The Point

of the plow

Hi Substack Friends.

The last time I wrote, I was thinking about intention, specifically as it has to do with pushing myself/ourselves. It had come to me during my yoga practice that morning that asking what is the point of going deeper into a pose is always a good idea. Bending for the sake of bending is fine, but I think we’re constantly told to push ourselves when pushing ourselves might not be the thing we need to do.

I sat with that while going about my usual activities for days. Every day since then, in fact. This morning, I had what I suppose is the next thought: sometimes the right thing to do is to push yourself.

It was plow pose. You lie on your back and basically throw your feet up over your head. I love this pose. It’s always felt so good to me. But this morning my toes didn’t reach the ground. I wanted the release that had always come with going deeply into that pose for so many years — all of the compacting of the lower spine that I do all day every day gets to ease — and so I decided to

push

myself.

I thought about y’all. I thought about coming here and saying that’s WHY, so you’d know I hadn’t stopped thinking about it. The point of pushing sometimes is so that growth can be achieved. That’s why we hang in there — in yoga, in learning new things, in relationship, in love, in life.

Seems like a simple thing — knowing how much is too much and how little is too little.

It isn’t.

I think it’s balance I’m looking for.

You?

I’ll keep letting you know how it’s going.

Sending love everywhere,

AM