"EACH POSE IS YOUR WORK OF ART"

I’ve written a short article for the Sage Yoga Studio newsletter, titled “Each Pose Is Your Work of Art”. I thought I would share it here, since it has changed my practice and my appreciation for EVERY yoga pose:

Fortunately, for me, the phrase ‘each pose is your work of art’ was one I heard frequently in the Anusara classes I attended. Almost every teacher would remind me that I was creating art as I practiced. As one who never thought of herself as graceful or creative, repetition of this phrase settled it - the concept - deep into my core and my heart. I am creating art. And, I attempt to transmit that message to the individuals attending my classes.

When I view a pose in this manner, I truly feel the body moving — I feel muscles engaging, limbs getting longer, the breath helping to soften resistant tissue (think hamstrings), and so on.  

More importantly, I begin to value the poses - ALL the poses, even the ‘poses between the poses’.  Take tadasana (mountain pose) — what a great feeling to have the four corners of my feet rooted securely to the ground. To engage the muscles from the feet to the pelvis. Then, to rise up through my torso, lifting my sternum and allowing shoulders to soften a bit. Finally, lifting the crown of my head towards the sky above my ‘mountain’.

I used to rush from one ‘big’ pose to the next, not always thinking about the value of intentionality in the poses that will take me to the next ‘big’ pose.  Moving with purpose through the ‘poses between the poses’ adds beauty to my practice (if only in my eyes). I say ‘if only in my eyes’, but I see it in the classes I teach — I see the beauty of carefully placed hands, straight elbows, soft gaze, etc. — whatever the pose and the ‘poses between the poses’ require.

Try it.  Pay attention to each mountain pose, forward fold, cat/cow, etc., etc., and observe how your practice and each pose becomes truly YOUR ‘work of art’.  

Take care & be safe.