Contract and expand...

Most people focus on the contractions in life, totally overlooking the expansion that came before them. It's vital to not only understand intellectually the philosophy of expansion and contraction, but to own them emotionally as well.  

All of us are growing in our yoga practice, making wise decisions, pursuing our deepest desires and sometimes dumbfounded when we experience financial, emotional and physical contractions.  During these tense moments in life, it may feel like all the work we've done dissolves and we're stuck in a labyrinth with no way out.  We all may feel a sense of discouragement during these pauses of progress in life.  The more we study life and yoga, we discover that this is the way it often goes.  Like the cocoon that surrounds a caterpillar, this stress, contraction and resistance is the very element that strengthens us to break through.  

If you're like most, when unwanted tensions arise, panic ensues and we start to search for ways to ease the pain.  It continues to spiral mentally, as those wheels begin to turn to try to find a mental solution to the pain.  It's in these moments that we can draw on our inner strength and apply patience and perseverance as the emotional storm clears.  

Your yoga practice at Inner Strength literally trains you and empowers you with the tools necessary to watch the process shift from one layer to another. With consistent application, the more quickly we will move through the contractions to the opening on the other side.  

Again, I want to reference the cocoon metaphor where the very tension surrounding us is the very element that we use to break through.  Even as we endure the contractions, we can find peace within ourselves if we remember to trust the process.

Your classes at Inner Strength will open you up to the natural inspiration of surrender and in that, as well as in the center of our own hearts, is a willingness to trust in the process of contractions and expansions. 

Take a moment to evaluate where you currently are.  Do you feel like everything is opening up for you in life, or are you in the contraction phase?  Either way, when we step onto the mat, we merge and ultimately break through.  

Please feel free to leave a comment.

Roman