Hello yogafolk—
I’m nearing the close of two years of graduate study, the culmination of which will be 11,000 words on śavāsana, the practice of yogic rest. As I hone in on a single posture’s history, evolution, role and goal in practice, I feel my own consciousness necessarily narrowing to a pinhole focus. But it is said that for every pose there is a counter pose; for every exhale there is an inhale. And even as my vision contracts, I simultaneously feel it widening: the more I zoom in to a single fractal, the more I see fractals replicating to create a larger, magnificent whole.
The below readings and attitudes are keeping me sane and steady as I hold both the micro and the macro in my palms. I hope you find them reassuring, too.
From the research depths,
Erica
In their perpetual brilliance, adrienne maree brown reflects: “For me, working with an embodiment framework through a somatic lens has most helped me feel healing, rather than just think about healing. I feel the presence of my healing work when what I feel within is totally aligned with what I am expressing and practicing externally, socially. I know I am in healing dynamics with others when I can fully be myself, without feeling pressure to wound myself with contortion, dishonesty, or overextension. How do you know when you feel healing in yourself, and in your relationships?” | Yes Magazine
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa22454ed-f409-4e35-8feb-2654ee58ca96_1400x840.webp)
This past winter I was agonizing over yet another term paper. I was striving for a perfect, articulate, meaningful, and original piece while straddling two continents, and staring down the Omicron wave. I was complaining to a colleague that I couldn’t seem to get the words quite right, and she responded: “What if it isn’t perfect? What if it’s good enough?” Mind blown, I turned in my paper and I haven’t stopped asking: “but is it good enough?”
Perfectionism “makes for a thin life, lived for what it isn’t rather than what it is.”
— Moya Sarner in The Perfectionism Trap
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F82713a4f-d216-4a49-903f-4857a060f291_1424x801.jpeg)
“Seasons and the natural rhythms of bees determine much of Ava Roth’s practice, which hinges on collaborating with the fuzzy pollinators. The Ontario-based artist stitches elaborate embroideries with beads and intricate thread-based motifs that, once her contribution is complete, she turns over to her insect counterparts. The critters then finish the mixed-media pieces by embedding them in golden, hexagonal honeycomb.” | Colossal
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb783b32c-6865-4a82-834e-186a962205fb_1472x1458.jpeg)
“Like a wild animal, the soul is tough, resilient, resourceful, savvy, and self-sufficient: it knows how to survive in hard places.”
— Parker Palmer, Let Your Life Speak
"Perfectionism makes for a thin life!!" And exhaustion and crankiness! How can I make that a tattoo so that I remember always?