Embrace the suck
“Embrace the suck” is a phrase that was popularized by the military during Operation Iraqi Freedom - and identifies a truth of the human experience. We are all going to be forced to do something that, frankly, sucks. Not every job will be our dream job, and even if we have our dream job, not every task will be dreamy. To grow in any capacity we have to do hard things. We have to get through the toughest workouts, we have to deal with difficult people, and we have to perform difficult actions that may be uncomfortable, tedious, or downright hellish. But, we all have a choice. We can either run away from the duty and create resistance. Or, we can “embrace the suck.”
My late mentor, Ken Ravizza, would often tell the story of Sisyphus from Greek mythology. Sisyphus was an evil king who was forced to push a rock up a steep hill for eternity, for every time it got close to the top, it’d roll back down to the bottom. Sisyphus’ purpose became pushing the rock up the hill, but in addition to being about purpose, this story is also about attitude. Sisyphus embraced the suck. It’s fun to imagine him pushing the rock up the hill with various techniques - walking backwards, walking sideways, pushing it straight up. Maybe he even laughed at times, recognizing the absurdity of his situation, and pushing that darn thing anyway . . . over and over and over again.
So, where does yoga fit into this? Well, embracing the suck is all about exercising discipline. In Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, one of the niyamas, or habits, is tapas, which literally translates as “heat.” Transformation of any kind requires heat, and that heat can be defined as “discipline.” We, as humans, have a natural tendency to move towards pleasure and away from pain. But, that’s not how we grow. That’s not how we transform.
As yoga teacher and scholar Swami Satchidananda said,
“Yoga practice is like an obstacle race; many obstructions are purposely put in the way for us to pass through. They are there to make us understand and express our own capacities. We all have that strength, but we don’t seem to know it. We seem to need to be challenged and tested in order to understand our own capacities.”
By exercising tapas, we learn how to get comfortable being uncomfortable. We welcome challenges because we know it is simply a means for change. When you think back to the most challenging moments of your life, don’t you see them as times when you learned the most about yourself? When you truly realized what you’re made of? Those painful times were opportunities for you to learn and grow, and isn’t that the whole reason why we’re here?