Learn to Fly on Two Wings for Even More Balance and Grace

A result-oriented mindset sees only half the picture.

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Birds stay aloft by balancing both wings on the wind. A bird with one wing cannot soar to great heights or glide through the breeze on sunny days. Like birds, when we want to fly, we have to engage both of our wings. Ancient yoga texts compare the wings of a bird to the two states of being that we have to balance to soar — focused activity and relaxed ease. Continuous effort without easing up and we are soon flightless birds, mindlessly flapping our one useable wing we never used because we couldn’t find the time.

You know the feeling you get when you have the desire to complete a task, reach a goal, or push yourself to the limits getting fit? There’s a strong urge to keep going — that more is better. If we only had one more day in the week, we could get it all done.

Years of yoga practice have shown me that there is no end goal. In my early years as a yoga student, I set goals of achievement for my practice — “If I do this sequence for six months by Christmas, I’ll be able to do the scorpion pose!” What happened when I could balance on my forearms and kick my legs up in…