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for the next few months, we'll be considering the
five Universal Principles of Alignment in Anusara Yoga.
we use these principles all the time.  now we can look at the words
and discover what they mean for ourselves.

to touch on the very first principle of
Anusara Yoga,
OPENING TO GRACE:
it isn't simply an OPENING. 
that would imply solely surrendering,
and there's more to any experience of 'grace' than passivity.

this first principle is an
invitation to the effort, a starting point
for the real work of the practice-
recognizing the inherence of grace,
leading to a genuine understanding of grace.

what is the effort?
think of your posture before you began your yoga practice.
your natural state was likely a state of fatigue or misalignment,
possibly painful and imbalanced.
that misaligned body is analagous to the personality.
we all have tendencies that aren't useful to our lives-
[impatience, unfairness, untruthfulness, anger, ignorance, to name a few].

as with our bodies, these tendencies are challenging to see and overcome. 
they've become the usual state of things, mostly without our notice.

so physically we work to align ourselves in our asanas...
and experience muscle soreness due to the breakdown and rebuilding of the muscles.
yes, more pain initially.  but now there's an aim.

and mentally we look carefully at the tendencies of our personality...
we feel the frustration, disappointment at the
inattention/impatience/anger we see in our behaviour
(analagous to the frustration with any postural misalignment/imbalance),

and then instead of saying or doing something deleterious,
we see tendencies coming, keep things to ourselves, consider first.
(analagous to holding, strengthening and breathing our bodies in the asanas).

this is the effort.  it does not offer immediate gratification.
with respect, patience and recognition of the potential for the experience,
we may experience glimpses of what we might call GRACE.
which, to me, is still indescribable...
but i know it when i feel it.

since you are always invited to experience it in your practice,
think about what 'grace' means for you,
in your practice, in your life.

there is one definition of 'grace' that is certain:
Grace, IDAHO   
Location: 42.57634 N, 111.73003 W
Area: 2.5 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 83241
[i couldn't resist]

blessings and fortitude
elena