Skandasana | Arikamedu, India

There’s a moment in practice when the external world mirrors something happening within. The afternoon golden light poured across ancient stones as my shadow stretched long across sun-warmed bricks.

We can spend so much time chasing the light. We want to be seen, to shine, to stand in full brightness. There is beauty in the darkness of shadows, they are not merely the absence of light. They’re the shape our presence takes when we allow ourselves to be illuminated.

In yoga philosophy, we speak of the inner light, the divine spark that exists within each of us. It’s always there, constant and unchanging, even when we can’t feel it. Our practice, our abhyasa, isn’t about creating this light. It’s about removing the obstacles that prevent us from seeing it was there all along.

Skandasana asks us to find stability in asymmetry, to ground down through one leg while the other extends. It’s uncomfortable. It requires us to breathe into tension to allow softness to drift in. And in that surrendering, in that patient unfolding, something shifts. The light speaks.

Darkness isn’t negative, it is the guide pointing you back toward your own radiance?

Find a quiet moment. Close your eyes. Feel for that flicker of light within, your inner teacher, your truth and breathe.

Your practice is waiting for you.