Developing a Yoga Practice - Step 3

In this short series of items on developing a yoga practice for yourself, I come to the notion of commitment. If you want to develop a yoga practice, you must have commitment and be willing to show up when you feel resistance.

Showing Up

The greatest resistance I feel to practice is simply starting my practice by getting on my mat. So many times I have wanted and intended to practice but I have experienced mental resistance of some sort. I have found little jobs to do which have delayed me getting onto my mat. I have decided to do Wordle or play the latest news bulletin or have a little snack and I have not gone directly to my mat to get into the work.

This delay, procrastination and avoidance does not work to my benefit. When I do get to my may I may find that I do not have time to do all I want to do. I may find myself feeling annoyed or disappointed with myself for putting off that which I need and actually crave.

I understand that the resistance to getting on your mat can be considerable. Understand that resistance and make the commitment to starting your practice. Roll out your mat, take child's pose and start breathing - no matter how agitated or resistant your mind may be.

I teach one day a week at a studio. There is a booking system there that all students must use. The pattern is for students to sign up for a class - sometimes as far ahead as a week in advance - and then, as the day and time of the class draw near, the registrations are cancelled until those who actually show up to practice are small in number compared with those who originally signed up.

It is as if students will find any excuse to miss class. It seems that some people want to have a reason not to practice. Certainly, legitimate causes for missing practice do arise. People with children have to put the needs of their kids ahead of their own. Cars get punctures. Workplaces may require their staff to stay late. All sorts of things can arise. However, some students are looking for a reason to avoid the work. Something came up? What was a it? A pimple on your nose?

Be conscious of mental resistance and make the higher call to show up and keep showing up.

You Will Not Regret It:

The magic thing is that no one ever regrets doing the class once they have finished. They may have felt reluctant to get started, they may have been challenged on their mat in their poses but they never leave saying that they wish they had not done the class. They always say they feel better for having done the practice and you will be no different - you will not regret it!

I said earlier, my own delays in getting onto my mat sometimes mean I deprive myself of the time I want to spend practising. Once started, I love my practice - breathing, moving, engaging, relaxing, folding forward, bending backwards, twisting, focusing, experimenting, creating.... At the end of my practice I feel amazing. You will too. You will not regret it!

Yoga works upon you, moment by moment, breath by breath, to affect and transform your physical body, building strength and mobility. It works upon your nervous system, to bring you out of fight/flight/freeze reactivity into a settled, calm, relaxed state. Yoga helps you shift out of active engagement with your thoughts into a mental state of clarity in which your awareness is detached from thought. You acquire a critical distance from your thoughts that allows you to discern which thoughts are worth your attention and which are nonsense or irrelevant and should be disregarded.

Yoga is a wonderful energetic experience. You may start practice feeling rushed, unsettled, even overwhelmed, and finish practice feeling relaxed and settled. You may start practice feeling a bit sluggish and low on energy, and finish class feeling alive, vital and renewed. The movement in yoga activates and generates energy. You may take the first poses of class feeling like you are detached from your body with certain parts dull or unresponsive, and finish the session feeling fully connected with your body and able to sense life force tingling in your whole being.

You will not regret it when you get onto your mat to practice. When you feel resistance to getting started, remind yourself of the benefits that will accrue from doing the work. I mentioned feeling frustrated or annoyed with myself for having delayed or avoided practicing. If you decide not to practice and instead do no practice or movement, you are likely to be critical of yourself. If you respond to a feeling of being tired or low on energy by

snacking on sugary foods and not moving your body, you are likely to be disappointed with yourself. Those feelings of negativity towards yourself are quite different from the sense of a job well done and contentment in yourself from having taken yourself through a class.

Be Humble:

You need not show up on your mat with your "A" game. You are not competing or performing. Show up as you are and do what you can and be willing to be humble about your practice.

After a hard day at work you may not feel like you are up to much on your mat. The beauty is, you do not need to be. Simply do what you can with what you have. Yoga is less about being perfect and more about being at peace with your imperfections. My principal trainer said, early in my acquaintance with him, that students do not need to show up as they think they should be, but, rather, they should show up as they are. That is a great lesson not just for yoga practice, but for life.

Show up on your mat and do the work, whatever the resistance, with humility and a willingness to be vulnerable.

Conclusion:

The greatest resistance you will feel for yoga practice is the resistance to getting started.

Be committed, day by day, and get on your mat! Across the years of my teaching I have seen so many students start and not follow through. I have seen so many students in a wrestle with themselves, signing up for passes or programmes and falling by the wayside. I have seen people come into class seeking weight loss and after a class or two they disappear, only to return months later, carrying more weight, hoping to try again.

An essential key to developing a yoga practice is commitment. Be humble. Show up. Get on your mat. Close all the exit doors of your mind where you will find excuses for not practicing and make the commitment. It is a commitment to yourself and you deserve your own purpose, resolve and willingness to practice. You will not regret it!