Yoga has been one of the clearest teachers I’ve had in holding effort and ease at the same time. This week’s episode explores why.
Episode A034 — Effort and Ease with Emily Collie
In this episode of Authbition, I’m joined by Emily Collie, Mental Health Therapist and Yoga Teacher, for a conversation about what it really means to hold effort and ease at the same time.
We talk about discipline without force, patience without disengagement, and how meaningful change often unfolds slowly — through repetition, presence, and trust. Rather than framing effort as something to grind through or ease as something to retreat into, this conversation explores how the two can shape and strengthen each other over time.
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My Yoga Journey Showed Me That Anything Is Possible
An ego-shattering class eased my chronic pain and opened a new way forward
In the essay I read on the show, I reflect on my first yoga class — an unexpectedly humbling experience that relieved years of chronic pain and quietly reshaped how I relate to effort, patience, and possibility.
What once felt impossible didn’t yield to willpower. It softened through steady practice. What I once believed was ‘never’ became ‘not yet.’
Effort showed up as returning to the mat — again and again — even when progress felt slow.
Ease showed up as letting change unfold without forcing outcomes.
The work wasn’t choosing one over the other. It was learning how effort created the conditions for ease, and how ease made sustained effort possible.
Yoga has taught me that progress rarely arrives on demand. The poses that once felt out of reach didn’t change because I wanted them badly enough — they changed because I stayed present long enough.
This conversation reminded me that the same is true beyond the mat. The work isn’t pushing harder or letting go entirely. It’s staying with the tension long enough for something more integrated to take shape — and trusting that what feels unreachable today may simply be waiting.
If this episode resonated, please consider sharing it with someone who might need it — especially someone caught between trying harder and letting go. Your sharing and feedback are what allow this work to grow.
Thank you to Emily Collie for being my guest this week.
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