Photo via FYeahYoga.

My teacher shared a profound idea in savasana today. He didn't say, "Let go of all your thoughts and concerns. Detach from them and rest in stillness."

He said, "Consider whatever it is that's challenging you in life right now, whether that's a relationship or a situation or an unfulfilled desire. Embrace that.

"What are you turning away from? Look at how you can learn to embrace those challenges as they come up for you."

Photo via Pinterest.

I think so often we come to yoga hoping to get away from the stresses of daily life, or the obstacles in our path. We are searching for relief from sadness and turmoil, or for a reprieve from apathy, a sense of deeper meaning and of belonging.

What we have to remember, though, is that yoga challenges us, too. The practice is meant to.

Yoga is not necessarily a break from challenges, but an experience in practicing how to embrace them and work through them one breath at a time.

Photo via Dudes Doing Yoga.

Inevitably, at some point in class we reach a moment when we can choose to give up, or to trust the teacher's words and our own bodies... and that's when amazing things happen. We stretch farther into the pose than we did yesterday, or we lift off the floor in an arm balance six months after trying it over and over again.

We look in the mirror and see ourselves differently, or perhaps for the first time, we see ourselves for who we truly are.

And we leave the mat feeling lighthearted and energized, ready to face the challenges waiting outside the studio, more open to them than before.