There are so many things in life we don’t get to choose, yet they affect us deeply—how a neighbor tends their lawn right next to ours, how polluters may be pouring toxins into our water supply, how careless drivers put us at risk on the road. Last week, I wrote about the unseen forces that shape us that quietly pull the strings of our experience. How did that feel to think of all the things you don't have control over?  
Instead of sinking into frustration about what we can’t control—which drains our time, energy, and peace of mind—what if we used that same energy to focus on what our choices actually are? Take fascia, for example. This unseen connective tissue can tug and pull at us uncomfortably under the skin, reducing mobility, interfering with circulation and immunity, even contributing to chronic pain and weakness. We may not be able to fully control how fascia is yanking us around, especially if we can't pinpoint the exact pattern of tension, but we can choose steps that improve how our bodies function and how fluid our fascia is.
For example, we can:

• Notice which foods cause inflammation and see how removing them affects our pain or stiffness.
  
• Add small, intentional movements to our day (like wiggling your feet before standing up, or doing gentle cat/cow tilts before getting out of the car).
  
• Use supplements that support supple, resilient fascia.
  
• Pay attention to what positions or habits ease discomfort.
  
• Seek treatments or practices that show measurable improvements.
  

Making these choices requires patience and persistence. Change doesn’t happen overnight. As the Yoga Sutras remind us, progress comes through dedicated practice, careful self-observation, and surrendering to the outcome. Sometimes we need outside guidance to see clearly, because our own habits and biases can cloud our perspective.
And this is where it gets interesting: beneficial choices often run counter to our current inclinations. We may tell ourselves we’re stuck, but are we really? Perhaps have we just not thought of a new way—or, are we resisting change for reasons we haven’t faced yet?
So when you feel you have no choice in your suffering, pause. Look again. Ask yourself:

• What have others in similar situations done?
  
• What has worked for me in the past?
  
• What am I willing to try, even if it feels uncomfortable at first?
  

We almost always have more choices than we realize. Sometimes it’s simply a matter of learning what those choices are—and having the courage to try them. Remember: being unaware of an option, or afraid to take it, is not the same as having no control at all.

We are constantly influenced by forces we cannot see. Take gravity, for example: invisible yet predictable, defined by Newton’s equation F = G(m₁m₂)/r². We trust its presence because centuries of observation, experimentation, and innovation have allowed us to harness it—flying airplanes, launching rockets, even reaching the moon. But imagine how many other forces act on us each day that do not yet have an equation to explain them. Remember, gravity was shaping the world long before Newton described the law of universal gravitation. (Aristotle even believed that rocks fell because it was in their very nature to return to the ground!)
Just because we can’t see these other forces doesn’t mean they aren’t impacting us—shaping how our bodies feel, how our minds function, and how our energy rises and falls. Yoga offers us many lenses through which we can better understand, directly experience, and refine these unseen influences. Ayurveda, yoga’s sister science, reminds us that our well-being depends on living in rhythm with the natural world.
Working with Ayurveda reconnects us to the qualities of nature—sometimes powerful and overwhelming, like a tidal wave or hurricane, and sometimes delicate and fleeting, like a butterfly landing on a rock. By observing how the five elements—space, air, fire, water, and earth—arise and dissolve through the seasons, moon phases, and daily cycles, we begin to understand more clearly what is happening within us. And in turn, as we notice these same elemental forces shaping our own bodies, we attune more deeply to the environments we inhabit.
Of course, drifting out of harmony is inevitable. Ayurveda describes these disturbances as imbalances, or unrefinement, of the doshas—the three primary energies that shape body and mind: vata (air and space), pitta (fire and water), and kapha (earth and water). When these forces fall out of balance, the effects can be immediate: stress, fatigue, confusion, digestive upset, inflammation, depression, or heaviness. One of the most profound ways I’ve learned to restore balance quickly is through the Ayurvedic Yoga Therapy vinyasas taught to me by my teacher, Mukunda Stiles. These unique sequences work directly with the doshas, offering powerful relief and helping to restore equilibrium to body, energy, and mind. Constant practice refines the doshas which is a huge upgrade to our whole system. Refinement makes us more resillent- recognition of imbalance comes more quickly as does the wisdom required to address the imbalance.
Another essential aspect of Ayurveda is dinacharya, the daily rituals that harmonize us with the natural cycles of day and night, the turning of the seasons, and the eternal flow of growth, release, death, and renewal. These practices remind us that health is not simply the absence of illness, but the presence of alignment, clarity, and vitality.
This October, I’ll be offering these teachings in the beautiful natural setting of our upcoming retreat in Lee, Massachusetts. Together, we’ll explore how Ayurvedic wisdom, therapeutic yoga practices, and the steadiness of dinacharya can become trusted allies in daily life. By weaving these practices together, we create a foundation that not only supports healing but also reconnects us to the rhythms of nature that nourish us on every level.
And on October 17th, we’ll continue the journey in the next installment of Subtle Anatomy. This is not the anatomy you’ll find in textbooks, X-rays, or MRIs. Instead, we’ll explore the chakras through the lens of Shree Vidyaa, a perspective that reveals the living, energetic structures shaping our inner world.

