this: Sthira Sukham Asanam. And that loosely translates to ‘The posture should be steady and comfortable’.

So when leading classes I will often talk to the delicate dance between effort and ease. In any posture, take the time to notice if you’re over-gripping, over-tensing, over-holding. Or at the other end of the spectrum, are you lethargic, or putting in no effort at all?

And this is relevant to how we live off the mat, and in particular to our relationship to joy.

How can we be alert and attentive and active in this world, while at the same time tender, soft, malleable and open to the opinions, views and approaches of others?

In any one situation, do we over-control, unable to see the value of the opinion of others? Or do we back down and retreat from having an opinion? Do we not ‘show up’ at all?

Both options kill joy. Really.

Life is a delicate dance between give and take, hold and release.

It’s this dance that keeps our awareness of impermanence so alive. If we are able to stay open to each moment, the dance is sweet; it flows, it feels right, and others stand by watching in amazement. It’s truly inspiring.

Knowing when to ‘let go’ and knowing when to ‘stand up’ and fight for something. Knowing when to hustle (because sometimes we just have to) and knowing when to slow down.

And even better… leading with hustle and heart; now that’s a winning combo.

People who have achieved this kind of clarity are usually in tune with themselves. They honour the yin within the yang and the yang within the yin.

They have healthy ideas around boundaries and relationships and they are aligned with their values and vision for wholehearted living.

Stiram Sukham Asanam (also from the sutras), equal parts effort to ease – learning when to hustle or lean into heart – is a practice just like anything else. We don’t call it yoga ‘practice’ for nothing.