There is an ancient myth about a soul who loved something she could not see, lost it by looking too closely, and spent a long time earning her way back. Making the impossible - possible.
Her name is Psyche. And scholars of myth have found her in every culture on earth — her story told in different languages, different landscapes, different centuries — because it belongs to all of us. It is the oldest map of the soul’s journey through love. To love means to withstand many endings, and many beginnings.
In this yoga series, we follow her — through innocence, rupture, and four tasks the world calls impossible — on the mat, in the breath, in the body. The four tasks given by Venus are not obstacles to love - they are the very substance of it. Love is not only about relationships, it is also an affair of the soul.
Each of the 13 classes unfolds one movement of the story alongside one layer of the soul’s own unfolding. Where the myth goes, the body follows. Where the body opens, the soul remembers.
• Suitable for all levels. Props are encouraged when needed. Each class is 45 minutes - enough time to go deep, short enough to carry into your day •
The Impossible, Loved: A Summer Yoga Series on Psyche & Eros
The Soul Before She Knows Herself -
Psyche is radiant and unaware. Worshipped, but unseen. We begin here — arriving fully, without agenda, into the body we actually have today. Not the body we’re working toward. This one. Now. Peak Pose: Savasana as opening, not closing — the radical act of full arrival.
In ancient Greek, Psyche originally meant breath, life and soul. An animating principle that leaves the body at death. Today, the beginning of summer, we start in Savasana. The end in the beginning. This circular quality is found in everything. Carl Jung writes, "The spirit of the depths taught me that the way to what is to come was hidden in the past. And..."the seed that is to come stands in the beginning."
Savasana or Incubation - as it is known in the ancient Western traditions, is simply to lie down, to give up the quest, to surrender the reach, to let go and let the mystery reveal.
In this deep state of in-between awake and sleep, wisdom comes, medicine appears, help formulates there in visions, signs or symbols.
The impossible is beyond the grasp of the ego. The mystery is beyond the ego. So, incubation can at first be hard, because we are not used to giving up "improving" ourselves within a culture that favours success, fixing and achieving. Especially in the spiritual or health domains, where the strive to always "heal" can in turn become an obstacle. To give up control in this way may feel impossible at first, yet over time we come to see ourselves as Psyche does in the myth, that the breath of life, the unseen center of our being, and the mysterious process through which we become who we are, is loved.
The God Who Fell -
In ancient myths and storytelling, every character is an aspect of consciousness itself. At this point in our story, Psyche is in a state of separation, confusion specifically - in the sense she is not fully aware of her inner or outer beauty. Yet, she senses (as we all do) there is something more.
Venus, the Goddess of Love, the Mother archetype encapsulates the inner spark which rearranges Psyche. She is the part of us that is both compassionate and terrifying. Like Kali is wild in her nature in the East, so too is Venus in the West. She sends her son, the God of Love - Eros (cupid) to wound Psyche - out of jealousy of the mortal's beauty - but underneath this jealousy is more about guarding Psyche, for she is not yet 'ripe.' When Eros sees Psyche for the first time, he unexpectedly is struck by his own arrow and falls in love. Paradoxically, the intention to bring harm, ignites the opposite. We cannot know what our heart loves, this is the beauty of the mystery.
Today, we practice allowing our desires to be what they are, both wild and free. To want is to live...we move towards Wild-Thing - Camatkarasana in Sanskrit which means wonderment, astonishment, the gasp of amazement, a sudden opening into delight!
Loving What You Cannot See -
Psyche lives in an invisible palace, tended by invisible hands, loved in the dark. A class of pure inner sensing — eyes closed, breath as guide, the body’s own intelligence trusted completely. The soul knows more than the eyes.
Peak Pose: Natarajasana — Dancer’s Pose. Balance found not by looking down, but by softening the gaze inward.
