prana

Tonight, in yoga, we heard about prana:

Walking along a beach, I watched hundreds of little crabs digging tunnels into the sand. Each crab tunnel was the equivalent of my digging a tunnel twenty feet deep with my bare hands in thirty or forty seconds. This commonplace miracle was possible because it was necessary. If crabs are going to get by in this world, they are going to have to possess that much strength, that much life force – and so they have it. Life force is like that – ubiquitous and inexhaustible. Nothing is impossible for those who have it. 

I liked hearing that we possess the amount of strength we need. Some of us have heavier loads than others. Sometimes I feel my emotional burden is too heavy for me to carry; I feel very intensely. Emotions don’t quickly come and go for me – they are anchors, grounding me in one place for a long time until I build up the strength to heave up the anchor. But I am strong enough to carry it. I have the life force I need for this life of mine. It is possible because it is necessary. Just like the crabs, if I am going to get by in this world, I will need to possess that much strength, that much life force – and so I have it.