This week’s Principle of Yoga is possibility.
I’ll be completely honest with you. I feel like possibility is one of those airy-fairy words. My skepticism/cynicism rears its head when I hear someone say “the possibilities are endless”. In fact, because of that very sentiment, possibility as a concept feels overwhelming.
When you choose to live your life open to infinite possibilities, that means anything can happen. You can be anything you want to be, do anything you want to do, have anything you want to have. And that’s where I really start to doubt this concept.
However, I believe this kind of thinking takes the concept of possibility out of context. Believing in infinite possibility without being tethered to reality is a recipe for suffering. Embracing infinite possibility as a fact of life and then doing the work to make possibility reality is the path of yoga.
Transform possibility into reality
Each moment lends itself to new possibility. Anything can happen between now and 5 seconds from now. Most of the time, you have no control over what is happening around you. What you do have control over is how you respond and your mindset. This is where the concept of possibility is most potent.
What if you truly believed in yourself? What if your greatest dreams did become reality? Perhaps there seems to be an insurmountable gap between where you are right now and where you want to go, be, do, have. It’s that gap that you need to step into and start navigating in order to transform possibility into reality.
Innovation doesn’t exist without possibility. If no one ever dreamed or believed great, crazy things couldn’t happen, no one would ever do the work required to get it done. If no one ever believed or dreamed humans could go to the moon (or Mars), governments wouldn’t have mobilized resources to make it happen. If you never believed you could be a yoga teacher, you wouldn’t invest in the time, training, and practice needed to make it happen. All possibility starts out as a crazy idea because anything that exists merely as a possibility is inherently counter to the way things currently are.
Let’s get granular here. I’m currently working on rebranding my own yoga teaching business. At this moment in the process I’m feeling a little stuck because there are so many avenues I could follow. There is one possibility in particular that feels intriguing but also completely bonkers. I perceive this possibility as bonkers because I don’t think it exists. Because it doesn’t exist, I have no models to learn from. I have to create this service, from scratch. The steps needed to make that possibility a reality feel insurmountable, not least because I don’t necessarily have the skills I need to make it happen. But! That doesn’t mean I can’t get the skills, hire people who have the skills, or partner with someone with skills to make this particular possibility a viable business opportunity.
The discomfort I have with possibility isn’t about what it means so much as it is about the work required to bring a possibility into existence. And that’s the part I think most of us forget about.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t dream or create your vision boards or write down your goals or think big. Do all those things. But then, sit down and create a step-by-step action plan for how you are going to make your dreams come true. Embracing infinite possibility is about believing in yourself in the sense that you believe you have all the resources you need to do the work required to make possibility reality.
The Sutras
Sutra 3.14: The form an object takes varies. However, all objects contain all possible forms within them–past, present, and future.
This sutra is esoteric on its surface, but encompasses the principle of possibility perfectly. Every object (that includes humans) has infinite potential. The manifestation any object takes depends on a large variety of factors. That does not mean, however, that other manifestations aren’t possible. Anything is possible. You just have to be willing to work to change what is now into what you want something to be.
Sutra 3.55: The wisdom gained from discriminative knowledge is transcendent. It allows us to cross beyond the bondage of kleshas and karma, and it encompasses all objects in all their states throughout all of time–past, present, and future.
In this sutra, Patanjali tells us that the aim of yoga practice is to develop discriminative knowledge. Once we’ve developed this discriminative knowledge we are able to transcend the effects of the Kleshas and Karma. The Kleshas and Karma are what keep us trapped in limited thinking and cloud our ability to see new possibility. Essentially, developing discriminative knowledge allows us to connect with universal consciousness. This allows us to rest in a state in which we recognize everyone and everything as part of that same universal consciousness. This awareness allows us to see the possibility in everyone and everything.
How to apply this in yoga practice and teaching
Working with the principle of possibility in practice is fun. Think of a yoga pose you can’t currently do but want to learn. How might you be able to practice so that you are able to someday perform that yoga pose in some way? The thing about possibility is that the manifestation of a particular possibility may be different than what you initially had in mind. You may want to do Wheel Pose someday, but it just doesn’t work in your body. Working on your mindset may help you see that there are many ways you can perform poses like Wheel to give you the same effect. Or maybe you’re able to work through an injury or physical limitation that is preventing you from getting to Wheel right now.
You can work with possibility at the level of your thoughts and beliefs too. Maybe you currently think you are poor. How can you work with your thoughts to help you change your mind about the state of your wealth? It might require redefining what wealth means and how it shows up in your life or changing career fields so that you are in a better position to gain the wealth you want.
Yoga teachers can use possibility as a theme for sequencing asana and meditation practices. Think of yoga poses that represent possibility to you and find ways to sequence a class around these poses and this principle. Be sure to include enough grounding poses to counterbalance the expansiveness of a principle like possibility. You could also break down one posture into many different possibilities. A pose as simple as Mountain can be explored standing, lying down, in Plank, in Handstand, prone, etc. Have fun with it and get creative. There are infinite possibilities!
Put Possibility into Practice
To get your creative juices flowing, here’s a look at some possibilities available (and there are many more!) in Wheel Pose. Play with these shapes and see if you can build a class around them!