The Voices That Doubt -
In the myth, the sisters arrive with their questions. Is it real? Are you sure? Don’t be a fool. Every practitioner knows these voices. This class builds the inner fire that burns through borrowed fear — strong, grounded, unapologetic.
The warriors 1 - 2 - 3 bring vulnerability and bravery this morning on the mat. A remembrance of our 'radiant nature' that is already present beneath fear and doubt. We start on the ground with sitting poses/twists to keep ourselves grounded and inward, much like Psyche in the myth who is visited by her sisters in the palace in the sky.
The sisters bring those collective voices of doubt and fear around her new love. These collective voices come from society, culture, family perhaps and are often attached to certainty and wanting proof that love exists. Yet, there is no lasting security. Both in yoga philosophy as well as the western ancient wisdom, we attempt to rest in the paradox and ever changing nature of reality. Love can only be lived.
The Lamp -
Today's practice and myths' journey - Psyche brings an oil lamp and hides a knife inside her bed. The fear and doubts that were brought by her sister's visit have now consumed her. Psyche is prepared to bring light to the hidden Eros and if he turns out to be a monster she is even prepared to kill him.
The shadow can be defined in many ways. One way to understand the shadow is the hidden parts of ourselves that live outside of conscious awareness. The shadow contains everything we have disowned - our fears, wounds, desires, instincts and sometimes our greatest strength. We may reject, repress or refuse the shadow often because we have been taught that these parts are unacceptable. Yet, the shadows are unrealized gifts waiting to be opened...containing creativity, joy, sensuality, courage, leadership, intuition, humility, perseverance and love.
Today, we unpack this part of Psyche's journey seeing Eros and finding herself left alone on the earth to start her soul's journey. This part of the story is the beginning of transformation.
Anjaneyasana - is a pose named after Hanuman's mother and it is her that we also honour with humility and celebrate. It takes great courage to open to our mistakes, to admit to ourselves that we don't know...these are the first steps toward emotional maturity.
The most honest class of the series — the moment we stop practicing yoga and start living it. Seeing clearly always costs something. It also gives everything.
Peak Pose: Anjaneyasana — Low Lunge. One knee down. Heart forward. The exact posture of someone who has lost something and is still moving.
What the Soul Does With Grief -
Before Psyche acts, she feels. Completely. This class does not rush past the ache into the fix. Long holds, slow breath, the floor as friend. Grief moved through the body becomes the very ground the soul stands on. Yin practice.
Peak Pose: Paschimottanasana — Seated Forward Fold. The full weight of the self, surrendered forward. Nothing held back.
Walking Toward What Frightens You -
Psyche goes directly to Aphrodite. The force that sought her destruction. She does not hide. This is the bravest moment in the myth — and the most transformative posture in practice: facing the edge without armour. Psyche has reached the threshold where she can no longer hide from change. She walks willingly into the temple of Venus and stands before the goddess, saying, "I am here. What must I do?" Venus, the fierce mirror of the soul, reflects everything Psyche has yet to become. This is the turning point of the journey: the moment the soul stops fleeing its suffering and freely chooses the path of transformation. It is the same courage we are asked to find within ourselves—the willingness to face what we fear, to meet ourselves honestly, and to walk our own path with an open heart.
Peak Pose: Ustrasana — Camel. The throat open, the chest unguarded. Exposed and unafraid.
The Art of Sorting -
This part of Psyche's journey is so powerful that it invites us to pause and practice differently.
We begin with a short-fiery asana practice before settling into pranayama, opening ourselves to listen as the myth unfolds. From there, we remain inward, reflecting on how the story meets us personally.
I share a personal story—one that feels vulnerable, but speaks to a place we all encounter at certain moments in life: the place where humility becomes the doorway to transformation. May it serve you...
Together, we journal about the impossible tasks before us, then close with pranayama and meditation. Have a journal ready for this class!
Thank you for your open hearts, your presence, and your willingness to listen. It is a gift to share this journey of life together.
