Life lessons from Yog

Paschimottanasana is a yoga pose that literally translates as seated forward bend. It involves being seated with your legs straight in front of you, raising your hands, exhaling and bending forward to touch your feet. If you are proficient, your nose will touch your knees; if not, you gaze at your toes. And you notice something you have always taken for granted - the sheer difference in the size and length of each toe.

The big toe, weight-bearing, carries a significant load of a person's body weight, helps grip the ground, gives us balance, and is responsible for 80-85% of our stability. It plays a critically important role. How many of us are even aware of this? We look at it daily and take it for granted as we do for so much of our body.

Worse, we also tend to take for granted so many relationships that are important for our emotional well-being. The result is that, paradoxically, we neglect our near and dear ones the most. We tend to be rude to them while we are at our polite Sunday best with rank strangers. We ignore our loved ones and take their presence and support for granted.


Not a thank you escapes our lips; not a gesture in return is done by us. This neglect, bordering on callousness, strains relationships. Kindness, caring and reciprocity in thought and words are the lubricants that move relationships forward. We must learn to value and appreciate what we have.