Managing Laziness in Yoga Practice
>> Tuesday, April 21, 2009 –
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Patanjali described Alasya (Laziness) as one of the major stumbling blocks in your progress of Yogic journey. Once you allow laziness to dictate you it leads to a halt in your practice. If this break is too long like couple of weeks, you start coming back to previous patterns and when you suddenly realize it, you have to start all over again.
It is said that an ounce of practice is worth a pound of precept. Whatever you may learn through reading or understand through watching or listening, cannot be compared to what is achievable through practice. How much ever you may read and study, unless you practice we are not going to progress even an inch. When we skip the practice, progress is not the only thing to suffer, worse still we start falling back to old habits, and other stuff (may be unimportant like watching TV) start taking priority and fills the time which we use for practice. This means not only are we not making progress, in fact we are sliding backwards. It is very easy to fall that is why most people are leading a very routine existence. Yoga is all about lifting ourselves up. Instead of falling down the stream, we need to climb to the cliff.
We all suffer from streaks of laziness and it has to do with various factors like mental state, body health condition, lack of motivation etc. To remove laziness you need a lot of faith, enthusiasm, stable mind and firm belief in Yoga. The firmness of belief in yogic path should be able to give you a jump start for your practice even though the mind tells you that it is not the right time to practice.
There are few things which can help you to maintain the steadiness in practice and overcome any feeling of lethargy which I have discussed below. You can try these out and find out what suits you the best. So next time you get that "Not Today" or "Later" feeling you know how to overcome those feelings and reach the yoga mat.
Join a class or find a Yoga Buddy
Lot of times external motivations help us to perform various tasks which we feel difficult to do alone. This factor is more relevant when you are starting out with a new task including yoga but this will be less relevant when you are aware of the deeper details of yoga and understand how it affects you as a person. Once you enter the phase where in you become aware of the changes yoga is bringing in your life you will no longer need external motivation. Till we develop internal motivation it is beneficial to practice with a person who is experienced in yoga as s/he can can both motivate and instruct you. In case you are unable to find such person, look out for a good yoga class or studio in your neighborhood and join that. It is always easier to practice when more people are there.
Setting a time interval
Setting up a fixed time for practice always helps. If you always practice at a certain time let us say 6 am in the morning, and do it for a long enough period, you will be habituated to practicing during that time and this will make it easier to overcome tendency to skip the practice.
One Third Approach
In case you are really feeling lousy, you can adopt a one third approach. In this approach you can decide that you will practice only for one third the regular time you devote to practice. For example if you practice for 1 hour on regular days, commit yourself to practice only for 20 minutes. There are two benefits to this approach. You will feel more motivated for the practice and usually I have observed that I end up practicing more than the one third time set initially. Secondly, even if you stop after the time you set, you are at least continuing your practice, which is the most important aspect.
Explore New Poses
You will find it easier to motivate yourself when you think of trying out newer poses. There are hundreds of asanas to choose from. Take a book like Light on Yoga or any other good book and browse it to find any asansa which may interest you. Read the instruction thoroughly and create a mental picture of how you will do that. So for the day, jump out of routine practice and try newer poses. This will make the practice enjoyable and break the monotony of the routine sessions. When you are free you can also make a note of asanas which you intend to try out and are not able to take upon due to lack of time. You may include the asanas which you think are too difficult at this stage. Try to the level you can do safely. This will add a new dimension and also make you aware about you limitations as well as progress you are making and in the bargain you may also end up including a new asanas in your routine.
Food
Food plays a natural role in our energy levels. Though food is required for energy, but it also decides how much sluggish or energetic we feel after the meal or through out the day. Food with too much of spices, oil and non vegetarian food take more time and energy to digest, whereas fruits, vegetables and food cooked with less oil and spice are easier to digest. Food should be taken in moderate quantity and you should try to avoid eating till stomach is full as it will lead to more lethargy.
Change the Practice Timing
We all have a natural body clock, and we have different energy levels at different times of the day. Some people are more energetic and have a great time working out or working early morning. Others are more of an evening person. In case your practice time does not match with you peak energy interval, it is better to shift the practice to that time.
