It’s easy to get mired in the gloom of sadness. But it’s also possible to let sorrow move through you and open you to the bright light of your own heart.

By letting go of control, you allow yourself to enter new realms of freedom.

At some point in your spiritual life, you will come up against the need to engage the yogic practice of truthfulness. And, as in all the great yogic practices, we usually discover that it’s not as easy as it might seem.

What we have here are some nitty-gritty hard questions, questions that focus on a few core dilemmas of romantic love, along with answers that call on the wisdom of yoga to help you get to love’s unconditional essence.

When you forgive a long-held grievance, you open the door to true freedom.

Most transformational moments – spiritual, creative or personal – involve this sequence of intense effort, frustration, then letting go. The trying, the effort, the slamming against the walls, the intensity and the exhaustion, the fear of failure balanced against the recognition that it is not okay to fail – all these are part of the process by which a human being breaks out of the cocoon of human limitation, and becomes willing on the deepest level to open to the infinite power that we all have in our core. It’s the same process whether we’re mystics, artists, or people trying to solve a difficult life-problem.

To practice right speech is essentially to approach speaking as a form of yoga. The first stage in the yoga of speech is to start becoming conscious of what actually comes out of your mouth. You might begin by spending a day eavesdropping on yourself – hopefully, without activating your inner critic. Try to notice not just ‘what ‘ you say, but the tone with which you say it. See if you can sense the emotional residue your words create. How do you feel after certain remarks? How do others react?

When life hands you a difficult decision, try asking yourself, “What is my dharma?”

Having trouble deflating that smart, sweet-talking ego of ours? Try embracing it instead. When it’s as big as possible, you can include everything that exists in your sense of ‘me’.

No one likes dealing with difficult people. But by inviting them into your heart, you can invite a radically different experience.