The Fruits of Our Yoga Practice by Julie Pasqual

         One of the things I love most about Indian culture is that it is so practical.  Reading through even the most ancient texts, one feels as if they are reading things that were written yesterday, as opposed to thousands of years ago.  Yes, the language is a little different, but the intentions, and the meanings, as well as the struggles are the same.  It seems like we humans have always been struggling with how to tame our crazy minds.  How to stop the thoughts that turn us from the peaceful, loving people we so want to be, and into the bickering, short fused harpies we sometimes morph into.  

          In the Bhagavad Gita, one of the most revered of all yogic texts, Arjuna - who is doing most of the listening in this book, says, "O Krishna!  The mind is very fickle, powerful, wild and stubborn.  It seems to me that to control the mind is as difficult as catching the wind!"  And, Krishna, who is doing most of the talking in this text says, "Yes, the mind is certainly restless and difficult to overpower.  But by practice, and detachment, it can be done!"

         Those two points: practice (abhyasa) and detachment (vairagya), are two of the hardest, yet most useful things we can bring to our yoga practice, both on and off the mat.  We have to acknowledge that what yoga asks of us - to still the restless mind, IS NOT EASY - there are going to be good days, and really days - days when our mind is spinning out of control with all sorts of wild thoughts.  But just like a child doesn't walk on the first try, just as we learned language one little word at a time, if we come back to practicing, again, and again - we make strides.

         And in this path of yoga, and in every endeavor we take up, we have to also learn to let go.  We try, we work hard, but ultimately, sometimes the result is out of our control, so we have to try our very best, but then throw up our hands, and say, "Done!"  But, here again, the Bhagavad Gita gives such great advice, because it says that whatever work we have done on this path of yoga - even if it's one down dog, or one moment of meditation - the rewards will always be there for us, and are never, ever lost.  We are always able to get whatever the fruits of our yoga practice, even if it's what a teeny, tiny practice give us.  

Julie Pasqual teachers:

Mondays - Bhakti Basic - 6:30pm

Fridays - Power Flow - 5:00pm