Practice is defined by the simple act of getting on our mat every day.

Sometimes it feels amazing, but sometimes it’s a struggle. Sometimes we are immersed in a feeling of ease and flow, other times it’s about being at peace with our pain. And that’s okay.

Life contains suffering. Don’t run from it. Don’t look for it. But when it comes, let pain be your teacher.

In the practice, avoid unnecessary suffering and injury by following good technique, but don’t run from the first sign of discomfort. When you hit your edges you will start to fray. When you push your limits you will feel like you’re coming apart at the seams. It’s all good, it’s all part of the process.

Sometimes in life we’re swimming in a sea of love, but other times our heart is broken and we’re picking up the pieces of a shattered dream. Sometimes we rise up to the occasion and deliver our best, but other times we stumble and fall. It’s all part of the process.

Yoga isn’t about perfection. Yoga isn’t about protecting ourselves so we never feel discomfort. Yoga is about living in a state of peace and surrender so deep that we’re okay with the good days and the bad.

It’s about forgiveness and healing. It’s about learning how much strength it takes to love this world with our whole heart, how to love so big and furious that sometimes our heart aches, sometimes our spirit soars, sometimes we see miracles, but our center of infinite truth is rock solid, never shaken, eternally bound to a life lived in deep communion with all that is.

~

Author: Kino MacGregor

Image: Agathe Padovani/I Film Yoga

Editors: Katarina Tavčar; Catherine Monkman