“Yoga postures challenge our settled patterns, and the process can be painful, difficult, and frustrating. But the asanas (poses) are also a constructive means to work with these difficulties.”
~ Excerpt from Heart of The Yogi, The Philosophical World of Hatha Yoga by Doug Keller.
For many of us, when we finally begin to name what we are longing for, we find ourselves either jumping for joy and excitement or running terrified and petrified towards our favourite hiding place. People in my life would tell you that I’m really good at running and hiding (in fact an expert!) at any sign of personal dreams unfolding. Especially the kinds of dreams that would require the most risk taking and most embracing of unknown paths. Suddenly, I become ‘too busy’ to go in a new direction or to slow down long enough to allow for new blooms. When some dreams begin to bloom my default response is not always jumping for joy and excitement. Often it’s not long before endless worrying and being ‘too busy’ begins.
Sound familiar? Resistance is a wise ally and fertile ground for growth.
The perspective that resistance is a wise ally and fertile ground for growth can profoundly change our personal yoga practice as well as our worlds, for the better. In my practice, I have continued to explore resistance by giving myself permission to fully embody and be present in the experience of the resistance when I experience it in my body or mind – whether it is a thought, an emotion or a muscle contraction. Whether it comes up on or off the mat. There is a world of emotions embedded in the emotional, physical and mental bodies and they manifest in many ways. One way is resistance. Resistance can be a strong indicator of our limits in those areas and lets us know how far we are able to go, in any given moment and on any given day. It is a guarantee that a yoga practice will have you bumping up against all kinds of resistance. One of the keys is to honour that resistance and move through it compassionately and safely.
As I explore resistance, I’m reminded of how important it is to honour the wisdom of resistance. It has something to say. It has a job to do and it takes it quite seriously. It’s served me well at many points throughout my life and is definitely there to prevent me from injuring myself. However sometimes this protection can become a major hindrance when I’m wanting to move beyond the familiar places of a pose while another part of me just wants to push through and find new elements of it. Often this desire to stop comes from a place of fear. Fear of change, fear of the unknown, fear of injury and sometimes just plain old habitual fear based thoughts or emotions that might live in my muscles or mind. At other times, stopping or easing back into a gentler version of a pose is the most compassionate and wise thing I can do. Tuning into my body allows me to get present to the multiple layers of resistance in my body and mind. I flow with them.
When I let myself just be there with resistance, it is easier and easier to simply put my attention on observing and watching myself. Watch the parts of me that don’t want to go any further in a pose. Observe the parts of me that want to force myself deeper into a pose. Be curious about the parts of me that want to open, grow and stretch into a new experience. Sometimes, I am rewarded with moments of pure freedom and I find myself moving effortlessly and fearlessly from bridge to a full arc. What a feeling!
Like with many experiences that require that we let go of something and try something new you may not like showing up to resistance at first. Over time, you might grow to like it and maybe even love it. And if you never like it, at the very least you might grow to recognize it, care about it and honour it.
And, as always, breath is a powerful ally.
Take your time, honour your process, from moment to moment, from one breath to the next.
Don’t worry about ‘accomplishing’ a pose and pushing through your mind or body’s tightness or reluctance to move. Just keep showing up and breathing into the soft edges of resistance.
I invite you be curious about where you feel resistance in both your life and your yoga practice. Be curious about the way resistance does and doesn’t serve you. When does it protect you? When does it prevent you? How does it inform you?
Pose: Matsyasana, also known as 'fish pose'.
Matsyasana is a great pose for gently exploring a sense of new expansiveness in areas of the body where we often feel resistance to opening, such as the heart, lower back and hips. It's also a great pose in which to explore resistance, compassion and courage.
Begin by laying on your back with arms resting at the sides. Take a few deep breaths. Relax the shoulders down away from the ears and gently tuck the shoulder blades under you. Take a deep breath and allow your chest muscles to expand and begin to relax. Bend the knees and place the soles of the feet on the floor as your press the sacrum (bottom of your tailbone) into the ground. Continue to take long deep breaths. Place the hands under the buttocks, palms down. Slowly straighten the legs to the ground and keep the feet and toes softly pointed. Simultaneously press down into the elbows, lifting the chest and bring the top of the head onto the ground (or onto a prop, such as a folded blanket or block if your the top of your head does not reach the ground). Breathe deeply. Press the forearms into the ground, so there is only light pressure on the head with the resting point of the head being just behind the crown. Remain in this pose, taking long and deep breaths for 1-3 minutes.
If you'd like, you can repeat the following mantra as you breath: ‘Clear communication is my bridge to wisdom and compassion.’
To release from the pose gently bend the knees and place the soles of the feet on the floor. Lower slowly down out of Matsyana and draw the knees into the chest and rock gently from side to side.
Additional Suggestions:
Imagine that your breath is filled with light. You can select a colour that feels right for you. Inhale and exhale that colour. Any time your mind starts to wander, you can bring your attention to the colour you’ve selected and observe it moving with your breath in your mind’s eye as it circles through your respiratory system. You can also intentionally direct it to any parts of your body or areas where you feel resistance to assist you with being present in the pose. As you release and stretch out the pose, sense the integration of any nuggets of wisdom, courage or compassion that surfaced. Also, sense the movement or release of any emotions or thoughts that you might have experienced. Breathe deeply. If you feel like further integrating your experience, you can journal your experience.
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