This quote came to me at a time when I needed to hear these exact words.

Simple. Yet profound when applied.

May it free your mind the way it did mine.

It isn’t about getting to that happy place and staying there, but having the

strength to journey back inward; to begin, yet again. 

Whether through achievement or defeat, the work is to stay with our Yoga practice, whether things are going well or not.

If we can meet both success and failure with equal likeness, we can be free. These practices are the pathways of Yoga.

Yoga creates new, positive ‘mind’ tracks’ if you will, which help us cut through our illusions – which prevent us from seeing clearly.

If we run from what scares us and chase only after our desires, the mind never settles. The mind is constantly looking for the next best fix, to soothe the whirling fluctuations of the mind.

Instead of remaining still and present with whatever comes our way, we are held a prisoner of our own minds- clinging to the past, chasing the future.

To remain equal in pleasure and pain – this is Yoga. Is it not a neat and tidy road, but it is a worthwhile and fruitful one. And one that must be practised again and again.

Chapter 3, Verse 6 of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, the ancient sacred text of Yoga, depicts the Yoga journey well:

Only through Yoga, Yoga is known

Only through Yoga, Yoga progresses

One who is patient with Yoga

Enjoys the fruits for a long time