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april 2016yogajournal.com.auEmbrace a fun-loving practice, cherish
joyfulness and nurture your inner child.
STORY BY JESSIE LUCIER
TEACHING BY CHRISTEN BAKKEN
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JULIA VANDENOEVERground
When Patanjali wrote the Yoga Sutra,
he explained asana as the intersection and
balance of sthira-sukha. Translated from
Sanskrit, sthira means “compact, strong,
steadfast, resolute”—all qualities we
embody in our adult lives. Sukha,
conversely, translates to “good, joyful,
happy, light”—all qualities we often
associate with children. Most adults have
lost sukha. On or off the mat, we may no
longer be willing to risk failure or to laugh
at those failures like we did when we were
kids and, as a result, we can suffer stress
and imbalance.
But you can use your mat to realign to
the joy and lightness of sukha and ultimately
advance your asanas. By cultivating sukha,
you can connect with your inner child
again, finding more creativity and freedom
within your practice. Children, as you’ll see
in the practice that follows, are the obvious
teachers to light and lead the way. “Yoga
can be a place to invite more play into your
life, and kids can serve as the example,”ONCE UPON A TIME, we all viewed the world
as a friendly, lighthearted, and inviting
place. Then, somewhere in the process of
becoming an adult—perhaps when we felt
pressure to excel in school, got passed over
for that perfect job, or felt the pain of a
broken heart—seriousness, self-doubt, and
fear may have replaced our wonder and
fun-loving attitude. While we can still
connect with the idea of being playful at
times (say, on the dance floor at our best
friend’s wedding), for many of us, playful
moments have become more and more
fleeting. And, the sense of seriousness we
use to succeed at work or school extends to
many other areas of our lives, including our
yoga mat. That’s not to say that taking
a thoughtful approach to asana can’t
come with benefits, especially if you’re
experiencing pain or injury. But a constant
laser focus on perfecting alignment, toning
core, nailing a balancing pose, or breathing
away a tough day can come at the expense
of fostering flexibility of mind and spirit.