Earlier this month I led the Developing Your Own Self-Practice workshop with an amazing group of yogis who left me feeling inspired to share as much as I can about getting on the mat more often!
I am the self-practice head cheerleader. When I first began my own self-practice, I didn’t really know what I was doing, I just remembered what I could from class and practiced because it felt good. So I kept going, I became more and more interested and before I knew it things…changed. Yes I became more toned and eventually was able to touch my toes…but something more…I felt different inside…I liked myself more, I recognised my own inner strength and I opened up to the rest of the world more too.
Yoga works in mysterious ways…it has a way of getting under your skin, without needing to know the hows or whys before you start. You just have to move and breathe, and the rest will come. I truely believe in the transformational power of yoga – which shows us how to live in fully explored ways, with more love, more compassion and more joy.
BUT! I know too how hard it can sometimes be to roll out the mat…and then know what to do! The motivation! The discipline! The pressure! Another thing to add to that endless to-do list! Vegging out – and zoning out – instead can feel irresistble. But if you know yoga makes you feel better then believe me when I tell you that it is not selfish or time-wasting to spend 10, 20, 40 minutes – whatever you can – away from the clammour of everyday life. This is tuning in, not zoning out, taking control and making a choice in how we think, feel and live. The benefits aren’t just for ourselves, but eminate out to everyone we interact with and every task we turn our hand to.
So don’t wait! Here are my top 10 ways to inspire your yoga self-practice – both on and off the yoga mat!
1. Use class to inspire you: Take away one pose, a sequence, an intention that speaks to you and use it in your practice throughout the week. Get to know it and feel it’s effects (tip: sometimes it’s good to practice the poses we don’t particularly like!)
2. Make it fit your life: There are some traditions and teachers that might say you need to practice 2 hours a day, at dawn, preferably on a mountain top, and that would be lovely. But if you have a job to do and kids to look after and a house to maintain and a million and one other things and actually, getting a few hours sleep would be good too, then this just isn’t realistic. I am passionate that this has to be a living, evolving practice which is relevant and useful to our lives now. If we stick ridgidly to rules that might apply to the ancient Brahmen in India, but have no relevance to our own lives, then the practice is dead. Beautiful and admirable perhaps – but not really relevant. There’s a whole other article to be written there! My point is, don’t wait for the opportunity to have endless spare time, superior knowledge and understanding; start now. 2 minutes or 2 hours, do what you can and let the practice serve you.
3. A moment’s meditation: You may not have time to practice at great length every day, or sometimes to get the mat out at all. Drop the guilt! Notice throughout the day when you’re feeling stressed/spaced out/flustered and reground. Feel your feet on the floor. Breathe. Be present. And then move on with the task at hand. Practicing yoga isn’t all about making shapes.
4. Intention: What has brought you to the mat today? There are no wrong answers to this….and the answers don’t have to be lofty or grand. ‘Just because’ is a perfectly acceptable answer. ‘To get strong’ or ‘to feel better’ are also good. Having an intention can be a nice motivator to get to the mat.
Be led by how you feel: Specific aches + pains or emotions can all be a great place to start your practice from. Look to address stress, or a headache, or stomach cramps; if you feel sad, which poses do you feel most supported and nurtured by? If you are joyful, how can your practice be an expression of that joy?
‘Move the way joy makes you move’ – Osho
6. Study: Svadhyaya or self-study is the fourth of the Niyamas (personal observances) as outlined in Patenjali’s Eight Limbs of Yoga. This can be any activity where we are intentionally self-aware; but can also be a more literal form of study. Books, the internet, teachers are all there to help support and inspire your yoga journey. If you have a question, feed that interest and find out more – there’s so much great information out there – a lot of it for free!
7. There are no rules: If you get ‘stuck’ or are unsure what to do next, simply return to the centre – get grounded + return to the breath. Notice the fluctuations of the mind – are you panicking? Are you self-chastising? See if you can let go of the grasping of the mind and allow things to be. Get out of the thinking mind and let your body move you.
8. Music: Playing music whilst you practice can be a lovely way to inspire movement + flow, or as a nice way to add another dimention to your practice if you usually practice quietly. Just beware that you are still actively present with your practice.
9. Stay playful: Getting on the mat is an opportunity to feel and enjoy living in this imperfect perfect body. Enjoy it! We all have our limitations but we can all do so much. It doesn’t matter if you fall out of a balance or if you don’t know the names of all the poses; just move and breathe for the sheer joy of being alive.
10. Anything can be yoga: Anytime we approach life with a sense of mindfulness and honesty of intention, it’s yoga. …Don’t let this become an excuse to not make time on the mat! But rather a way of making yoga a way of life, not just a part of life.
‘Practice, and all is coming’ – Pattabhi Jois
What inspires your practice and makes you roll out the mat? What blockages to practice to you sometimes face? Share your questions and tips – I’d love to hear from you!
