Have faith …keep following the path.
One of the difficulties you can encounter when you commit to any significant change in your life is maintaining the momentum. People often come to yoga because there has been an impetus for change in their life. They have decided that they need to “become more flexible”, “learn to relax” or “combat stress”. Whatever the reason for commencing yoga there is guaranteed to be some benefits that you never expected and some times when you feel that because of changes in your circumstances or health, it is difficult to maintain.
How do you maintain that momentum? Well the first thing to realise is that yoga is all about listening to your body. In some instances your body may just need some rest. There may be times when the most important part of your practice is simply doing a yoga nidra and some breathing practices. At other times sitting quiet and still for meditation may seem impossible and what is really needed is some solid asana practice to ground yourself.
Listening to where you are at is the first part, having compassion for yourself is essential.
That is a little harder for most of us. Living in a world where we are supposed to “toughen up”, “be strong” and “keep on going” is not such a compassionate place to be. Compassion requires really opening the heart and listening ….listening to the birds, listening to the breeze, listening to the breath, listening to the feelings and often makes one feel vulnerable but vulnerability in itself is a beautiful and honest expression of self. It does not mean that you put up with everything that is thrown at you and devalue your worth but it means being true to who you really are…that wonderous inner spirit of self.
So if you are having trouble hanging in there ….STOP…listen and love. Be gentle with the practices, do only what feels right not what you think you ought to be doing or what you used to be able to do and you will soon find that yoga WILL bring you back to your equilibrium, BUT please be patient !!!
Beechworth Yoga 