Bernal Yoga is full of magical wisdom. After being away for two weeks in New York, I was craving class and after Carlin’s Saturday morning class, I realized just what I was missing. KT is out of town and so Carlin, who studied under the same teacher as KT, was taking her place on Saturday. She mentioned at the beginning of class that hers can sometimes be a tough one, with poses held and flow encouraged. It also happened to be a hot day outside, a wonderful rarity in San Francisco, so we were drenched in sweat during class. And it was wonderful.

Carlin incorporates a powerful combination of asanas and insight. On this Saturday morning, two lessons particularly stayed with me. The first was about ease and the extent to which we somehow resist it in life. So often we think we are striving for ease in our lives. It’s the clutter of the mind we want to settle, challenges we want to overcome and possibly avoid, the static of the everyday we want to clear. But Carlin wondered to what extent do we seek out the challenging, how do we make things more difficult for ourselves and why. Are there ways we make things uncomfortable rather than resting in what may seem like mundane simplicity. It was a very interesting point and really got me thinking.

The other point Carlin made, and one that I have thought about before but not in the same way, was about how we react when we are in a difficult pose. If we look at that reaction in a moment of an uncomfortable asana, it may inform us about how we are in other uncomfortable moments in our lives. Do we check out (I wonder what I’ll be having for dinner), do we get frustrated and self-critical (wow, I really am not very good at headstand), or do we explore deeper (how can I open my chest more?). It’s an interesting question and a reminder, once again, that yoga is a metaphor, a tool to better understand ourselves and the way in which we think and live. Yoga is a practice of the mind, body and soul and the lessons we learn on the mat are ones we can hold with us wherever we go.

And one final thing Carlin mentioned: Our time in class is a time for us, a time where we can really listen to what is happening inside and out, a time where there are no interruptions. What a privilege.