Balancing More Than the Body

This week’s Community Yoga class was the final one of April—and with it, we wrapped up our monthly theme of sthira, the Sanskrit word for steadiness. It’s a quality that runs much deeper than learning how to balance on one foot. Balance doesn’t mean stillness—it means staying steady even as life swirls around us. This is the work of balancing more than the body, it’s about finding steadiness in breath, thought, and intention too.

And let’s be honest—it does get full. Long weekends, surprise curveballs, missed routines… they all have the power to shake our rhythm. But what if the work isn’t about getting it perfect? What if it’s simply about returning? Coming back to the mat, to your breath, to your Self—with compassion.

In our final class, we practiced many of the postures that carried us through the month: tree, warrior, dancer, triangle, and more. Not as a checklist, but as a reminder that we are always building something. Always becoming. As we flowed from one shape to the next, I invited students to notice how each posture—each breath—could be placed with care. That’s the essence of vinyasa: not just movement, but movement done with intention.

There’s a dance to this practice. In Natarajasana, dancer pose, we physically embody it—a balance of strength and grace, groundedness and expansion. There’s also a deeper symbolism here. The name Nataraja is another name for Shiva, the cosmic dancer, who is said to bring about transformation through his dance. Legend has it that when his lifted foot touches the ground, all of life as we know it dissolves. It’s poetic, yes—but also incredibly poignant. Every step we take matters. Every breath, every return to self, is part of the choreography.

So, as this month comes to a close, I offer you this invitation: Keep stepping in the direction of your intentions. Keep choosing to return. Let your steadiness be found not in rigidity, but in rhythm.

Reflection prompt: What are the daily or weekly practices that help you feel steady, especially when life gets messy? How can you make space for one of those things today?

Keep dancing—and finding steadiness in your rhythm,
xoM