Strength

Reading from Wednesday, October 21, 2015 yoga class

From the book "Yoga for your Spiritual Muscles" by Rachel Schaeffer

"Did you ever notice that when you walk on grass, the blades spring back up again?  Grass is mowed, raked, trampled, yet it consistently comes back healthy and green, like a strong warrior who survives battle after battle.  This requires resilience and strength.  

Developing the spiritual muscle of Strength helps you feel the incredible power of your physical body coupled with the ability to return to your inner core, even after many tramplings.  Throughout life, people will be unkind, plans will fall through, things won't always go your way.  These are the times when you need to contact the depth of your Strength.  Just as physical Strength enables you to carry heavy loads, inner Strength helps you to hold up under burdens that may seem insupportable.  

Strength is the balance of will and surrender.  If you exert yourself relentlessly, you will eventually burn out.  Our inner warrior is not a sumo wrestler or a soldier in constant battle, trying to overpower others.  Rather, it is a quiet presence whose assistance is always available.  The spirit of the inner warrior requires a commitment to integrity, to live passionately, and to trust yourself on a deep level--especially when you feel sensitive.  

There is tremendous power in vulnerability.  In fact, the word vulnerability is related to vulnerary, which means "used for healing wounds."  The willingness to share your deepest emotions can be a healthy salve, but many people falsely think they are strong only if they never show their feelings.  They create an armor of protection against emotions, but this is not true Strength.  You won't crumble if you cry in public, get angry at a loved one, or feel your own pain.  You may believe that if you allow yourself to cry, you will never be able to stop.  You WILL stop.  And then you will come back like the blade of grass, even more resilient and closer to who you really are."