Here are a few more ways to bring a rock solid grounding and consistent balance to your life. Have you had any luck with any of these? Have you tried these crazy shoes? Post a note below and let me know your thoughts.

Sit back, relax and free up your feet to enjoy greater ease, grounding and balance in the standing asanas. Then leave me your comments or questions below.

Q. I am really interested in the relationship between achieve- ment of our highest potential and the tendency we have of getting caught up in our thoughts and desires for how we "wish" things would be. Can you rap on how to integrate the practice of being fully in Presence with personal achievement?

A. I'm not sure I'm understanding the question but I'll try. That integration would be exactly the same as, say, being fully in Presence while cooking dinner, or, staying in Presence/pure awareness while at work, or while making love, or even while in meditation, because as you know, just because you sit to meditate doesn't mean you will automatically slip into a state of non-localized presence, or pure and causeless joy.
    The way I see it, abhyasa (practice) is ongoing. As yogis, we are always checking in with our state of consciousness, the quality of thoughts and our level of identifying with ego. That's practice. We have certain "formal" practices where we set up a situation and come into it with a certain degree of commitment and focus toward that end. Those formal practice sessions, whether sitting in meditation or practicing asana (postures), make remembering to practice in other situations a whole lot easier. I think of the formal or what's sometimes referred to as "on the mat" practice as a sort of weight-lifting for consciousness. We are creating a groove and the more we show up for it, the easier it is to return.
    The sister practice of abhyasa is vairagya, which is equanimity. So as you move toward your goals in life, whether its achievement of your highest potential or getting through your next meeting without losing your cool, when you find yourself struggling with what is, you can remember to practice equanimity. You start to learn to take life in stride, and not get all bent out of shape about how you "wish" things would be.
     Then you won't have to constantly rearrange your world to suit your happiness. Things are as they are and we can do what we can to make things better but sometimes there is nothing more to add. At that point, there's nothing more but to take a look at your own reactivity and get on with your practice of vairagya.  Just do the best you can with what you have right in front of you. Do what's obvious.

hi, Jenifer.

Thank you for your response. I'm not through being leery of of the warrior, and that's still quite apart from my physical difficulty in  performing it. At bottom, I'm skeptical that the inner warrior can be brought to a positive role in today's world, and maybe not in the ancient world, either. You imply, I think, that I have issues with my own inner warrior, and that's perfectly true, but saying so doesn't prompt me to sit down and keep quiet about the philosophy of doing the warrior poses. I acknowledge that the inner warrior is universal, and that because of that, the seeker has somehow to bring it positive fruition and that simple repression is not practical, or not as a long-term thing. But I very much suspect that positive fruition is to be found in a kind of domestication of the inner warrior, and that isn't likely to be accomplished on the warrior's own terms. All
the age-old issues of masculinity, femininity, aggression and competence in finding something better are implicated here.
Thanks again.

Hello Jake,

I was reading Structural Yoga Therapy, by Mukunda Stiles this morning and I thought of you when I read this passage from yoga sutras 46 - 48 in chapter 2:
"Yoga pose is a steady and comfortable position. Yoga pose is mastered by relaxation of effort, to create a lessening of the natural tendency for restlessness, and identification of oneself as living within the infinite stream of life. From that perfection of yoga posture, duality, such as praise and criticism, ceases to be a disturbance."

It is not unusual for some yoga teachers to introduce and work with only 3 or 4 asanas in a 90 minute class… so important is it to work on the subtle alignments and mental/emotional focus necessary to get to "steady and comfortable". Especially in postures like the warriors.

You say, "At bottom, I'm skeptical that the inner warrior can be brought to a positive role in today's world, and maybe not in the ancient world, either." I am surprised you would have such difficulty with this, as examples abound. I'll admit, they aren't the ones that make the headlines, usually, but still, they are everywhere. The first one that comes to mind is the Sandy Hook Elementary shootings that recently took the headlines. What a tragic event! An organization of the grieving sprang up called Sandy Hook Promise. The organization's mission statement looks like this:

"Our hearts are broken; our spirit is not. And it is with this knowledge that we are able to move forward with purpose ... and strength ...This is a Promise: To support our own: our families, our neighbors, our teachers, our community with dedication and love as well as the material and financial needs they will require in the days ahead. This is a Promise: To truly honor the lives lost by turning our tragedy into a moment of transformation. This is a Promise: To be open to all possibilities. There is no agenda other than to make our community and our nation a safer, better place. This is a Promise: To have the conversations on ALL the issues; conversations where listening is as important as speaking; conversations where even those with the most opposing views can debate in good will. This is a Promise: To turn the conversation into actions, things must change. This is the time. This is a Promise we make to our precious children because each child, every human life is filled with promise, and though we continue to be filled with unbearable pain we choose love, belief, and hope instead of anger. This is a Promise: To do everything in our power to be remembered not as the town filled with grief and victims; but as the place where real change began. Our hearts are broken; our spirit is not. This is our promise.”

I think it takes tremendous inner strength and resolve to move from total grief, your life seemingly collapsing in on you, to expansive, heart-opening selfless action. This is the kind of warrior strength and focus and clarity of purpose that moves us beyond duality such as praise and criticism. Once you attune to this kind of inner warrior in action in today's world, you will begin to notice it more and more everywhere you look. Someone once told how their mom taught them to always seek the helpers in times of tragedy, because they are always there. What a great gift to give a child… when everyday on television and all around there are incomprehensible tragedies and suffering!

You said "All the age-old issues of masculinity, femininity, aggression and competence in finding something better are implicated here." To me it's about overcoming our own obstacles - the ones that keep us stuck in our notions of ourselves as separate individuals, stuck in the muck of our own minds, and rising to new heights of possibility, of human expression and of Divine expression: LOVE. Is that "something better"? Well yes and no. Yes, it's better than the illusion we've invested so much of our words and defenses in, and no, it's not better because it is what we are - already! Peel off the layers and it's love you'll find… that's what you're made of… a pure awareness, total acceptance, openness and natural generosity of heart and mind. Anything else is merely layers upon layers of self hood.

It's up to each of us - and this is our one main and possibly only freewill - what do you want to invest in? Where will you put your focus? How will you cultivate your consciousness? So again, one of my favorite passages from Bhagavad Gita: "Kill therefore with the sword of wisdom the doubt born of ignorance that lies in thy heart. Be one in self-harmony, in Yoga, and arise, great warrior, arise." - Krishna. To me the systematic practice of yoga is one of the best tools we have to rise to our greatest human heights of achievement, healing, expression and potential.