Asana, your treasure trove of Possibilities

Do you know that just one yoga posture can change your whole day? Believe it or not, it can!

There are days when you only have five minutes to spare to do yoga.  That is enough time to find one pose that will refresh you to move through your day with more energy.

The freedom that comes with the study and practice of Hatha Yoga is the ultimate freedom of choice. This is why I prefer a practice that teaches postures rather then systems. Hatha yoga is a gift that belongs to no one system or school of thought. It is valuable information that when one knows the postures intimately, one can pick and choose depending on the match with the state of mind, moods, or needs.

If your practice is to follow a system that allows only a series of postures in a certain order, not diverting from that order and routine, there is little freedom of choice. If you hurt yourself and cannot do that particular practice, then you are missing out on the one gift that may very likely help you find relief and healing.

While you are studying and learning new postures and discovering the magic that is unique to that asana, move through the posture with your breath and you will fire up awareness and insight so you will remember that pose and it could serve you in the future. Notice the change in consciousness that any pose brings to your mind. That quality is unique to each group of postures being forward bends, backbends, twists, standing, balance or restorative.

If you had a stressful day at work, or you have been hit with something that is causing sadness, then yoga offers a way for you to change the extreme response to bring balance and calm back into your day.  If you have been on your feet all day and you are completely overwhelmed with too much to do, there is a forward bend that will take your mind to a different place of calm, or a backbend to energize or a twist to relieve the tension.

Never underestimate the power of one posture.  The choices of postures that are part of your practice are  tools for you to utilize, as you need. If it is a backbend that will pull you out of a deep sadness and open up your chest, helping to relieve your heavy heart, or a twist that will change your perspective on a situation; the power of that pose could be enough to change your day.

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