Maxx came in with some gait issues and a cranky shoulder. Fortunately for him, his owner is a long-time yoga student and was particularly observant in how Maxx was walking. She was able to identify where his tightness were, and she was right! We found a knot by his shoulder blade. When I started to do a “hairpull” technique on him just over the knot his breath slowed, and he relaxed into the technique.  

Here’s what his owner shared with me:
“After two fascia release sessions with Bonnie, my dog’s gait improved so much he stopped limping and could get in the car on his own. It was amazing to watch his breathing quiet and his body soften as Bonnie worked on his shoulders. He sighed, smiled, and clearly enjoyed the process.”

I’m not looking to work on more dogs, but I wanted to share this for a few reasons. First, to highlight the importance of understanding where our restrictions truly are. Pain is not always located where the structural issue is.
When Maxx first came in, he was dragging his feet when he walked and his knuckles were getting rubbed raw. At first glance, you might assume it was his ankle, but we had his mom work in his armpits to address the problem. That brought us up to the shoulders last week, which helped with his limp. We had to work our way up and see what happened.

Another important point is to notice if conditions are getting better. We tend to think nothing has improved if pain is still present. But using a benchmark—like being able to jump into a car with ease when that wasn’t possible before—helps us recognize progress. It might move slowly, buy knowing it is moving is important.
When it comes to understanding restrictions, we have to look to basic anatomy. Many assume their back is the issue when the real restriction is in the hips. Or they’re convinced it’s the neck, when the knot is in the shoulders. Sometimes it’s ankles instead of calves, or hamstrings instead of quads. You get the idea. If we misread where the weakness or tightness is, we’ll also miss the mark in how we try to address it.
In class last week, I used this metaphor: the hips are like the Midwest. If you grew up on one of the coasts, the states in between can feel like a big mass of rivers, lakes, mountains, and roads, with unclear boundaries. And boundaries matter: rules change when you cross them. It might be plastic bags in the grocery store, speed limits on the roads, or, back in the day, the drinking age.
When people complain of hip pain, they’re not always sure exactly where “the hip” is. Driving to Minnesota last month, the only way I knew I’d crossed into another state was when the GPS told me—or if a huge sign on the side of the road welcomed me. Our bodies don’t always put up clear signs when the neck blends into the shoulders.
When the pain you feel in your back is actually rooted in your hips (or vice versa), relief can often come more quickly once you understand what’s true and begin to address the source. And that understanding doesn’t come by overthinking—it comes by feeling and observing and sometimes by talking about it with your yoga teacher. Your asana practice is the perfect way to study your inner geography: Where are your hips? How do they move? Where does your neck end and your shoulders begin?
It’s a bit more complicated than just studying a chart. Think of it this way: your bones and muscles are like highways and roadways—mapped out and predictable. Your subtle anatomy is like rivers and streams—what happens in one area inevitably affects what’s downstream, it is difficult to contain, but the flow can be traced and addressed. And your fascia? That’s like flying a helicopter over the land: aside from a flight plan, there’s no clear map, no fixed flow, no road signs. Tension in fascia doesn’t always follow predictable pathways, which is why it can be confusing. So once you’ve studied anatomy, you also need to look more broadly—then come back to the yogi’s advice: feel what you feel, and let it guide you toward truth.
If you are interested in learning more about these things, join me this fall for the anatomy and fascia workshops and the yoga immersion. These courses will help you understand the boundaries and outline of your anatomy, and also the subtle movements that can assist in healing.