Today's practice was done slowly, gently, with extreme modifications. Thank goodness for blocks. I was able to hold most of the positions, no problem, and only avoided the ones that caused pain. This series offers a great set of exercises, even with limitations in the body. Thank you.

I quail when I hear the word "peak" as in "peak pose" or in this case "peak of the practice". But what I love about these challenges is that you're on the path so you just keep going. I always feel at th start that I'm not good enough because I'm not young and flexible, but I try to find something to hang onto in the teaching, in this case, "slow even breathing", and also, as in this case, the trust that the teacher has built up. I did all of this practice without faltering. It wasn't easy, but I could do it. And at the end I had to ask myself, with a wry smile, how many years is it going to take before you believe you can do it? Thank you yoga and thank you Peter for keeping on nudging me towards this insight. I've really loved the repetitive and accumulative nature of this challenge. All love 💜

Hi Debra, what a sweet message to receive! You asked 'how many years is it going to take before you believe you can do it?" I have a question for you, "how much time will it take you to realize you already did 'do it'?" No matter what level you are at in yoga, anyone on the mat will be challenged, and the challenges you face will be very personal ones. It doesn't matter what the "final" shape of your poses look like, as long as you consistently approach your practice with softness towards the limitations you experience with slow, even breathing, and patience to see what that process reveals. I wish you the best on your path. By the way, may I use your comment for one of my posts on my Instagram page? It would be anonymous of course...

Debra what an inspiring honest post. I loved your elegance in expressing it.

This was an interesting practice! Physically challenging, yet slow and meditative. The prolonged physical challenge seemed to force a meditative stance. It was the only way to keep going!

Hi Kate The strength practice with static poses we refer to as "Crack the Nut" and it sounds like that is actually what happened for you - the mind breaks open when it realizes it has the power to overcome physical limitations...

Thank you! Love that "Yin thing".

Challenging but calming, the only way to continue in the poses was to deepen my breath and soften my internal organs. Instead of fighting it was a form of sweet surrender. And what I learn on the mat, I take into the world around me. The reference about going beyond strength resonated with my Higher Power and my breath is the all important connection and trying to get it into every fibre of my practice. Amazing what you can do when you don't try! Namaste.

Hi Glenford you have the rare quality of perceiving the subtle. It will serve you well with this style of practice. Keep it up!

Wonderful practice. Albeit my one knee rebels when I sit too long crosslegged. I used to be able to sit in lotus but now the knee has pain and I have to stretch it out for a while in order to continue. Yes, the repetition is allowing me to really learn these poses so that maybe later I can intuitively be able to use and recall them not to mention improve capability.