Blog-up, Blog-down and other Adho-Mukh ups

Friday, August 01, 2008

Neglecting yoga practice: excuses, excuses, excuses!

So. I haven't done any regular yoga practice for A WHOLE YEAR.

But I got excuses! Wanna here them?

I moved house so...
1. I left my yoga class
2. I got stressed
3. I was struggling with personal issues
4. I started a new college and had less time for yoga
5. It was harder to motivate myself when I was
a) tired from college
b) had less time to do yoga because of college
c) people at college thought I might be a Hare Krishna-i.e. yoga was NOT a shared interest with fellow students.

Yeah, yeah, yeah we've all done it. Excuses are beguiling flaws in human logic that sneakily convince us that the sophisticated evolutionary processes of the human brain weren't wasted on us: we're all the more clever because not only can we fool others, but also fool ourselves. However, I don't think any of us really need Tony Robbins or the Barefoot Doctor, or even Derek Evans in his spangly ultra tight lycra to encourage us away from making excuses and back into regular practice. And this is what makes procrastination all the worse- it makes us squirm because WE KNOW WE SHOULD BE GETTING OUR ASANA BACK ON THE MAT!

As a deserter, I acknowledge that somehow I let the regular and sustained practice that I built up over 2 years slowly melt away into excuses and "cunning" ploys of procrastination. During the past year I'd say that I've had a proper yoga session about twice, plus a few half-hearted 'oooh, I could do with a bit of a stretch' type events which lacked control and focus. However, I have recently felt Patanjali calling to me across the ages (It's OK, I've ruled Shizophrenia out) and the urge to throw myself into some kick-asana postures again. The decision became conscious at my best friends' wedding at which I suddenly had a renewal of awareness of what it was to be whole. This awareness crept into my body as well as my mind, as my muscles, ligaments and sinews remembered what it felt like to be stretched and pumelled by yoga postures. It was weird in a way- yoga is exactly the type of thing that, no matter how long you've procrastinated and made excuses for abondoning it, the passion is such that as soon as someone else talks to you about it, you feel like an insider again and can't wait to rattle off a few marichyasanas just to see if it still gives you that curious twitch in your lower back. One thing that really struck me, was the way that it's just like learning to play a musical instrument: it's a hobby as well as a talent and a flair, and I love the idea of reclaiming it as an interest; one that's always developing, progressing and teaching me things about myself. So...yesterday I rolled out my mat with glee, retrieved my block and practiced outside. Yup, I'm back in the game!

Labels: , , ,

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home