After my last post I started thinking about how I stay motivated to do my daily asana practice.
I have days where I definitely have to argue with myself about getting on my mat. Sometimes I wake up and think, "oh no, today I need more rest," or, "today I will only do half primary" or, "today I will practice in the afternoon". These thoughts surface often enough that over time I have learned a way of dealing with them and that is to ignore them.
Sure, some days the best course of action is to rest. Ladies Holiday, rest day. Moon days, rest days. Injured, rest day. Otherwise, practice! The best advice I have when it comes to whatever your practice is (meditation, yoga, running, etc) is to fight the urge to skip it and just go. I have played this game with myself for enough years to know that I am better at life when I go to practice. I am happier, healthier, more mentally fit and just all around better when I do my daily practice. There were times in the past 3 years when I slipped away from my daily practice. What I learned from the hiatus, every time, is that it's much more difficult to get myself back into the rhythm of getting into the shala after a two or three day break. More difficult than it ever would have been to just force myself out of bed and get there on those one or, two or, three mornings where I felt tired and lazy.
The quote that comes to mind is, "Old man, stiff man, weak man, sick man, they can all take practice but only a lazy man can't take practice." Sri K Pattabhi Jois
So when I feel like being lazy, I remind myself of this quote and I get out of bed, shower and put on my yoga clothes.
I have days where I definitely have to argue with myself about getting on my mat. Sometimes I wake up and think, "oh no, today I need more rest," or, "today I will only do half primary" or, "today I will practice in the afternoon". These thoughts surface often enough that over time I have learned a way of dealing with them and that is to ignore them.
Sure, some days the best course of action is to rest. Ladies Holiday, rest day. Moon days, rest days. Injured, rest day. Otherwise, practice! The best advice I have when it comes to whatever your practice is (meditation, yoga, running, etc) is to fight the urge to skip it and just go. I have played this game with myself for enough years to know that I am better at life when I go to practice. I am happier, healthier, more mentally fit and just all around better when I do my daily practice. There were times in the past 3 years when I slipped away from my daily practice. What I learned from the hiatus, every time, is that it's much more difficult to get myself back into the rhythm of getting into the shala after a two or three day break. More difficult than it ever would have been to just force myself out of bed and get there on those one or, two or, three mornings where I felt tired and lazy.
The quote that comes to mind is, "Old man, stiff man, weak man, sick man, they can all take practice but only a lazy man can't take practice." Sri K Pattabhi Jois
So when I feel like being lazy, I remind myself of this quote and I get out of bed, shower and put on my yoga clothes.
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