Courage is what love looks like when tested by the simple everyday necessities of being alive.
~ David Whyte, Consolations
In Anusara Yoga we have an alignment principle called Shoulder Loop in which we hug the shoulder blades strongly onto the upper back while lifting and opening the sternum. The shoulder blades become like two loving hands scooping up our tender hearts and holding them steady. This action makes for a strong stable upper back and a soft open front. When I practice Shoulder Loop I feel as though "I've got my own back" and that allows me to more fully open up my front and soften into my fear, my love, my grief, my hope, and step forward into the day more courageously. Brene Brown's quote is apt - encapsulating the whole experience: Strong Back. Soft Front. Wild Heart.
David Whyte writes: To be courageous is not necessarily to go anywhere or do anything except to make conscious those things we already feel deeply and then to live through the unending vulnerabilities of those consequences….
To be courageous is to stay close the way we are made.
The practice of yoga is about becoming more conscious. It’s about becoming aware of our bodies in space, bringing focus to our thoughts and feelings, noticing the present moment and all that it holds, and finally realizing we are all part of one another and this universe. All of that takes courage. We may find it uncomfortable to become conscious of ourselves in this way. We may not be happy with “the way we were made” or the way we feel. The invitation is to embrace all of that: the difficult feelings and the easy ones.
Together, let’s cultivate a strong back, a soft front and a wild heart. Together, let's step courageously forward into whatever today brings. As Whyte reminds us in Consolations:
The measure of our courage is the measure of our willingness to embrace disappointment, to turn towards it rather than away, the understanding that every real conversation of life involves having our hearts broken somewhere along the way...
