I had the honor and pleasure of participating in a yoga session at my gym a few days ago with one of Colorado’s best Yoga Instructors, Gina Caputo (www.ginacaputo.com). She taught our class of over 60 people about the metaphors of yoga in daily life while in our practice. For me, the most important metaphor that resonated was not letting people take your fire.

Ms. Caputo let us understand how each section of our yoga session connected to daily life. Yoga sessions begin slow and get to a point of fire, where our muscles are burning and aching and we are certain we are going to fall over and lose our balance. Just as in life, things can get tough. We feel like the pain and suffering we are going through at certain points in our life (or people in our life are causing), are going to do us in, knock us over and not allow us to get back up again. But we do get through those painful times. The fire we feel ends at some point. No more straining. We find ourselves breathing normally again, finding a calmer point.

The end of each yoga session we lay on the ground in stillness, then slowly rise in a relaxed state of rejuvenation and understanding that all our struggles in the current yoga session ultimately made us feel better, a step closer to our personal balance.

When we look back in contemplation at those moments of stress and straining in our lives we realize how much stronger we are from those tough times. Without those experiences we wouldn’t appreciate where we are today.

It’s the fire within us that pushes us through those tough times. The fire we felt gave us our current strength. Our inner fire led us to our current balanced state.

Remember, both in yoga and in life, every time we experience something that is painful, or we feel like people or situations are trying to knock us off balance, push through those moments, feel the fire within you and know that it will come to an end. Don’t let anyone take that fire that is within each and every one of us.  These situations provide more growth and personal strength.

Our inner strength brings us to a healthy balanced world. Later we will look back and appreciate going through those painful times. Often they prepare us for what is to come. Don’t fall into fear during those times. Look forward to the life lesson at their end.

Image courtesy of peleluangwang at FreeDigitalPhotos.net