Last week, we started practicing one of the most beautiful yoga postures that belongs to the balancing category: Krishna’s pose (Natavarasana). For me, this pose evokes absolute tranquility and contentment. I asked some students if they had ever seen an image of Lord Krishna playing the flute. They told me that they hadn’t, so I took this opportunity to write my first post (the previous one was written for the Facebook page).

Not long after I arrived in Edinburgh, I found a small statue of Lord Krishna in an intriguing antique shop down the Grassmarket. The little statue became the centre of my shrine. Lighting up candles around it helps me focus my mind and create an atmosphere of harmony right before I start my practice. Krishna has certainly become a great inspiration for me since I read the Bhagavad Gita, one of the most important yoga texts (if not the most important yoga text) that exists.

I would like to post verses 47 and 48, that talk about Yoga and the fruits of action. This translation was written by Nicholas Sutton.

47. You have a right to perform prescribed action but you are not entitled to the fruits of that action. Do not make the rewards of action your motive and do not develop any attachment for avoiding action.

48. Situated in yoga, perform your actions giving up all attachments. Dhanamjaya. Remain equal in success and failure for such equanimity is what is meant by yoga.

Although we mostly associate yoga with postures, yoga is a lot more, that is why it gets better and better as we deepen our knowledge. However, this knowledge is not intellectual, it is intuitive; it comes from the heart. Krishna helps us see beyond illusion, beyond identification, beyond disillusionment. Krishna’s pose helps us notice how we react when we feel out of balance. It makes us harness feelings of negativity and transform them into courage and determination.