Life lessons that were disguised as yoga advice from classes I attended this past week (I took mental notes during vinyasa and tried to remember them accurately to share with you):

• Think of the harmony of opposites in Eastern culture. That yin exists within the yang. And for yang to exist, there must also be yin.

• As in yoga, stillness must exist in movement and movement lies in stillness. This is how we find truth. Be open to fluidity. Be also open to pause.

• We have all these pre-defined images of what things should look like. What our bodies should look like in a certain pose. What relationships look like when compared to a certain “normal.” That only when we have arrived at an advanced pose, then finally we will have accomplished everything. However, true openness exists at every step of the journey to the pose. The openness exists in the deepening of awareness and breath, regardless of the pose.

• Use props to help you- it does not mean you are weak. It is okay to have support to gain stability and assuredness.

• You will fall. If you don’t fall, you’re not approaching the edge of what you can do. Be a student of falling.

• Sometimes the smallest and softest actions can be the most transformative.

• Just because a choice between many options is offered does not mean that you must change course from the path which you are already on.

• Revel in choice, but do not be afraid to settle on the one that opens you the most.