I don’t know about where you are but there is a distinct feeling of spring in the air here in Cambridge. The days are definitely longer and brighter, the bulbs in the garden are all poking their heads through the soil and the air feels lighter somehow, more oxygenated! This Yogini definitely has a spring in her step, awful pun very much intended.
I’m sure you’ve all heard of WoYoPraMo. World Yoga Practice Month is usually January and the yoga world all pledge to practice every day. I did not take part this year as I spent the first week of this January coughing up my lungs with bronchitis.
Besides I’ve never practiced every single day of the week. I believe in at least one rest day a week as a time to allow the body, mind and breath to assimilate the practice. I also think that it is vitally important not to set goals that are unachievable. It takes a very strong person not to feel a little let down by themselves if they have not achieved a goal that they have set.
A five day per week practice sits perfectly with my life right now, and so for the month of March I want to continue with my five days a week, but I want to focus specifically on poses that I have a tendency to avoid. These include Baddha Konasana, Janu Sirsasana and Dhanurasana. Those things we choose to avoid are often the things we need the most, so I will be working on these postures as mindfully as I can (rather than cursing myself in my head!) and keeping in mind my thoughts on 40 days of Ahimsa by being gentle with myself and not pushing or straining. Just being in these postures that I so dislike.
Spring always reminds makes me think of the word “bloom”, as everything is just bursting, ready to bloom into life. And that is exactly what I want to be happening on my yoga mat right now.
I would love it if you would join me dear reader. No earth shattering goals, nothing you can’t stick to but if, like me, you practice regularly, try to practice at least one posture you don’t like (and we all have them) every day in March. If you practice yoga but not as regularly as you’d like, try to put aside 20 minutes 2 times a week (my 20 minute practice might come in handy here!). And for those of you who have never tried yoga before, why not go to a class, any class, just once sometime in March!
I’d love to know how you get on so do share!
Agreed that at least one rest day is important. New lessons have a way of soaking into the subconscious when allowed to linger in the back of the mind, and I almost always come back to my practice after a day of rest feeling a little bit lighter and stronger.
As for facing the yoga demons, been working on my parivrtta trikonasana and salamba sarvangasana over here. Comfort and ease still eludes me in both, but that’s probably because I haven’t practiced them often, because they’re difficult and uncomfortable for me… vicious cycles and all that. But the time has come to face them head on!
[...] Keep practicing, in whichever way and whichever style is appropriate to you right now. Don’t worry about what you look like but instead on how you feel. Open your heart and enjoy! Join me on the Spring into Yoga 2010 Challenge!!! [...]
But the time has come to face them head on!
[...] how are you all doing with your Spring into Yoga Challenge? What postures have you been working on? What have you [...]
I have been having such a hard time getting on the mat lately. I don’t know why. The past three months, I have to drag myself there. I’m usually happy I did, once I get started, but I don’t have the same fire or joy surrounding yoga that I normally have.
I’m sure it’s nothing permanent, of course, but it is troubling for me, as it has caused a lot of things in my life to fall out of balance, including my weight. I think it is partly just the cold weather. I can feel spring approaching, and I’m so excited, but we still have days of such bitter cold (like yesterday) that I just want to hide in a warm bed!
Anyway, I am going to try to do a 20 minute practice two times a week. I’ve started practicing at night, which helps – in the morning, I just can’t make myself do it anymore.
Hopefully, this will all pass and I’ll be back on the mat with regularity!
It happens sometimes. I once went through about 3 weeks when my yoga practice seemed to be an afternoon nap! In fact this afternoon I slept instead of getting on my mat…. however, the important thing is not to beat yourself up about it.
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