Effort and Ease

Effort and ease are ideas that I mention occasionally while leading yoga. I am always curious about the ways in which I hold myself back from actions or asanas due to fear or some faulty assumption or belief. For instance, a thought about injury in a particular pose always makes me wonder...am I being reasonable and appropriately cautious, or am I allowing worries and fears about getting hurt to hold me back from practicing fully "at my edge?"

I guess the problem in part for me is that I have been injured in yoga before. In some situations I am aware that I took things too far, or wasn't fully present at the time...but in other instances, small injuries have happened and I really cannot pinpoint why. As we age, our bodies get a bit less pliable, so some caution is necessary I suppose. Injury and ill health are a part of our existence, but as humans we always seem to be looking for ways to avoid pain and discomfort.

Effort and ease can be difficult to manage in daily life too. Sometimes, I know I am taking the easy way out of a situation rather than giving it my full attention and energy. At other times, I know I can get too intense and single-minded and then I have to work on finding ways to 'mellow out' and release my need to control outcomes.

In my yoga practice, I find myself returning to this idea of finding a middle ground, a place of balance between effort and ease. For me, it helps to take a deep breath and get grounded in the present rather than getting stuck in some old idea from the past that  I am trying to make right, or some outcome I am reaching for in the future. It's not a spot you arrive in and then are finished. It's a day to day, moment to moment practice to try to really "be there" and live life at just the right intensity, finding that balance of effort and ease.