I trained as a yoga teacher a year ago, so when Sadhguru came up in conversation recently, it sent me back to a book I’d been meaning to sit with properly: Adiyogi, his account of where yoga actually comes from, long before it became a stretching class.
The idea that’s stayed with me: rising isn’t a rare, mystical event. It’s not just kundalini. It’s daily… we rise to the occasion, rise above the drama, rise out of chaos and into clarity. Or we don’t, and we stay exactly where we are.
Notice what we actually reach for instead, though. We state our limitations more often than our wins. We remind people daily what we can’t do, and our achievements get tucked away within minutes of being recognised. I am conditioned for this too. Sadhguru has a line for it: “whether gold-plated or iron-barred, a cage is still a cage.” We build these small, self-reducing definitions and use them as an excuse for staying still.
The one that’s harder to live than to admire: balancing intensity with relaxation. Sadhguru calls it one of the biggest challenges for a seeker. To be detached while remaining passionate, involved in life without being attached to its results. When running a business, this isn’t just an idea. It is the whole of it. Fully invested without any guarantee of returns. This is my daily practise – Fierce commitment whilst seeking equanimity, at the same time.
Polarising.
I see this all the time at work, giving it every ounce of energy without always receiving the outcome you’re chasing. The late nights. The team giving their absolute best, and the profits still not there to pay out the bonuses they’ve earned. Detachment doesn’t feel like much of a virtue in that moment. It feels like letting down the people who showed up for you.
Something despite how deep I go, it’s challenging to comprehend. Or to Accept.
Underneath it all is his real question: are we living from compulsion or consciousness? From fear or hope? From reaction or awareness? When life doesn’t go to plan, the real question is how we choose to show up.
I don’t think there’s a clean answer to any of the above. But it’s worth asking which is driving your next decision today.
Third in an occasional series on the books that have changed how I think. Curious what’s shifted your own thinking lately.
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