When we practice yoga, there is a clear physical level to what we are doing.

We are moving our bodies, stretching our muscles and mobilising our joints.

We learn to notice where we're holding tension and tightness, and through movement and breath we begin to soften, release and let go.

But there is also so much more happening, on a deeper and possibly more meaningful level.

As well as working with the physical body, we are also exploring the subtle body—the energetic aspect of ourselves, which although we can't necessarily see, we can definitely feel.

Just as we can hold physical tension in our shoulders or hips, we can also hold patterns of energetic tension in the way we think, what we believe, how we feel and how we show up in the world.

In yoga philosophy, these patterns are known as granthis, or knots.

These knots can often leave us feeling stuck.

They keep us holding onto old habits, familiar stories and ways of being that no longer serve us.

They limit our freedom in much the same way that physical tension can limit our movement in a posture.

Traditionally, the practices of asana, pranayama and meditation were understood as a way of untying these knots—physically, mentally and energetically—creating more space, freedom and ease within ourselves.

What we must remember though, is that knots cannot be forced open.

We have to learn how to be gentle.

To go slowly and mindfully.

And as we become more aware of where we're holding, tightening or resisting, the real practice is to pause, to breathe and to soften.

Because it's here that the knots begin to loosen.