When I Turned Toward | A Poem On Dveṣa

What if the doorway to peace isn't found by escaping discomfort... but by gently turning toward it?
Inspired by Dveṣa, the fourth of the five Kleshas described in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, this contemplative poem reflects on our tendency to resist what feels painful and the unexpected freedom that begins when we soften our resistance.
Through quiet imagery and reflective verse, these words invite you to pause, breathe, and meet your experience with kindness rather than judgment. They remind us that healing often begins not when our circumstances change, but when our relationship to them does.
Whether you listen after the accompanying talk, following the Yoga Nidra practice, or as a quiet reflection on its own, may this poem leave you with a gentler heart, greater courage, and a deeper trust in your capacity to meet life exactly as it is.

Transcript

Before we begin. I would like to invite you to simply listen. There is nothing you need to understand or analyze. Allow these words to gently settle within you. Arriving like rain upon dry earth. This poem is inspired by Tvesa, The yogic teaching of aversion. The tendency to run away from what feels uncomfortable, Uncertain or painful. So often we believe that peace will come when discomfort disappears. Yet, Sometimes, Peace begins the moment we stop running from what is already here. As you listen, You may recognize moments in your own life where resistance created struggle and where acceptance quietly opened the door to healing. May these words remind you that courage is not found in fighting your experience, But in meeting it with an open heart. Sometimes the greatest freedom comes not from changing what we feel, But from changing how we hold it. Take a slow, Comfortable breath. Settle into this moment. And simply listen. I turned away. I turned away. Because it felt like too much. The weed. The tightness, The quiet discomfort. So I avoided. I distracted. I moved on. But it followed, Not loudly. But persistently. Until one day I stopped. And instead of running away, I turned toward. And what I feared was not as solid as I imagined. It moved. It softened. It changed. And I saw. It was never the feeling that held me. It was my resistance. Thank you for listening. Namaste.