A different kind of strength
Updated: Sep 30
What comes to your mind when you think about strength?
We tend to recognise strength when it looks like effort, determination, achievement or control.
A physically strong person. A strong asana practice. Someone decisive, who knows what they want and goes after it.
These are all expressions of strength. But they also tend to keep our attention focused on the individual: How strong am I? What can I do? How far can I go?
When preparing for Saturday's online conversation, I found a new favourite Yoga Sutra:
“From kindness, strength comes.” (III.24)
Something about this opened up for me. It made me feel at ease. Relieved, even.
What if strength doesn't always have to come from pushing harder?
What if some of our deepest strength comes from how we meet ourselves and others?
After our conversation, I was delighted to notice strength showing up in some very small moments of presence and kindness:
My hand touching my partner's back.
Softening when tension arose.
Noticing that whatever is happening right now, it is okay.
And, on the other hand, calling it a night and choosing to be with my practice — knowing that it will make me steadier, so that I can support others, too.
In our conversation on Saturday, we named this strength that comes from kindness.
And it just feels different from getting your way.
Recently I've noticed that the qualities I'm looking for in my practice — steadiness, ease, tranquillity, freedom — often appear when the borders between me, mine and the others become a little less solid.
When I can leave the little self aside for a moment and trust something bigger.
Friendliness, too, is something we can cultivate and practise — like a muscle.
Perhaps this is another kind of strength training.
Curious about building strength (and other important qualities) through Ashtanga yoga practice?
Explore the Practice of Returning.
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