The Fire of Yoga

This week's journal prompt is from the 14th Sutra of the Pratyabhijnahrdayam.  Consciousness is referred to as a burning fire.  Gurumayi says:

"Whatever comes up, offer it to the fire of love, the fire of yoga.  This is how we should establish our life in our own being, so that no matter what flies at us, no matter what comes up from within ... it all gets burnt up in the fire of yoga. (278)"

Being a first year graduate student who is constantly trying to keep up with the constant onslaught of learning new things and the massive amount of course work, I feel a little stressed.  Additionally, I have a few family concerns that I am trying to manage.  Today, I went through yoga practice, trying to ignore the announcements in my head about what I needed to get done - not at all having to do with yoga.  Eventually the announcements grew louder.  I practiced offering the stress and concerns to the fire.  Interestingly, it made tears run down my face.  Hmmm. Water, not fire.  Nevertheless, I took this to mean a release.  I could have used more time with this though.  The release was fleeting as tension grew up again during my next class.  Oh well - practice, practice, practice.  I'm looking forward to tomorrow's class.