“Yoga is more than stretching. Stretching is only the beginning of opening, and opening is just the beginning of letting go. And letting go is the heart of yoga practice. Remember the joy of letting go as many times as you can each day.”
Above is a quote from my much cherished and highly respected Restorative Yoga teacher. I just love it. For me key words—beginning, opening, letting go, heart, practice, joy—resonate in so many ways. They’re full of meaning, nuances, questions and more.
One word in particular catches my attention—joy.
What is joy? How do we define joy? Is it the same as happiness? And what about the joy of letting go? What are we letting go of? According to the ancient teachings of yoga and other wisdom traditions, letting go is part of the spiral inward, the journey towards authenticity, the path to our true nature. This is a practice in and of itself. We begin to shed the layers of how we define ourselves, of who we think we are physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. It involves the releasing of old habits, limiting beliefs, tired narratives, whatever no longer serves us.
In the book The Art of Holding Space, author Heather Plett tells us that,
“… we can’t do all our releasing at once. We need to do it in stages—one story, one belief, one habit, one rule at a time.”
It’s a circuitous journey. Little by little we come to know and recognize who we truly are. The process can be unpleasant, unnerving, and unsettling as we dig deeper. Fortunately, this unmasking eventually leads to healing and after healing comes opening. And then joy! The spiral thus begins again as we continue to release and find beauty within ourselves and outwardly among the simple things in life, over and over again.
Let’s circle back now to the meaning of joy and happiness. Is there a difference or do these words mean the same thing? I’m so glad you asked…
Happiness has been described as being dependent on external circumstances. According to the Dalai Lama the feeling of happiness is fleeting,
“like a butterfly that lands on us and then flutters away”.
Joy, on the other hand, comes from within and is said to have an enduring quality that persists no matter the circumstance.
Some of you are already thinking about the fall season. I know I am. There’s still a lot of uncertainty regarding COVID-19. For this reason, for the foreseable future, I’ve decided to continue offering live, virtual classes and workshops via Zoom. There just isn’t enough space in my cozy little studio for us as a group to practice safely in person.
For those of you who were looking forward to returning to in-person classes I know this will be disappointing. For others this new on-line fall session will bring feelings of joy given the many silver linings that we’ve discovered together via Zoom over the past year. Our little yoga community, our sangha, has endured and I am incredibly grateful.
September is just around the corner, needless to say. I hope you’ll join me on the path. I’m truly and joyfully looking forward to seeing you.
Yours in yoga,
Jeannine
