In Sol Hot Yoga classes—we often talk about strength, balance, and resilience—not just in the body, but in the heart and mind. Today, we invite you to see how the ancient Stoic virtues are already alive in your practice every time you step onto the mat.  Here are four ways the Greek Stoics align with the Yoga Sutras from the sage Patañjali.

🛡️ The Courage to Show Up

In Stoicism, courage isn’t about being fearless—it’s about showing up anyway. When you step into a heated room, face a challenging sequence, or hold an uncomfortable pose, you’re practicing real courage. You meet the edge of your comfort zone with breath, presence, and heart. You don't run—you breathe through it.

• "If it is endurable, then endure it. Stop complaining."
  — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• "Future suffering can and should be avoided."
  — Yoga Sutra 2.16

Yoga teaches that meeting difficulty now, with courage, prevents greater suffering later.

⚖️ Honoring Equality in Diversity

Justice in Stoicism means acting with fairness, kindness, and integrity toward others. Every time you hold space for the person next to you, every time you respect the shared silence, every time you practice patience with yourself—you are living justice. Yoga reminds us: your practice is personal, but never private. We rise together.

• "Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for kindness."
  — Seneca
• "Through cultivating friendliness, compassion, joy, and equanimity, the mind becomes purified.  When disturbed by negative thoughts, cultivate the opposite (pratipaksha bhavana)."
  — Yoga Sutras 1.33 and 2.33

Pratipaksha Bhavana is the practice of consciously replacing negative or harmful thoughts with positive and uplifting ones.  These are the keys to maintain balance.

🌿 Finding Contentment in the Middle

In both Stoicism and Yoga, temperance is the art of balance. Can you work hard without forcing? Rest without collapsing? Find effort and ease in the same breath? Sol classes are designed to cultivate this sacred moderation—to know when to push, when to pause, and when to simply be.

• "Self-control is strength. Right thought is mastery."
  — Marcus Aurelius (paraphrased)
• "When one is firmly established in moderation, vitality is gained."
  — Yoga Sutra 2.38

By consciously planting & cultivating positive thoughts in place of negative ones— Pratipaksha Bhavana — we can meet all experiences (and each posture) with calmness, equanimity, and contentment.

👁️ Wisdom Gained Through Practice

At the heart of both traditions lies wisdom: the ability to see things as they are, without distortion. Each time you soften reactivity, choose steady breath, and listen inward, you’re developing the clearest kind of wisdom—not in theory, but embodied.

• "The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts."
  — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• "Uninterrupted discriminative discernment is the method for the cessation of suffering."
  — Yoga Sutra 2.26

🧘‍♀️ Through meditation, we learn to observe our thoughts without getting swept away, creating space to choose balance over reactivity.  Over time, this steady cultivation of awareness strengthens our ability to live with equanimity, even in the midst of change.  This takes

The Stoics taught that virtue is not reserved for saints or scholars—it's available to anyone, anytime. Patañjali reminds us that clarity, courage, balance, and compassion can be cultivated right here, right now.
Today, we can practice in the middle.  Each Sol Hot Yoga class stretches your muscles, quiets the mind, and strengthens your soul.

See you on your mat. 🌞