“Impermanence can teach you a lot about how to cheer up.” – Pema Chodron.

For many of us impermanence is a state we prefer to avoid. We enjoy routine and the security of knowing what is next. For those of us who love summer days it often feels that it never lasts long enough. It is something we dream about in the colder months of the year and we relish all the opportunities of longer days, swimming, picnics, and the bounty of our gardens. In Yoga Sutra 2.15 we learn that it is the most pleasurable things in our lives that become the most painful, because eventually we will have to let them go and to not do so increases our suffering. Life is in a constant flux and understanding our attachments and illusions to this can be a source of great learning.

In our yoga practice, we may have preferences for different poses or styles of practice. For myself, Utkatasana or chair pose can feel awkward at best. Having to hold this pose or visit it several times in a practice allows me to experience the difficulty of moments on my mat. Being immersed in a state of discomfort brings a desire to embrace impermanence. This pose is often followed by a forward fold and the experience of the release can be sensed by every yogi in the room as we see that “this too shall pass.” Without impermanence we would fail to see the everchanging state of the body and mind.

This has been a difficult summer for many of us and when we fall into a feeling of negativity or find ourselves annoyed by others; we can bring into our mind the idea of impermanence. When we flip the coin and find ourselves laughing and embracing our time with others, we can also be reminded to embrace impermanence and enjoy the beauty of the preciousness of a moment.

Namaste!