Grit and Grace
My father could fix anything. His favorite room in the house was the garage. As a kid I would find him pulling engines out of cars, fiddling with electronics, sanding, painting, digging, siding the house. He was a gritty guy, loved to work and get things done. He also loved a problem and the process. of solving it.. That's when I would often find him sitting quietly, gazing into space. He was observing the problem, analyzing, slowing down, considering the bigger elements. And that was his play, his yoga, executing the grind while anchored in grace.
When the idea of grace was introduced to me in yoga training years ago, I struggled to understand it's meaning. As.a language teacher my first line of understanding was always literal, definition:
Grace: 1. simple elegance or refinement of movement. 2. courteous goodwill.
These definitions always help. As I was learning and exploring yoga poses, philosophy, and body mechanics, my teacher advised to focus on embodying and feeling the ideas being taught. He wanted us to put the definition to practice, and then formulate our own definition. 'Grit" was easy for me. Crank it up, increase the difficulty, sweat, challenge and overcome. But when I explored "grace" with this approach it wasn't so easy. It was more subtle, nuanced. At the time I wasn't interested in restorative or gentle yoga. I had to learn how to incorporate grace into what I was already working with, and what I was working with was a fiery, athletic yoga, more effort, more poses, more time. I soon discovered that what "more" got me was a strong capacity to do more advanced practices and poses while also giving me a sore lower back!
For many many years my practice was about softening and balancing the grind. I learned a lot. I learned that my ego was the driver of the grind. I learned that less is sometimes more. And most importantly, I learned that my deep yoga breathing was the ultimate equalizer for my over effort. I only share this approach so perhaps you can consider yours. I've come across many students on the polar opposite - bendy, organic, flighty - who would benefit from grounding and engaging muscular energy. It's an ongoing play, the balance of effort and ease. And each pose or situation might require more of one, less of the other. That's the fun of it and why we can refer to the entire practice of yoga and living as play, balancing action, and connecting with what seems separate as one.
Whether we embark on a serious study of yoga, attend class once or twice a week or fiddle in the garage as practice, observing the 'grit and grace' we bring to our lives is a nice entry point for the more nuanced practice of living.
