Strength

I hope you are all having a great Autumn. I can't believe Thanksgiving Day is just around the corner. We are going to explore strength during these last weeks of the year. Strength is something that we can't just say we have. It is experienced as we participated in our yoga practice. I think we can all agree that we are usually more aware of how much stronger we want to be. Even if this is the case we all experience some degree of strength. As we continue to regularly step into the fire of the practice, we start to develop more of the strength we want to experience. There is no way around it.

As many of you know I was paralyzed about four years ago. I remember doing physical therapy in the hospital and only being able to lift my leg an inch off the bed I was laying down in. It was challenging but as I continue to do therapy three hours a day for almost a month my strength gradually started to come back. I can do now most of the things that I used to do. I continue to do my yoga practice and also weight lifting to continue to get stronger. It has become very clear to me that even though rest is really important, resting alone will not help me to get stronger. Strength is more a verb rather than a noun to me. It requires action.

As you continue to practice yoga in the weeks to come may you too discover your strength and learn to develop it more and more.

I look forward to seeing you in class.

Blessings

Jorge Nihāl