" The mind can reach the state of Yoga through practice and detachment." The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, 1.12
As appears on The Heart of Yoga, T.K.V Desikachar
Earlier this year, I did a bit of painting at home , on the first day I used a small painting brush to go over a few places and it took me a long time, while the next day I used a bigger painting brush and took me half the time... when it comes to yoga, there are people who have been naturally “granted” with the advantage of a bigger brush per se.
There are people who are born with the bone structure/morphology that allows them to do postures relatively quickly compared to others who really have to put the time and effort to do them. The ones with the “bigger brush” or naturally flexible will be regarded as “good at yoga” while the ones with the “small” brush will need way more determination and practice to get where “the ones with the long brush” took in half the time... 🎨
When it comes to flexibility, there are many variables, and if you’re new to the yoga asanas and/or if you’ve been practicing consistently for a while and don’t see much progress, practice without attachments to the results and know that what you’re cultivating is not only your ability to get more flexible, or stronger, but your determination, your connection to yourself, your tolerance to discomfort, your ability to be healthy and awakened from the inside out and outside in, your embodiment of life, mindfulness, and the flexibility not only of your body but of your mind.
In order to enjoy our life, we have to let go of comparisons and attachment to it being any other than it is, so that have an ideal scenario in our heads but live and do our yoga with an openness and curiosity about the experiences as they come and unfold.
So, whether you start yoga with a "big brush or small brush", you are all freeing the path of the obstructions that get in the way of YOGA (meaning union)
Yoga is not only a practice that you do, but it is also a state. A state in which there is more harmony and connection, oneness and sacredness, a state where there is less resistance, less mental agitation, less division, less stress, less suffering. A state infused with timelessness where you realise ( RealEyes) that life is divine, and so are you
Both practice and detachment are needed in order to experience the incredible gifts of yoga, which are not connected to the type of postures you can or cannot do, but what you learn in the process, learning more about who you are. and who you are not
You’re only as empowered, divine and blessed as you believe yourself to be
Life has given us all an individual tool box, yoga adds to that tool box and allows us to swap the small brush for a more efficient brush so that we can build up our lives and become more skilled “painters” 🎨 we don’t even need to believe or expect to get all of these new tools, we just have to do our practice and this practice will create the effect or shifts where even the perceived as mundane or ordinary becomes sacred 🙏🏽🌈
May you use your unique paint brush to create a beautiful masterpiece out of your life
In yoga,
Amor