Tina Turner and Sthira Sukha...

"You know, every now and then

I think you might like to hear something from us

Nice and easy but there's just one thing...

You see, we never ever do nothing nice and easy,

We always do it nice...and rough!" 

- Tina Turner

The truth is, that yoga is not one-asana-fits-all.  The truth is, that some of us need things nice...and some of us need things rough...  And, after myriad conversations lately with teachers and friends and students alike, about the benefits of fast versus slow, short versus long (yoga, people, I'm talking yoga), and yin versus yang, I have come to believe that being able to differentiate which of these creatures you are (one who needs it nice, or one who needs it rough), is of vital importance.

There is a sutra (yes, back to the sutras) that reads...Sthira Sukham Asanam.  Ain't that pretty?  Sthira Sukham Asanam--even without the meaning, don't you just want to say it? Sthiiiiiiiiraaaa Sukhaaaaaaam Aaaaaaaaasanaaaaaam.  (Sanskrit Sigh.)

It means that the asanas (the postures) must be both steady and sweet.  Or soft.  The asanas must be both steady and soft.  Both firm and sweet.  Both steadfast and giggly.  All of them.  Every single one.  And so it goes with the entire practice.

And so it goes with life.

And there are so many reasons that this is a beautiful (challenging) instruction, but a big one of them is that it can become a diagnostic tool for each individual student.  Most of us...most of us will know right away which of these things we are, intrinsically, and which one of these things we could use a bit more of in our lives.  We're either the type who is great with structure, great with muscle, great with remaining close to the center and close to the line...we are the focused one, the studious one, the one who can push and sustain and maintain and achieve.  We are Sthira.  We've got sthira covered.  We're all arm balances and twenty chatarunga push-ups and breath of fire and hey, man, this savasana thing isn't really for me.

Or.

We're the type who likes to melt.  We're the type with water-open-hips and soft eyes and we like to siiiiiiiigh a lot when we drip down into a forward bend.  We are the gigglers the deep meditators...we bring the open, we bring the groovy, we bring the patient smile and we aren't afraid, you know, to throw caution to the wind now and then, to take the great risk of loving.  We are Sukham.  We've got sukham covered.  We're all easy splits and curving backs and oh, wait...what were we talking about?

And for each of us there is a medicine.  Sthira Sukham Asanam.  Nice and rough.  Not one. Or the other. But both.

And so perhaps, my dear readers, perhaps if you recognize yourself in one of these...perhaps if your jaw is clenched even now as you read (did you notice?), perhaps instead of muscling your way into yet another (fill-in-the-blank), perhaps you could soften today.  You have been given a gift after all...you have been given the gift of strength, of fortitude, of pushing through and rising up. You know your boundaries.  You feel your feet underneath you.  You've got that steadiness thing down...so perhaps it's time for some sukha, some succor, some sweetness.  A little more sugar in your bowl, perhaps?  A bit of an exhale, eh, lovely?

And for you...you who have drifted off into revelry already during the course of this sentence, you who don't know why you should bother to tense up when there's so much melting to be had (did you notice?), perhaps instead of softening in to one more (fill-in-the-blank) today, perhaps this is your chance to hug in. To fire up right there in the center line of you and to make some firmness where before there was only give.  You have been given a gift, after all...you have been given the gift of sweet surrender, of wide-open-ness.  You've got that softness thing down.  So, perhaps, it's time for some sthira, some muscle, some steadiness to shore you up.  Perhaps it's time to take a big breath in, and hold it, just to feel the power swirling around.

Sthira Sukham Asanam.  Not one. Or the other. But both.