The Beauty of Boundaries

Boundaries create the container of stillness and observation within ourselves. When we don’t have strong boundaries we are constantly pouring ourselves out into the world around us—creating a puddle thats merely a reflection of our surroundings. Our container held together by boundaries creates and upholds a vessel that allows for the balance of external adaptability—while our internal landscape remains stable and unaffected by external change.

In yoga, this internal self is what’s called Ātman—the essence of who we are before our embodied, physical existence formed and shaped our identity as we know it. In the practice of yoga we create a physical framework for energetic and spiritual observation and reflection. Without this boundary we are constantly pulled and tugged to the demands of the world around us due to the lack of agency over our own internal experience. Overtime, this picks away at our energetic, emotional and mental bandwidth—preventing us from really feeling full within ourselves.

We live in a culture of comfort and desire, so the moment we feel uncomfortable - we want to bail. Yoga teaches us that this discomfort is good. That pressure is good. And with strong boundaries we can shift that pressure upward, rather than outward, to transform it. We just need to stick with it. After all, water adapts to the container that it is held within. How stable is your container?