I was thinking that it's interesting how people react when they see a photo of someone doing an advanced arm balance or pretzel-like yoga pose; that is, there often seems to be a mixture of admiration and yet shying away with thoughts like, the model has to be born that flexible, or it's an accomplishment that the speaker could never hope to match, or that it must be painful to do that. So then that got me thinking, what does that model in that challenging pose represent in terms of yoga, and whatever else?

For one, though it certainly is an accomplishment in a general sense, it's not important at all in yoga to be able to do a more advanced pose, but rather more (trying not to ramble here) relaxing into what you are capable of in the moment, rather than pushing for more. While sometimes the model is just plain a contortionist, I think another misperception is that it's purely flexibility in question; it's just as much great muscular and mental strength to be able to manipulate one's body as such. And while it may certainly appear painful, I think rather that a truly deepened pose is really more representative of freedom and a deeper relaxation of the body-mind, as one doesn't force their way into something like that. I'm sure there was some kind of pain that went into getting to that point, but to flip that around, the heat-like pain usually associated with stretching can be seen (to slip into metaphor) as a cleansing or releasing kind of fire - after all, pain isn't necessarily bad as our reflexive reaction usually labels it.

Random quote of the day, by William James - "We have grown literally afraid to be poor. We despise anyone who elects to be poor in order to simplify and save his inner life. If he does not join the general scramble and pant with the money-making street, we deem him spiritless and lacking in ambition."
---Maybe it doesn't have to have the label 'poor,' per se, but I can think of several people who I really admire because of their 'inner life' (and consequent relative lack of material wealth), and a lot of people who I've lost respect for because they've come to fit the other side of that quote. That's not to say I can't think of a few people who I admire for their 'inner life' who also have high ambitions in the other regard, but I guess it's a matter of proportion on each side.