We need to talk about Yoga.
You see, yoga is often associated with bliss, zen and wellness. But nobody ever talks about the dark side of it.
As yoga teachers we are expected to be calm, and the embodiment of wellness.
Because practicing yoga will make us happy and completely blissed out, right? – it is not so simple.. Yoga is meant to bring us closer to ourselves to our essence, to “the source in us”. But in order to find balance and authenticity we need to clear out some shit, meaning we need to face the dark side. -this is also called shadow work.
So if you find yourself in the midst of what is supposed to be an amazing yoga flow and all you feel is annoyed, sadness or even flaming rage building up inside. Don’t despair – it’s is NOT wrong. It only means that yoga is doing exactly what it is supposed to do. “So what if I feel nothing at all”? You might think – well, that’s OK too. Maybe you just need to sit and feel that for a while.
Whatever you need to clear out,
and balance out – that is what you will get.
My own daily practices are so different from day to day. I sometimes have to fight an inner battle even to get started.
Because you meet yourself on the mat, the good the bad and the ugly side, and that can be challenging, and sometimes painful.
In yoga you work with both mind, soul and body, and so it is bound to get gritty.
It will force you to walk through your darkness, It will strip you raw until you see yourself clearly and honest from the inside.
And once you’ve journeyed through that, then you know yoga.
