Present

After performing multiple challenging poses, with the heat still coursing through their bodies, everyone enters Shavasana.

The instructor says: Focus all your attention on your breath, accompany the air on its journey as a beloved guest, slowly, subtly—she continues—we now return to the intention of this practice, acceptance, which doesn't mean surrendering, but opening your heart to all that is, even to what we don't like, to what makes us uncomfortable, to what challenges us.

Laura hears these words and immediately feels uneasy. She thinks of all the injustices they suffer: she, her family, and her loved ones. For example, her niece, who comes home from school every day crying because of how mean her classmates are. Her breathing becomes rougher, a lump forms in her throat, making it harder to breathe, and the more the instructor speaks, the more injustices flood her mind, and she thinks: Why should I accept it? If I accept it, nothing will change.

Inhale. Feel the air fill your abdomen, your chest, hold your breath. When we reject something, we give it power over us. But when we accept it, we integrate it and learn from it. Exhale as slowly as you can.

Luis, who is tired, struggles to stay awake. His mind wanders and drifts among the instructor's words. Images appear in his head, some evoked by the instructor and others he himself isn't sure where they come from; they are like ephemeral clouds he tries to catch.

There is a story about a river that feared its fate as it approached the sea. 'I will disappear!' the river thought, —the instructor continues—. The closer it got, the more afraid it became, until finally it reached the sea. It ceased to be a river and became an ocean.

Today, in your practice and in your life, receive every emotion, every situation, as a necessary part of the journey. Be grateful for the good and the difficult, because everything shapes you, everything teaches you. There is no light without shadow, no growth without challenge.

Laura manages to stabilize her turbulent breathing, and her throat is now free of all emotional influence. While still listening to her instructor's words, she calms down and thinks that, in any case, these injustices are not things she can change on her own. She finds courage in removing, at least for that moment, that weight from her life.

Awaken your body little by little; your toes awaken, your hands awaken. Do the stretches you feel are necessary, as if you had just gotten up. We sit down to finish the practice together; take this opportunity to give thanks for this moment. Bring your hands to the center, near your heart. Bend forward when you are ready. Namaste.