In pursuit of less than perfect

What I Read in Yoga This Month, February 2025

Dear humans,

I’ve been caught in a cycle of “go, go, go” these last few weeks.

Maybe it’s the energy of February: a short month, where the end always feels like it’s rushing toward you.

Perhaps it’s my own energy: I am in a year of self-proclaimed creative production.

But mostly likely, it’s of my own creation. I find myself needing to ask: Is it as urgent as it seems?

I’m always amazed by the mind’s ability to set the stage for our lives. Often, I do have the time that I need. And there’s no real pressure beyond what I am placing on myself. It’s not that my deadlines aren’t real (I’m in school right now after all, that paper is due at midnight!), it’s just that my mind is telling me that things are more chaotic than they actually are.

When I can step back and really look at my life from an objective place, I can begin to settle those thoughts.

Here’s something I know to be true:

You cannot create without energy. You cannot energize without rest. You cannot rest without quiet. You cannot be quiet without intention.

The intention to be still. The intention to carve out time to just be. That’s what I seek to remember on my yoga mat. That’s why I’m so thankful to have its four corners available to me.

The readings I’m offering you this February challenge the idea of what it means to achieve; challenge the idea of what it means to be “good” or “perfect”; and invite us to open our eyes, again and again, to the wild mysteries and beauty of presence.

I hope you enjoy them. I hope they serve as a reminder that often the energy we are living in is of our own creation, and we have the ability to make shifts, as long as we remember to pause.

Sending love and hugs and good thoughts your way,

Izzy

Izzy Martens

author, yoga teacher, sequence enthusiast

www.yogahumans.com

What I Read in Yoga This Month | February 2025

Author: L.E. Bowman //

L.E. Bowman

on Substack

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