Mantra:
“Strong in stillness. Soft in movement. Enough as I am.”

Topic 1 – The Strength to Yield: Finding Power in Balance

Reflection:
Patanjali reminds us 2:46 : Sthira Sukham Asanam—a yoga posture should embody both steadiness and ease. But this principle stretches far beyond the mat. In life, if we are only strong, we become brittle. If we are only soft, we lose direction. True strength is learning when to root down and when to flow.

Metaphor:
When I was sixteen I bought my first sailboat, and the mainsheet— the rope that trims the big sail— taught me everything about balance. Ease the sheet too much and the canvas luffs, flapping noisily as the wind slips by unused. Haul it in too hard and the sail becomes over-trimmed, its curve flattened; the airflow breaks, the boat stalls, and you lose momentum. Find the sweet spot, though, and the sail fills—silent, strong, turning invisible wind into steady forward motion. That perfect tension—neither slack surrender nor rigid grip—carries a boat across the water, and carries us through life.

Quotes:

“Strength doesn’t always roar. Sometimes it’s the quiet voice that says, ‘I’ll try again tomorrow.’” – Mary Anne Radmacher

“In flexibility, there is power.” – Taoist Proverb

“Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self, to the self.” – The Bhagavad Gita

“The mind is like water. When it’s turbulent, it’s difficult to see. When it’s calm, everything becomes clear.” – Prasad Mahes

“Sthira and sukha. Stability and sweetness. Together, they are the heartbeat of life.” – Unknown

Call to Action:
Tonight, let your breath be your balance. Hold steady. Yield gently. Let both create space for you to grow.

Topic 2 – The Whisper Beneath the World

Reflection:
We live in a world that praises busy and rewards noise. But wisdom doesn’t shout. It whispers. Yoga reminds us we don’t need to add more—we need to notice more. The most important truths come in stillness, not in the scroll, the schedule, or the next thing.

Metaphor:
Like a well in the desert—deep, silent, life-giving—the truth you seek isn’t above you in the chaos. It’s below, in the quiet.

Quotes:

“Silence is not empty. It’s full of answers.” – Unknown

“The quieter you become, the more you can hear.” – Ram Dass

“Don’t just do something. Sit there.” – Sylvia Boorstein

“Wisdom is not knowing more, but needing less.” – Eckhart Tolle

“Peace is not found in a place. It is found in presence.” – David Scott

Call to Action:
Let your movements tonight carry silence inside them. Listen—not for noise, but for your own soft voice beneath it all.

Topic 3 – Fire and Ash: Stop Setting Yourself on Fire to Keep Others Warm

Reflection:
How often do you give past your edge? Burn yourself up trying to be everything for everyone else? Yoga asks you to stop confusing depletion with devotion. You are not meant to be consumed. You are meant to endure.

Boundaries are not selfish. They are sacred. They are the hearthstones that allow your fire to glow without burning out.

Metaphor:
You are not a flame meant to blaze and vanish. You are an ember in the hearth—steady, warm, enduring. When protected and tended, your glow can last through the longest night.

Quotes:

“You have set yourself on fire to keep others warm for so long, but inside your soul is shivering.” – Unknown

“An ember may be small, but it holds the promise of fire.” – David Scott

“The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long.” – Lao Tzu

“Self-care is how you take your power back.” – Lalah Delia

“Give from the overflow, not from your core.” – Unknown

Call to Action:
Let tonight’s breath tend the ember inside you. Protect it. Feed it. Let it glow slowly—for you, first.

Topic 4 – The Lantern in the Wind: Stillness Within the Motion

Reflection:
Life doesn’t pause while we catch up. It rushes. It swirls. But deep within us, there is a flame that doesn’t flicker with the winds of the world. That flame is your awareness—and mindfulness is the protective glass around it.

Yoga doesn’t try to stop the wind. It gives you the shelter you need to stay lit inside it.

Metaphor:
Like a lantern in a storm. The flame glows not because the wind stops, but because the glass around it—your mindfulness—holds steady space for your light to keep shining.

Quotes:

“You can’t calm the storm… so stop trying. What you can do is calm yourself. The storm will pass.” – Timber Hawkeye

“Mindfulness isn’t about controlling your thoughts. It’s about not letting them control you.” – Unknown

“The breath is the bridge between the body and the mind.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

“Peace isn’t about everything being still—it’s about being the stillness within everything.” – Unknown

“Awareness is the lantern. Mindfulness is the glass. The flame is always there.” – David Scott

Call to Action:
Let your breath tonight be that protective glass. Hold space for your light—not in spite of life’s wind, but because of it.

Topic 5 – At the Edge: Where You Evolve

Reflection:
Growth doesn’t live in the center of your comfort zone. It lives just beyond it—in the stretch, in the moment when you’re unsure, curious, reaching. Not in pain—but in possibility.

Yoga invites us to meet the edge with grace. That is where the alchemy happens. That is where we stop performing and start transforming.

Metaphor:
A leaf reaching toward a drop of morning dew. It trembles at the edge—not in fear, but in readiness. That’s the edge of change.

Quotes:

“If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.” – Fred DeVito

“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” – Neale Donald Walsch

“Growth is uncomfortable because you’ve never been here before.” – Unknown

“You are allowed to be both a masterpiece and a work in progress.” – Sophia Bush

“The edge isn’t a wall—it’s a doorway.” – David Scott

Call to Action:
As you practice, gently lean into your edge. Don’t force. Don’t fear. Let it show you what’s possible.

In Jetavana’s monastery lived Sona, once a gifted guitarist. Hungry for enlightenment, he pushed himself hard—sitting long hours, driving his body and mind past comfort—yet peace still felt distant.

Seeing his strain, the Buddha asked,
“Sona, when a guitar string is too loose, how does it sound?”
“It buzzes and makes no clear note,” Sona answered.
“And when a string is too tight?”
“It snaps, and the music stops.”

“Exactly,” the Buddha said. “Effort that’s slack drifts; effort that’s tense breaks. Tune your practice like you tuned your guitar—steady, responsive, balanced. Then the music of mindfulness will play on its own.”

Sona softened his grip, centered his breath, and soon his mind rang with a clear, gentle chord.

May we leave the mat tuned like Sona’s guitar:
Strong in stillness. Soft in movement. Enough as we are.