One of the hardest things about being an at home yoga practitioner is being completely -> 100% <- accountable for your practice.
I’m guilty of it too. I’ve been known to skip postures, be lazy in my practice, or just stop early.
It’s so lame. If I’m in a yoga studio doing my practice there is no way my teacher would let me get away with that. If I’m not feeling pain or on a strict time schedule, there’s no reason I should be so lazy in my practice.
I know I’d call my students out on it too!
The point is to observe and work through the resistance. If we ignore it and let it control us, then think of all of the other areas that we hold ourselves back in life?
This is why we practice, right? If anything, our practice is the first place we need to make the change. When we realize it, and break the habit, we can start to make improvements off of the mat.
So, the question is… how do we get through this resistance? How do we not let it control us?
Tweet ThisThere’s two things you can do to get you through these uncomfortable moments in your practice. Here’s what’s been working for me.
1. It’s only 5 breaths:
When I feel the resistance coming on, I remind myself that it’s only 5 breaths. We just have to hold each posture for a steady 5 breaths. Then we move onto the next.
Once I tell myself that, the posture seems less intimidating. Then, it’s done and I ask myself “Why were those five breaths so scary??”
You can do five breaths. I know you can.
2. If I did it before, I can do it now:
This is something I constantly remind myself in Surya Namaskara. I was taught to start with a total of 10 Sun Salutations. I know that some teachers do different combinations, and that’s totally cool.
I’m a big believer in teaching and practicing how I was taught, so I do ten.
Sometimes I just want to do 8 though, and I have to remind myself that I did 10 Sun Salutations every single day for years. What good reason do I have to cut it back?
If I’m not injured or exhausted, doing less would just be lazy.
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So what do you think? Think you can do this with me?
If I can, you can too! You totally got this!
So, what’s your trick? Tell me in the comments!
To Open Hearts & Happy Thoughts,
