Daily habit

A daily practice is the goal.

Before reading this blog post, I’d like to ask you which picture is taken the 1st August and which one the 31st of August? Resolution comes at the end of this blog post.

In August my goal #1 was to practice more freqeuntly. My habit app told me that I had an average practice rate of 28,77% at the end of July. . At the end of August my average practice rate is 34,98 %. It goes up slowly as I started using the app in the middle of last year. All the data are processed by the app to calculate the average rate. I didn’t really use the app in the beginning so the results are not accurate. This is not so important. The app helped me to see where I could improve. I practiced not often enough. I can see a development now.

I started using this app on a daily basis in the middle of July. August looks pretty good for me. It’s motivating to use this app and to see all the red dots. One red dot stands for 90 minute Ashtanga yoga. More important the app tells the truth (when used of course).

What do I record? I only record when I practice Ashtanga yoga in the morning. Last month I practiced several times in the late afternoon. It was not an Ashtanga yoga routine but sequences that focused on back bending. They were precious, perhaps they made the difference, but they are not recorded. I don’t care as I get an overview about my activities. .

A few times I didn’t practice in August:

  1. I had an appointment at the dentist in the morning, I had a toothache. This is a reason not to practice and not an excuse.

  2. Once I overslept. I had had time in the morning before this appointment at 9:30am, but time was too short then. In the evening I practiced, so that’s OK. I aim for flexibility not for rigidity. Routines are useful, but they are not written in stone.

  3. Once I couldn’t convince myself to practice. It was impossible to get on the mat. I can live with this. I remember that I was ready for a yoga sequence in the evening.

When I reach 80% of my goals I consider this as very good. My observation: Those who are only content when ‘perfection’ is reached are much more discontent in life than those who are happy with 80%. Being discontent might free a lot of energy. Not liking a situation can give a lot of power to reach goals and to get out of an annoying situation. On the other hand with yoga we won’t win a medal. I take my practice rather seriously, but I usually don’t want to give it the power to make me feel bad. The opposite is the case. My practices better my life.

Lately I listened to an YouTube video with a very successful swimmer. He told the ambitious audience why he was so successful. 200 times every year he is not in the mood to swim, but he does it anyway. This was one of his success formula. Is this true, that most of the time he didn’t like to do what he was doing?

For me only the beginning of a yoga practice is hard, then I like my practice. Of course I can take it easy. I don’t have to practice. It’s not my profession, I don’t have to win medals either. Nevertheless if I had to force myself 200 times a year to do what I ‘want’ to do I questioned if this is the right activity that I was doing.

Perhaps talent limits his decision. Perhaps lack of alternatives forces someone to do something that he doesn’t like to do?

It’s surely true that we’re not every day in the mood to do what we want to do. To let the moods make a decision is not a good advice. One could miss a good practice. Moods change all the time. Some people are more moody than others. Some people have acquired the skill to be disciplined. They do what needs to be done. Point.

Also in September I’ll focus on the frequency of my practice. I’ll keep focusing on back bending.

Picture: The second picture is taken at the end of August. I’m glad that it’s visible that I practiced a lot and intensively. Yesterday I checked both pictures, yet they were not next to each other. I was disappointed and thought that all the effort was in vain. It wasn’t. I can see a difference when the pictures are next to each other. Halleluja. The show can go on.

You'll get out of your practices what you put in.

Consistency is a key word. That means success comes when you practice regularly whatever it is. It’s not only time that one can put into a practice. It can also be intensity, concentration, the right mindset, passion. intelligence. Work harder than smarter is true, too. In order to know what smarter is one has to study the practice. Experience and knowing oneself helps to understand and to judge methods and tips and tricks. It’s necessary to study the asana and the own strength and weaknesses in order to move forward in a steady way.

It’s recommended to study the art of yoga by oneself. The own practice is an excellent source. These days it’s also possible to find excellent teacher online. Books and podcasts are another source.

The pictures show two back bending asanas and one forward bending asana. It’s one of the rules that I follow: After an intensive back bending comes a soft forward bending asana or a twist. This balances the body again. It’s also relaxing and calms the nervous system.

Time that I put into my practice:

  • Ideally 9 hours of Ashtanga Yoga (first and second series) in the morning.

  • I watch YouTube Videos and tutorials on Omstars.

  • I scroll through my Instagram account from time to time. It motivates me to see all these diligent yogis. Sometimes it’s the kick that I need before a morning practice.

  • I write this blog again. It motivates me and documents my yoga journey.

When I started with Ashtanga Yoga my only source was the book by David Swenson ‘Ashtanga Yoga’.

My yoga week has started with an intensive practice. Keep practicing.

Having realistic goals

Back bending, July 2022

I’m a modern yogi. That means I use a habit tracker app. My goal is to practice Ashtanga yoga six times a week. It’s almost impossible to reach this goal. The app doesn’t allow you to subtract moon days. Serious students of Ashtanga yoga take a day off on moon days. These are 2 days less every month.

When I practice yoga I usually start the timer of this App. Yesterday I checked the result. It was disappointing. I only reached 26% of the 100%.

Why so less?

For about 2 months in 2022 I haven’t been at home. Is this a reason not to practice? Or is it an excuse? Perhaps a bit of both. I think more is possible. It’s a challenge to practice yoga when I’m not at home, but it’s not impossible.

At home again it usually takes some time to get back to my routines. It’s more or less sloppiness.

The frequency of any practice is a crucial ingredient if one is successful or not. This is a general rule. Daily practice is the key of accelerated learning whatever it is: It can be learning a language, becoming a better chef of mastering challenging asanas.

Before aiming for additional strength training or stretching sessions, I’ll aim for a more frequent yoga practice. It might be unrealistic to aim for 100%, yet I’ll aim for 50% in August. I can scale up the percentage, when this goal is reached.

All the special asanas goals are on hold. My focus is a disciplined daily practice. A few sun salutation don’t count as a practice. Yet to be on the mat for 30 minutes counts on challenging days. Better a few sun salutations or stretching for.5 minutes than doing nothing, but I won’t call this a practice.

Picture:

It’s an additional exercise before I perform shalabhasana. I start with being on my elbows. Then I stretch my arms. The next step is to walk the hands closer to the body to intensify the back bending. The shoulders move away from the ears. I relax, especially the back shall relax. It’s an easy exercise. First the easy exercises come, the more challenging ones follow.

Mantra for the goal Nr 1 in the morning:

I practice yoga now.

At the end of August I’ll check the statistics of my habit tracker again. I’m curious.