You can lead a horse to water…

Well, my yoga practice of ‘clearing the mind’ has obviously been too successful…as whenever I’ve wondered recently about writing something ‘meaningful’, my mind has just been blank!
And the last thing anyone needs is some forced philosophising (-;

But this actually ties in really nicely with the fact that we should never want to or push to force anything in our yoga (or arguably our lives in general), whether physically or mentally. 

Is it healthy to push ourselves beyond what our body’s natural wisdom is telling us, to achieve a shape or a position that’s not right for us? Can we separate and listen to our innate wisdom rather than our nagging ego which tells us the most physically difficult pose is the most ‘advanced’?

Of course there are times when we’re feeling energised, strong and wanting to work the body hard, but there’s a big difference between that and forcing beyond what is safe.

What about when you’re given the opportunity to explore meditation or breathing exercises? Does the mind suddenly create all sorts of ideas, blockages, fear you ‘can’t do it’ or are ‘doing it wrong’? 

If we let go of any attempt to force either the mind, body or breath, it’s likely that our practice (and life) will feel a lot more fluid, natural and beneficial. 

As I sit writing this on my balcony, a funny example has come to me.
I’ve been having an ongoing, gentle but persistent battle to stop a very lovely but, when it comes to delicate young plants growing, a somewhat heavy and clumsy pigeon from landing on the balcony to reach our bird feeder. I might be annoyed at him (her?) and only want the little ‘cute’ birds to use the feeder, but there is no way on earth that I can put out food - intended for birds - and then expect the ‘wrong’ bird not to logically want to try his luck! 

I can work with the situation, try to move the feeder further out of his reach, put sticks in the particularly delicate plants I don’t want to him to clamber over, but if I try to force this scenario, to fight against the nature of an animal wanting to reach food, I will be fighting a losing battle. (-:

Let’s remember that if we have any inclination to force our hips beyond comfort when I undoubtedly now decide to add pigeon pose to this week’s classes!!..