4/23/26 Live Session Recording
Thank you for taking the time to engage with the recording of our April 23 live session.
You’re invited to share anything that resonated with you—an observation, a question, or a moment that stood out during the session.
If it’s helpful to have a prompt, you might consider:
- How did the discussion of Ishvara Pranidhana (surrender) land for you? What does surrender or letting go look like in your practice or daily life?
- What thoughts or questions came up for you during the movement demonstration? How might you adapt or approach a sequence like this for the populations you serve or hope to serve?
As always, brief reflections, questions, or ongoing curiosities are all welcome.
Grateful to continue learning together.
I missed the first hour of class this past week so I'm sharing a reflection prompts, mostly my own thoughts instead of what people said in the video, although a lot of that also resonated with me. To me surrender is a difficult concept because it can often be used as an excuse for inaction or feigned powerlessness, when in fact people can and do have (some) influence on the world around them, and the ruling class stays in power partly by perpetuating the idea that there is, to paraphrase Mar*** Th*tche*, "no alternative". I think that this philosophic principle needs to be inflected with satya and a sense of intuition and insight, there are situations when surrender is the only path available, and acceptance is a really powerful tool, especially for people suffering the after effects of trauma, or just the general human condition. It is sometimes said that the difference between pain and suffering is acceptance, and there are many traditions including in the recovery field (namely AA/NA) that make acceptance a cornerstone of their practice.
On the mat, in the past few months I have noticed a feeling that I think can best be described as a surrendering, especially when I'm just laying down or in child's pose, as I'm surrendering into the post. It feels very nice, sometimes emotional, but I think a lot of my early practice was around struggle, so it's nice to be able to surrender.
For me, surrendering required learning the difference between that, and giving in/up. Because we are not taught to surrender, it is difficult to learn exactly how to create that later on in life. It looks different for each of us and can be a big learning curve.
It has taken years of work in my own practice, adapting sequences that create calm and peace in my body, so that I can better understand what it takes to create that for others. For years I was more focused on the asana, physical practice end it didn’t really feel authentic. As soon as I learned and included more somatic movements and breath work to classes, it changed everything about I taught.
Ishvara Pranidhana (surrender):
It landed as a reminder to release control and trust the process rather than forcing outcomes. In practice, surrender looks like softening effort, accepting where I am that day, and letting go of expectations, both on the mat and in daily situations I can’t control.
Movement demonstration:
It raised questions about accessibility and pacing, who might struggle with this and why. I’d adapt by offering options (e.g., props, range-of-motion variations, slower transitions) and focusing on choice, so different populations can engage safely and at their own level.
Jen, when you said "I find it very difficult to find total bliss in a fuckass world that is harming everyone,"...I felt that. I also really resonated with many classmate's sentiments that strength and surrender can feel at odds sometimes. This recording came during a great week for me, as I'm trying to let go of my internal assumptions that to surrender means to give up or accept that you are not enough. I quit a job that I care deeply about yesterday—one that was such a huge part of my identity and growth—but I have been realizing that continuing to be in this environment has been harming me in an unsustainable way due to larger forces outside of my control. I also needed to recognize that my needs have changed and that I was attaching myself to a version of myself and of the work that it no longer was. It was so difficult to make this decision, and there was so much grief, but once I allowed myself to surrender to the universe, step back, and let go, I was able to feel less attached and really see both my own truth and the greater truth of my situation.
During the movement practice, I did notice myself overthinking a lot, coming at it from a perspective of trying to anticipate how every hypothetical person I am facilitating for might receive each movement, beyond the point of what I would consider useful. I think this instinct be a good practice in empathy and gaining insight about other perspectives, to a point, but it can also take you out of the present moment and I wonder if I couldn't approach learning from a more "surrendered" place.