As the season shifts from winter to spring, I've been thinking a lot about the challenges posed by transitional periods in life. One perpetual challenge at any stage in life is to find stability while the world around us changes. This post might end up changing your perspective on what true stability really is.
Many winters of skiing have taught me a lot about finding stability in difficult circumstances. These lessons from the mountain appeared again in my yoga practice and shed light on how true stability in any area of life comes not from building ourselves a stable environment, but from discovering and developing dynamic stability within ourselves.
Stability On Skis
While I’m skiing, I’m flying at high speed over varied and unpredictable terrain. Each bump in the snow, patch of ice, and contour of the trail threatens to send me crashing into a tree. If I can maintain stability, I’m rewarded with the thrill of freedom—an ability to chart my course and charge ahead at full speed without fear. I also experience the quiet peace of mental stillness that comes from the uninterrupted flow of focus and movement.
I can’t control the snow underneath my feet or the trees and people nearby, so I have to find stability even while everything changes around me. I constantly adapt and self-correct while my body makes countless subtle adjustments. I'm totally immersed in the experience, processing the feedback my body is sending while my focus is fixed on staying balanced. I gracefully absorb bumps in the snow but use firm pressure to make turns and stay on course. This elegant dance of give and take, led by the awareness of my focused mind and feedback of my receptive body, is the key to true stability.
Stability In Yoga
In yoga, the delicate balance between resistance and surrender is a familiar concept. In verse 2.46 of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, we find the following:
“sthira-sukham asanam”
Sthira represents the concept of steadiness, or firmness, while sukha represents ease and comfort. Throughout our asana (physical posture) practice, Patanjali reminds us that we must strike a balance between firmness and ease to find stillness in the body and mind.
Finding stability in yoga is much the same as finding stability on skis. On our mats, we’re frequently challenged to balance in difficult positions. In these situations, stability comes from constant attention and adaptation. Like on the slopes, we must fiercely focus on the subtle movements of our body and feedback from our muscles. Through uninterrupted focus and continuous self-correction, we find stability whether we're in a static posture or a dynamic transition.
As we practice, we strive to find stability in our minds as well. Just as our concentration rests on the subtle movements of the body, so it must also rest on the subtle movements of the mind. The focus required for physical stability depends on a steady mind. As our minds drift, so too does our balance. We tackle each mental disturbance by accepting it with ease, and then returning to our focus with firmness. Sthira-sukham asanam. Over time, the adjustment of our minds from distraction to attention becomes increasingly automatic until steadiness of both mind and body permeates our yoga practice.
An unstoppable force meets an immovable object. The balance between firmness and ease, resistance and surrender, Yin and Yang. Sthira-sukham asanam.
Stability In Life
We charge through life, sometimes at startling speeds, and forget that the world is constantly changing beneath us. The bumps and ice patches of everyday life threaten to send us crashing down to the ground. If we can maintain stability in spite of all this, then we can take control of where we’re headed and how fast we’re moving. Stability is the key that unlocks freedom and peace.
When we think of stability, we usually envision something solid, fixed, and strong. We might think of a tree or a building. They appear to be rigid and unmoving, and thus resistant to the effects of the world. In life, we think of a stable job that we proudly keep, or a stable relationship that we hold onto. We think that by holding on to enough stable things, we’ll find stability too.
But in reality, the more things we try to hold onto, the less we’re able to maintain our balance. The world is constantly moving beneath us (like the snow on a ski mountain), and we ourselves are constantly changing and moving (like the skier). To experience true stability is not to be fixed and rigid, but to be flexible and adaptable. We must constantly make subtle adjustments to withstand each bump in our path. Stability is the eternal give and take between us and our surroundings: only with the perfectly balanced mix of resistance and surrender can we conquer life’s unpredictable challenges. It is sthira-sukham asanam applied to our everyday experiences. We must understand how to change ourselves to respond appropriately to whatever life throws at us.
If we can learn through attention and focus to find true stability, then we open ourselves up to true freedom and peace. No matter what life throws at us, we'll be able to self-correct, find our balance, and keep charging forward fearlessly.
Thanks for reading!
In the spirit of the shifting seasons, I'll be sequencing my classes over the next few weeks with a focus on finding stability with special attention paid to difficult transitions. Check my schedule and come take my class if that sounds interesting to you!