Day 180 – Today’s reading is about “gradual surrender,” where the yoga student learns yamas of balance and honesty and niyamas of self-study and commitment through asana. Rolf relates this as a growth in awareness and that discovering through yoga practice is part of that growth and synchronicity (“the arrival on the mat was right on time.”).
I think this reading is meant metaphorically–life is a gradual surrender, whereby everything happens at just the right time. Rolf writes: “And to the extent that we are willing to give of ourselves to the process, we receive the benefits.”
How much we commit to life, what that means for us in its relationships, work, play, and decades, is important. I can think of many times that I check out or hibernate from all of it, which feels a lot more like self-preservation. I can also think of times I systematically practiced self-preservation, and how that really has helped me understand the former times. And, of course, mistakes are made, but again the idea of “gradual surrender” comes to mind. Hindsight is 20/20.
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