Learning to Stop Snoozing Through My Daily Morning Practice

Very rough these last couple of weeks getting up in the morning to do my morning practice. I know 15 minutes isn't a long time, but it seems so difficult when I wake up and it's still as dark outside as when I went to bed; when my bed is all warm and toasty; when I know that after my practice is over I have to get ready for work.

I keep reminding myself of two things and they've helped get me up these last few days:

1. Sutra 1.1: Now, after having done prior preparation through life and other practices, the study and practice of Yoga begins.

Keyword is NOW. Get up and do it now. I may see/feel the transformation later, but in order for it to manifest I must act NOW.

2. My practice on the mat is a metaphor for my life.

A sloppy practice equals a sloppy life. Is that the type of life I want? No! When I neglect my mat, I am also neglecting myself in some way. However, if I dedicate time to my mat - my practice - I will dedicate time to myself in other areas of my life. The only way for be to get better is to show up, each day.

A Not-So-Small Victory Today! Svatikasana on a whim...

Continuing to work on my Svastikasana. Not quite where I want to be, but definitely much farther than where I started. I had my PYT (Personal Yoga Trainer) take some pictures for me so that I can keep up with the progress. I tried this at the very end of our session, after my muscles were stretched and warm. Our session was over and I just tried it to see what would happen. It's amazing what you can do when you're not trying "forreal".

Sometimes My Best Doesn't Seem Good Enough: Affirming myself through self-criticism

“Do not be discouraged. Keep doing. Keep showing up. The change is inside THEN out.”

That’s the status I wrote on my Facebook page this morning. Kind of a personal ‘note to self’ that I decided to share publicly. I had to remind myself of these things because I could feel the waves of discouragement starting to roll in last night after my yoga class. I’ve come to understand that gaining flexibility is not an overnight process, but how long will it take to see the process working?!! My forward folds are mad awful, like, I bend forward and it doesn’t look like I moved. In my head I just keep repeating to myself, “You’re doing your best. It’s okay. This is as far as you can go…today. It’s okay.”

But the pep talks don’t do very much when the ego wants to jump in and remind me that “you’ve been going to your personal yoga trainer for nearly 7 months…you go to classes 2, sometimes, 3 times a week now…you’ve been in teacher training a month…how are YOU going to be good enough to teach anybody in a few months…shouldn’t you be better by now?!!” My ego is EXTREMELY chatty and for some reason she thinks we’re cool enough for her to be talking sideways to me like that, in the middle of a yoga class no less.

So, I had to remind myself of some things this morning; get some perspective about the situation. I may not see any progress right now, but every time I practice that’s more progress than if I don’t do anything. I am forward moving. Joyce Meyer always says the battlefield is the mind and that’s where REAL change happens. I believe I CAN get better and that I WILL get better. I have to keep showing up on the mat. Keep going to classes. Keep believing in myself and my ability to do whatever I set my mind to. I have a successful record of rising to every occasion – why would this be different?

A good friend of mine reminded me of the scripture that I had in mind when I wrote my status and I feel it’s relevant to all of us on the journey of self-realization and self-development: “ Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”—Galatians 6:9

Don’t give up on you.