Welcome to this practice that explores the transition between dharana and dhyana,
The yoga philosophies of effort,
Ease,
And the transformative space that lives in between them.
We will begin with a grounding breath and a gentle body scan to settle the nervous system.
From there,
I will guide you into a brief somatic inquiry,
Helping you locate in the body the felt experience of something that is currently requiring effort.
And we will then move into the art prompt.
This practice is for anyone who is in the middle of a change that still feels hard.
It is for anyone who has wondered whether the effort is worth it.
This is for anyone who is building a new habit,
A new practice,
A new way of living,
And needs permission to be exactly where they are.
Let us begin.
Find a comfortable seat.
You may place your feet flat on the floor or across the legs,
Whatever feels most supportive for your body right now.
Let your hands rest softly in your lap.
You may close your eyes if that feels comfortable,
Or let your gaze soften towards the floor in front of you.
Begin simply by noticing your breath.
Not changing it yet,
Just notice the natural rhythm of the inhale and the exhale.
Notice now where the breath is moving in your body.
Is it staying high near the collarbones?
Or can you feel it moving down into the heart space or belly?
Begin now to breathe a little more deeply,
Inhaling to the count of four.
Pausing at the top and then exhaling slowly for a count of five or six.
Pausing again.
Continue for a few more rounds at whatever length feels just outside of natural,
Just a bit of effort here,
But also ease.
Again,
Continue for a few more rounds.
And now allow your breath to return to its natural rhythm.
And bring your awareness to the body,
Beginning with the soles of your feet.
Notice where your feet make contact with the floor beneath you.
Move your awareness slowly upward,
Noticing the ankles,
The calves and shins,
And the knees.
Notice the tops of your legs.
Notice if there's any tension or gripping here and soften.
Bring your awareness now to the hips and the belly.
Notice where your body makes contact with the chair or cushion beneath you.
Notice if there is any tightness in the belly and soften.
Now move your awareness up through the spine and into the heart space.
Notice the backside ribs,
The heart center,
The front side ribs,
And the heart center once again.
Continue up the back to the neck and shoulders.
Notice if you are carrying any tension.
See if you can adjust or soften the shoulders slightly.
Now move your awareness down through the arms and into the hands,
Noticing any sensation or energy in the fingertips.
And bring your awareness back up through the arms,
The shoulders,
Up through the neck to the backside head.
Notice the ears,
The jaw and cheekbones,
The tip of the nose,
The bridge of the nose,
The eyes.
Notice the eyebrows,
The forehead,
And soften anywhere that you find tension.
Finally,
Bring the awareness to the crown of the head.
Notice the whole left side body,
The whole right side body,
And the whole body.
As you take a full breath and now notice the whole body from the soles of the feet to the crown of the head.
And as you exhale,
Imagine releasing tension downward through the feet and into the earth.
Continue with the breath.
From this grounded place,
I invite you to bring to mind something in your life that currently requires effort.
This might be a habit you are trying to build or a wellness practice that you keep returning to even when it's hard.
This may be a new meal plan,
Some form of structured movement,
Allowing yourself more creative time,
Or making space to rest.
Whatever arises,
Let it be present.
And notice,
Where do you feel this in the body?
Is there a tightening somewhere?
A sense of heaviness or bracing.
Perhaps there's a low hum of resistance or a sense of something requiring more energy that feels comfortable right now.
Perhaps there's a feeling of scattering.
Just notice you do not need to change anything here.
We are simply making the invisible visible,
Bringing the body's experience of effort into awareness so that we can work with it rather than against it or purely with the head.
Gently observe,
What does this effort feel like right now?
Not the story of it,
But the felt experience.
Is it sharp or dull?
Is it heavy or buzzing?
Is it familiar or new?
And now very gently notice if underneath the effort there is something else,
Like a flicker of hope.
Or a quiet commitment,
Perhaps a solution or suggestion.
Notice the part of you that keeps showing up even when it's hard.
In yoga philosophy,
Dharana is the sixth limb.
Dharana is often explained as concentration.
Dharana is also the practice of intentional sustained attention,
Effortful by design,
And exactly right for where you are as you begin a new habit or meaningful positive change.
Think also of learning how to play the piano or becoming fluent in a new language.
Mastery does not come overnight.
It takes practice.
It takes consistency.
It takes effort.
Which brings us to Dhyana,
Yoga's seventh limb.
Dhyana is often expressed as meditation,
But it means without effort.
It is the experience of this new habit as something that has transformed from effort into second nature.
It is the song played from memory without sheet music.
It is the language that has become fluent.
This is what we are exploring today,
How to move your new practice from one of effort into one of ease.
Take one more breath here,
And when you are ready,
Let your eyes open gently.
And let us move now into the art prompt.
You will need your journal or a piece of paper and whatever materials feel right.
And the prompt is balanced effort.
Begin by drawing a simple balance scale with two pans suspended from a central point.
On the one side,
Place a habit,
Practice,
Or change that currently feels effortful.
This might be a creative practice,
A health goal,
A mindfulness routine,
Or any area of life where you're trying to establish a new way of being.
On the other side,
Begin adding the supports that make the practice easier to sustain.
Some supports may be substantial,
Others may be as light as a feather.
For example,
It could be a meal prepared a few days ahead or a yoga mat left where you'll see it and step onto it more easily.
It could be a reminder on your calendar or phone.
Perhaps you grant yourself permission for a five-minute version of the practice on busy or difficult days,
Or you allow the support of a friend.
As you create,
Reflect on these questions.
What tiny feather or thing could tilt the scale from effort to ease?
And also,
What creates friction between you and sustainability in this practice?
What small supports are needed.
And what are you already doing that deserves more credit?
Add as many things as you can to the side of ease,
Things you are already doing,
Things you have been meaning to try,
Things so small they almost feel too simple to count.
And let the scale begin to tip towards ease.
Notice what shifts when you see them all together.
When your image feels complete,
Step back and observe the image.
And then spend a few minutes in quiet dialogue with the ease side of the image.
You will write from the perspective of the scale itself using your stream of consciousness and your non-dominant hand if that's comfortable for you.
You might explore questions like,
What are the tiny feathers that tilt the scale that you've been overlooking?
What would make your practice 2% easier?
What would this habit look like if it were designed for who you actually are right now,
Not for who you think you should be by now?
Let the image tell you what you haven't yet given yourself permission to try.
As we close today's practice,
Thank you for taking the time to tune inward.
The effort you are experiencing is not evidence that something is wrong,
It is evidence that something is being built.
The brain is laying down a new pathway slowly,
Quietly,
And one repetition at a time.
And the conditions that you create around the practice matter as much as the practice itself.
You are not behind,
You are building.
And the path gets clearer the more you walk it.
The goodness in me honors the goodness in you.