I am sure if you feel lethargic during your practice above techniques will help you out. Apart from all these above, we also need determination to progress, then only we will be enjoy the rewards of yoga, as in this case journey itself is the reward.
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It is said that an ounce of practice is worth a pound of precept. Whatever you may learn through reading or understand through watching or listening, cannot be compared to what is achievable through practice. How much ever you may read and study, unless you practice we are not going to progress even an inch. When we skip the practice, progress is not the only thing to suffer, worse still we start falling back to old habits, and other stuff (may be unimportant like watching TV) start taking priority and fills the time which we use for practice. This means not only are we not making progress, in fact we are sliding backwards. It is very easy to fall that is why most people are leading a very routine existence. Yoga is all about lifting ourselves up. Instead of falling down the stream, we need to climb to the cliff.
We all suffer from streaks of laziness and it has to do with various factors like mental state, body health condition, lack of motivation etc. To remove laziness you need a lot of faith, enthusiasm, stable mind and firm belief in Yoga. The firmness of belief in yogic path should be able to give you a jump start for your practice even though the mind tells you that it is not the right time to practice.
There are few things which can help you to maintain the steadiness in practice and overcome any feeling of lethargy which I have discussed below. You can try these out and find out what suits you the best. So next time you get that "Not Today" or "Later" feeling you know how to overcome those feelings and reach the yoga mat.
Join a class or find a Yoga Buddy
Lot of times external motivations help us to perform various tasks which we feel difficult to do alone. This factor is more relevant when you are starting out with a new task including yoga but this will be less relevant when you are aware of the deeper details of yoga and understand how it affects you as a person. Once you enter the phase where in you become aware of the changes yoga is bringing in your life you will no longer need external motivation. Till we develop internal motivation it is beneficial to practice with a person who is experienced in yoga as s/he can can both motivate and instruct you. In case you are unable to find such person, look out for a good yoga class or studio in your neighborhood and join that. It is always easier to practice when more people are there.
Setting a time interval
Setting up a fixed time for practice always helps. If you always practice at a certain time let us say 6 am in the morning, and do it for a long enough period, you will be habituated to practicing during that time and this will make it easier to overcome tendency to skip the practice.
One Third Approach
In case you are really feeling lousy, you can adopt a one third approach. In this approach you can decide that you will practice only for one third the regular time you devote to practice. For example if you practice for 1 hour on regular days, commit yourself to practice only for 20 minutes. There are two benefits to this approach. You will feel more motivated for the practice and usually I have observed that I end up practicing more than the one third time set initially. Secondly, even if you stop after the time you set, you are at least continuing your practice, which is the most important aspect.
Explore New Poses
You will find it easier to motivate yourself when you think of trying out newer poses. There are hundreds of asanas to choose from. Take a book like Light on Yoga or any other good book and browse it to find any asansa which may interest you. Read the instruction thoroughly and create a mental picture of how you will do that. So for the day, jump out of routine practice and try newer poses. This will make the practice enjoyable and break the monotony of the routine sessions. When you are free you can also make a note of asanas which you intend to try out and are not able to take upon due to lack of time. You may include the asanas which you think are too difficult at this stage. Try to the level you can do safely. This will add a new dimension and also make you aware about you limitations as well as progress you are making and in the bargain you may also end up including a new asanas in your routine.
Food
Food plays a natural role in our energy levels. Though food is required for energy, but it also decides how much sluggish or energetic we feel after the meal or through out the day. Food with too much of spices, oil and non vegetarian food take more time and energy to digest, whereas fruits, vegetables and food cooked with less oil and spice are easier to digest. Food should be taken in moderate quantity and you should try to avoid eating till stomach is full as it will lead to more lethargy.
Change the Practice Timing
We all have a natural body clock, and we have different energy levels at different times of the day. Some people are more energetic and have a great time working out or working early morning. Others are more of an evening person. In case your practice time does not match with you peak energy interval, it is better to shift the practice to that time.
I am sure if you feel lethargic during your practice above techniques will help you out. Apart from all these above, we also need determination to progress, then only we will be enjoy the rewards of yoga, as in this case journey itself is the reward.
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