Introspection and Joy

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January 1, 2020

One of the best reasons to live in Western New York is the first snow fall. To me, there are few things as beautiful as the ground and trees covered with a blanket of snow. And it feels like a blanket. There is a deep sense of peace that I feel when I wake up to that perfect, clean, soft snowfall.

It mesmerizes me. It feels like a kind of magic. It makes me want to be quiet and still. It gives me space and time to just be. But there’s something else there too, the sparkle, the freshness.

On days like this when the sky is clear, the sun is bright, and the air is fresh, I feel alive.

We often put these two feelings in separate categories, even in yoga classes. There is the calm, slow introspection of a bath or a restorative class. There’s the vigor of a vinyasa or power class and it’s equivalent in regular life—go, go, go.

But one of the lessons yoga has taught me is that both yoga classes and life are at they best when we have both. We need to go deep and quiet and still. We need to be bright and vibrant and alive.

This season, find the seed of peace in our most vigorous classes, the seed of vigor in the most restful. Your teachers are charged this winter with supporting your exploration of this balance. Come find introspection and joy. Come find yourself.