“The only thing constant in life is change.” – Francois de la Rochefoucauld

Life shows us every day and in each moment that it is forever changing, evolving and growing. That is what it is meant to do, and it does its job with impeccable precision.

We, on the other hand, build walls of fear and resistance to the natural flow of the river of change and, in our attempts to remain small and safe, miss the opportunity to be open to the portal of learning.

Life’s only guarantee is that nothing ever stays the same and how we navigate our way through its impermanence is a fundamental yogic teaching, anchored in the understanding that clinging to life only creates suffering (dukham).

“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.” – Alan Watts

Patanajli refers to the teachings of impermanence and change in Yoga Sutra 2.15. This sutra relates to the awareness that suffering occurs due to our reactions to constant change, and not the change itself. There is however an essence of grace that reveals itself once we understand how to ride the current of life’s inevitable changes.

Our breath is a powerful teacher that reminds us how life comes and goes; and it is the wisdom of flowing with the river of change that frees us from the chains of fear and anxiety. Anxiety often presents itself when the nervous system intuits life’s impermanence, and our yoga practice provides us with the tools to replace fear of this evanescence with faith and trust.

If we allow them, change and impermanence have the power to open our hearts to live with more conviction and passion than ever before – fearless, open to the wonders yet to come and in welcome surrender from constantly trying to swim upstream.

“We are uncomfortable because everything in our life keeps changing – our inner moods, our bodies, our work, the people we love, the world we live in. We can’t hold on to anything – a beautiful sunset, a sweet taste, an intimate moment with a lover, our very existence as the body/mind we call self – because all things come and go. Lacking any permanent satisfaction, we continuously need another injection of fuel, stimulation, reassurance from loved ones, medicine, exercise, and meditation. We are continually driven to become something more, to experience something else.” – Tara Brach 

In our November Yoga Intensive a carefully crafted Vinyasa Krama sequence of Asana, Pranayama, Mudra, Dhyana (meditation) and Mantra will guide you on a journey of Svadhyaya (self-enquiry) to uncover the blocks of inner resistance to change and transform them into effortless surrender, trust and flow.

As the breath weaves through each asana, we find ways to honour the inescapable river of change. We draw from the sacred teachings of yoga to release our struggle against the tide and discover the wondrous opportunities of learning and wisdom that become available to us when we open ourselves to flow with the natural current of life.