Through Line
Through Line
Yoga, Meditation, and Breathing are practices. I love the word practice. It doesn’t ask me to do anything but to try, to apply teachings rather than only reading about them. Practicing doesn’t ask me to be perfect, but to improve, to be an inquisitive student.
The practice of Yoga teaches us to move toward a place of contentment. Contentment can be defined as a steady, stable place where what we are doing is enough. There are many parts of the practice that work on layers of our physical, energetic, and mental bodies. But Yoga’s physical practice is the access point, not the entirety of the practice. One of my favorite yoga teachers, Judith Lasater, says, “The techniques, the asanas, are not the yoga. The residue that the techniques leave is the yoga.”
The term "practice" also implies consistency, yet the texts of yoga don’t define it. They say show up, with regularity, and practice with effort. What you put into your practice will then show up for you.
How you define consistency is up to you: daily, weekly, twice a month, once a month. Consistency, like goal setting, is based on realistic, achievable outcomes. Make a plan to practice and make it achievable. One of the reasons so many intentions fail around the New Year is that they are too large and unplanned. When we fail to meet them, we get discouraged. We are happier when we meet our goals!
What I recommend is to set a small, realistic, attainable goal to build success and trust in the process. Once students see success, we reevaluate and set new goals. When I teach meditation to beginners, I suggest 3-5 minutes every other day. If you want to build a consistent yoga practice, you can break that down into smaller steps. Here are my top 3 suggestions:
Leave your mat and props in your favorite yoga spot
Plan in advance by marking your calendar
Mix into your home practice a class with your teacher.
Remember, the above are just suggestions to help build confidence and trust in yourself. The bigger question is how do you define consistency?
One more piece of advice: consistency isn’t a linear growth line. It’s like watching the stock market, it’s up and down. Sometimes it's all over the place but you can discern the overall trajectory, the through-line that shows progress. I think this an important lesson in building consistency: to value progress over perfection.
I'd love to hear your thoughts.