Peak Pose: Sukhasana Pranayama — Simple seat, Nadi Shodhana. The breath as the great sorter of what is essential.
The Wisdom of Waiting -
Gather the golden fleece — but not by force. Wait. Let the rams pass. Then take what the brambles hold. A fluid, unhurried class on the intelligence of timing. The soul that has learned to wait has learned everything.
From a Yin beginning to a Yang progression, we contemplate how waiting brings wisdom. How the difficulties of the past become blessings, but it is in the waiting for the auspicious timing to receive them.
Each Yama (ethical restraint) is explored here as it relates to Psyche in the myth but also in our journaling. We branch off from last week's journalling - the mountain of difficulties of the past - to the valuable life lessons and wisdom that comes with time. The ram's golden fleece that Psyche collects on the thorny bushes when the rams are calm and gone to rest - is a strong metaphor for how the treasure is often found waiting after the struggle has moved on.
Have your journal ready.
Peak Pose: Yin Dragon — long, low, unmoving. Power received through absolute stillness.
Let the Eagle Carry It -
The waterfall is impossible. The vessel too small. Then the eagle descends and takes it from her hands. Some tasks were never meant to be carried alone. This class practices the most difficult posture of all: genuine surrender to what is larger than us.
We are at the third impossible task from Venus and are asked to trust and surrender into the hands greater than our own.
Peak Pose: Garudasana - Eagle. What feels like restriction reveals itself as flight. The eagle does not strain. It rises by trusting the current beneath its wings.
The Willing Descent & She Opens the Box -
Into the underworld. Willingly. With instructions she trusts but does not fully understand. The deepest class of the series — a slow, somatic journey into the body’s own underground. What lives in the dark of you that practice has not yet reached? This class holds the most human moment in the myth without judgement — the old pattern, the familiar wound, the beautiful relapse. Every practitioner knows this road. None of us are past it.
We begin with practicing on our own for 10 mins, while I serenade you with the Metamorphosis myth up to this point. Then rest and receive.
Peak Pose: Yoga Nidra as the descent itself — consciousness lowered, willingly, into the deepest layer of the self.
Love Finds What Fell -
Eros finds her. Wipes the sleep from her eyes. Returns — not as the hidden beloved, but as the fully known one. This class is wide open: backbends, breath, the unguarded heart after everything it has been through. This is what love looks like on the other side of the impossible.
In non-dual Tantra, consciousness freely chooses to forget itself so that it may experience the joy of remembering itself. This is lila - divine play. Psyche's journey is not a fall from grace when she collapses following the last impossible task. It is grace unfolding. The forgetting, the longing, the trials, the descent, and the reunion are all movements of the same divine consciousness coming to know itself more deeply.Love recognizes itself in a soul that has become capable of recognizing love in return.
Deep heart opening backbends today, enjoy!
Peak Pose: Urdhva Dhanurasana — Full Wheel. The soul arched open toward the sky. Nothing hidden. Nothing held.
The Soul, Luminous -
She is made immortal. Not despite the tasks — because of them. This final class moves through every thread of the journey and ends in stillness. The soul that arrived on June 22nd and the soul that rests here today are not the same. That is the whole point.
A Potpourri of mixed asana poses to carry the scent of love within. I am always curious how we are transformed by what we cannot control nor plan. By happenstance, this last class lands on a Saturday. In Vedic wisdom, Saturn is the planet that slows us down, allows us to be transformed by our karma, move through the trials and what appears impossible - turns possible. Saturn helps us to remove resistances to being with what is real - moving us deeper & closer to love, to our truth.
We close this yoga series with Psyche's transformation into immortality and give birth to bliss and a deep understanding that even while mortal in the body, we come to know that we are more. There is something lawfully and mysteriously beyond the body. Perhaps we call this soul? or wisdom? We come to know that what we seek is actually seeing us!
Peak Pose: A Potpourri of mixed asana poses to carry the scent of love within.