Yoga for Strength, Anger and Huston Smith
March 17, 2024
8 min read
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{Body}
Which kind of yoga is best for strength?
I’ll answer your question, but I first want to throw a little asterisk on it.
When most people think “yoga”, they think flexible bodies, mala beads and incense.
Strictly defined, though, yoga means “to yolk”, which can basically be understood as “unifying with a higher power” — God, Self, Universe, etc.
Therefore, for a practice to fall under the category “yoga” it needs to have unification as its end goal.
With this in mind, there’s actually no such thing as a yoga that is “best for strength,” because if strength is the only goal, strictly speaking it’s not yoga.
Technicalities aside, I know what you’re asking and have some thoughts.
{Mind}
Working with anger
Historically, I rarely get angry.
Frustrated? Yes. Annoyed? Definitely. But true anger? Not so much — maybe once or twice a year, honestly.
I’ll admit, this is somewhat unhealthy. It’s a tactic I unconsciously deploy in order to avoid that specific emotion, because I am afraid of it.
I fear anger’s power. I fear what anger asks me to do. I fear what anger implies about my character.
Part of this response is mature; after all, anger warps our perception and makes the world seem more antagonistic.
There is sincere wisdom in anger, though. Not in the emotion itself, but in what it points to:
Anger points to guilt — where we ignore our own shortcomings by blaming others.
Anger points to pain — where we can apply the soothing balm of forgiveness and surrender.
Anger points to desire — where we envision new futures.
Anger points to courage — where we get inspired to direct our life towards greater harmony.
Again, reacting unconsciously to situations with anger is not sensible, but being in the rawness of it absolutely is.
Seriously…just fully feel the anger, and wait. Wait until anger shows you what is hiding beneath its depths. Wait until anger breaks your heart wide open. Wait until anger reveals to you what you care about most.
{Soul}
It isn’t satisfying to know Truth (another word for insight) just for a moment — to taste its incomparable sweetness, and then have it stripped away.
No! We want to live in Truth, grow in Truth, die in Truth.
Luckily, this is the human opportunity.
Because you are self-aware, you have the incredible capacity to see past the strange identifications you’ve made and into the blinding light of peace.
True enlightenment is possible — don’t doubt it for a moment, even when the world tries to distract and confuse you.
(By the way, “the light” Huston is referring to isn’t just a cute metaphor. It is realer than real. All religions point to it. It exists in you, as you, and through you. When it is time, that light will penetrate your third eye and erupt in a brilliant white flash.)
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