The Complete Yoga Community

Surrender the ego, control, fight/flight. Close the eyes and sink into experience, sensation, feeling. Feel the pulse of the blood through the veins, the resistance in the body, the apprehension of opening up. Breathe into it, bring yourself relief, coax the fear out of the muscles and allow them to be free. This is Yoga…

As a yoga instructor who spends time at both my own studio but also at local gyms, I see an array of students all approaching yoga from different needs and mind frames. For many, especially at the gym, the first and most difficult part of their yoga practice is changing their view on healthy exercise. Often, like myself, we are drawn to yoga for a physical workout and find the many other benefits especially the spiritual path along the way. As people walk into the gym for a workout and decide to try the next class on the schedule, they are prepared to feel the muscles burn, the sweat drip and to bring their breath to a pant. This is what one expects from a healthy workout. Surely in order to be fit and healthy we need to ‘feel the burn’?

It can be hard to appreciate yoga in a Western mind frame, as one does not experience the posture but constantly works the posture, fights the body and pushes the limits. This often leads to a shallow breathe and an anxious competitive mind. In modern society we are taught to value achievement, control our environment and work, work, work. It is not easy to sit down on a yoga mat and let that all go. This is the beautiful challenge of yoga in our day and age. It reminds us of another way of approaching exercise, as well as life. As we move into a posture, instead of forcing the body to respond, we breathe our way into it. The breath is like a song serenading the body, soothing the body, releasing the past and bringing us into the present. Focus moves from achievement to experience, from the future to the present. After a yoga class of surrender the body feels alive with awareness and one does not wake the next day with the acid burning discomfort of a forced workout.

By practicing surrender on the yoga mat we come one step closer to practicing surrender in everyday life. Letting go of the ego’s need to constantly achieve, be busy and push, rather allowing ourselves to sit back and experience our existence, taking time out to let go and surrender to the forces of the universe. This brings us to the concept of Ishvara Pranidhana, the yoga sutra that reminds us to surrender to a higher power, to let go of our need to control and instead allow ourselves to be steered forward by the hidden current towards our purpose.

By Cathy Rogers
YOUR YOGA SPACE
072 123 6316
www.youryogaspace.co.za