Getting Bigger, Getting Smaller

When the world feels like it’s crumbling and uncertainty seems to flood every corner of our lives, we need tools that help steady us. Here are two powerful approaches you can cultivate through your yoga practice to create space for peace and perspective: getting bigger and getting smaller.

Sometimes we need to step back - way back - and remember that in the grand sweep of time, each of us is a fleeting spark in an infinite cosmos. Even when everything feels like it’s falling apart (and maybe it is), life continues its ancient and unceasing dance. Nothing can stop time from moving forward or life from expressing itself. This realization of our place in a vast, ever-unfolding universe can get us unstuck, and shift us from fear to freedom.

In yoga, we foster this expanded awareness through witness consciousness - the inner presence that can observe our reality (racing thoughts, shallow breath, tense body) without being overwhelmed by it. This self-reflective capacity holds the full spectrum of our experience while remaining whole and undisturbed.

Such detachment doesn’t disconnect us from life; it gives us the clarity to meet it with greater composure and centeredness.

The other path to inner sanctuary is deceptively simple: find something right in front of you to genuinely appreciate.

While we tend to believe that happiness comes from big moments—vacations, windfalls, achievements—research tells a different story. Consistently noticing and savoring small, everyday positive moments has a far greater effect on our overall happiness. In other words, it’s the frequency of positive experiences - more than their intensity - that most powerfully supports our sense of wellbeing.

That perfect sip of morning coffee. Sunlight streaming through your window. Your dog's enthusiastic greeting. These micro-moments of appreciation, when truly savored, build resilience and contentment more effectively than any major event.

By helping us become fully present, yoga fosters our ability – and our availability – to notice and appreciate the seemingly small things right in front of us, offering a sense of satisfaction and lived happiness.

Zooming out to embrace an expansive perspective or opening to the miracle of this moment – both approaches provide an inner refuge when life’s storms feel unrelenting.

The next time you roll out your mat, notice which calls to you. Some days you may need to tap into that vast and spacious perspective. Other days, you might be drawn to the quiet, intimate focus on breath or sensation.

Whether through focusing on the expansive or the particular, it’s precious to know that even - and especially – in chaos, there are reliable, time-tested ways to find solace and sanctuary in returning to your steady center within.