Is it Important If it is not Serious?

The longer I spend contemplating this life we call "Yoga" the more certain I become that the state of "Yoga" is much more about what's happening on the inside rather than what's happening on the outside.

And I have found that people that inspire me often make the very important work they do seem effortless. Although the work that is being done is of great importance, carry amazing results and often impact great change, there is something about their demeanour that is laid back.And this is one of the things that I strive to translate in the teachings of Yoga. Just because the practice of Yoga is important is does not need to be serious. There is playfulness that comes in the Yoga practice when it is free from an attachment to what we think our practice should look or even feel like. If we weren't attached to how we want our practice (or anything else) to be, there would be no resistance and no seriousness in what we do.

That playfulness is key as it not only indicates mastery over the mind but also paves the way to a consistent and therefore fruitful practice. It takes great mastery to display effort on the outside and carry peace on the inside. It takes great mastery to do something important on the outside and remain playful on the inside. Any task we approach with that peace and playfulness becomes something we want to do rather than something we believe we have to, and that gives birth to showing up, trying again and eventually achieving our goals.

And yet this is something I often need to remind both myself and students of. "Relax your face", "relax your shoulders", "separate your jaws", "don't take yourself seriously", "the advanced option is relaxing". Somehow we have managed to convince ourselves that if there is no strain to the work we do then it does not carry value. I'm not saying that important work does not come with responsibility, challenges or even struggles. But what I'd like to promote is the ability to enjoy even those things, to treat them with excitement, curiosity and playfulness that make them easier to bear.