On Vigor and Yoga

Vigorous physical practice seems not for its own sake, for it cannot be sustained indefinitely. At some point in one’s life, maybe not all that far away from this point, ‘vigorous’ is just getting up and walking to the fridge! Remember that vigor is your capacity to function, in whatever role you are called to act in throughout life. Vigor is your way of expressing the power in yourself to be effective and to affect this World with the values and vision that live inside you.

Yoga seeks to expand one’s capacity to be able to function in a healthy and harmonious way both internally and externally. Both in the inner life of the practitioner, with all the stuff of mind and emotions, and in relationship to the environment.

Imagine if you put all the effort you use in distraction, entertainment, unnecessarily judging, fighting, complaining, being victimized, etc. into the work that is before you? What would your life look like? How much more of what you truly want might come to fruition?

Yoga teaches us that the human mind/body – with all that it can do, feel, process, digest, assimilate, and utilize – is a microcosm of the Universe and the subtle and Supreme forces that move the Universe forward through time and evolution. This means that the thermonuclear power of stars and gravitational pull of dense matter live in and as us. This means that the elements of creation are not separate, and in fact are this very human body as it is, here and now. This means that just as you are, you are given what it takes to meet your life and its challenges. This means that it is within you to function in this life.

Where do a Yogi’s abilities come from? What gives the Yogi strength and the capacity to perform what appears to be momentous efforts while appearing serene and effortless? By putting into action the understanding, acceptance, and tacit knowing that by self-effort alone, Yoga cannot be done. In this state, one is open to a wellspring of capacity and success that cannot otherwise be accessed. Think about how much more you are capable of when in the company of other friends on the path. How much more even than that, when one has a taste of cosmic power playing itself out through life. How much more even than that when one lives in the tacit knowing that all processes, playings out, doings, evolutions, transformations, etc. are not pushed forward by the individual, but by Supreme Universal forces – the Divine alone.

Vigor is one of this Universe’s main qualities. The power to be able to exist and perform. Look out into the night sky sometime and see how much capacity our home has to sustain, evolve and create beauty. See how the very forces that push the Universe forward live within you. Find your way to access the capacity for what sustains health and harmony in life as it is. You might just find that vigor is and always has been within you and you are more capable of the work before you than you ever imagined.

By Brent Kuecker: Yogi. Musician. Educator.

Join me at UdayaLive, Yoga and music festival and expand your capacity in this life with many others on the path of self discovery, expression, health and harmony!