Rely on yourself

Laghu vajrasana, June 2021

Lately I thought that I want to being able to rely on myself.

That is when I plan to practice in the morning I also want to practice, because I’m a person I can rely on. Thinking about me that way is a huge motivation to step on the mat every morning. I’m indeed a reliable person. This is my self-image, I think that others see me the same way. I keep appointments, I’m also on time. Appointments with myself are equally important.

I want to practice and therefore I also practice.

A daily practice is a key for progress. Injuries can be avoided. Doing the right actions might be evenly important, yet without a daily practice nothing can happen at all.

Not always I get up very early. Yesterday night we watched soccer. I got to bed around midnight and didn’t wake up in the early morning. Yet I practiced before breakfast.

Another trick is that I lowered my expectations. I avoid the pitfall wanting too much. I have a habit tracker. It’s set for 90 minutes not longer. Today I practiced much longer, yesterday, too, but I don’t track it. I don’t want to put unnecessary pressure on myself. 90 minutes yoga practice are a good orientation, a nice doable plan.

If 90 minutes are too long, it’s possible to limit the time to 30 minutes.

It’s summer, it’s hot, I don’t want to miss a single practice. To start is the most important step. I’m a reliable person and so I practice.

Perhaps this positive view on yourself might help those who struggle with a daily practice, too.

Focus is back bending these days. The more I practice back bending the easier it gets. Technical posts will come.

Not every day I make progress, yet when I look at the picture I realize that my body has integrated some movements.

Know the why

If one knows the why it’s easier to do anything. An activity becomes an urgency. It can give huge energy if one can better the own life. It can be even more rewarding if the reason why we do something are other people or animals.

I know why I practice yoga. I feel better every day after my practice. Yoga gives an orientation in my life. My yoga practice will support my goal to stay as long as possible independent from support. I know many reasons why I practice yoga. To know one reason is enough. But this one reason must remembered when it gets difficult to exercise. Valleys always come for everybody no matter how experienced a yogi is. To have no issues anymore is not the promise yoga gives.

Reasons for our activities are endless. We might go to work because otherwise we get fired or we cannot survive. During Corona times I wear a mask because the grocery stores don’t let me enter. I also don’t want to be a danger for anybody. In addition I have to pay a fine. Not always the reasons for an activity are convincing. Sometimes they are not strong enough to make a person doing anything.

Today I also realized how important it is to practice early in the morning. It’s good to practice before breakfast, but it’s better to start really early, let’s say 6:30. Today I started at 8 am. The world wakes up already. In the neighborhood the craftsmen start working. This is always loud. Cars can be heard. The telephone rings. My beloved E gets up, takes a shower and soon I have the smell of coffee in my nose. Suddenly I was in a hurry. I was in the middle of my practice. I finished it gracefully. The feeling of calmness, having time, being relaxed is better than feeling in a hurry. I hope this experience of today gives me a good reason fro tomorrow morning to get up and to leave my cosy bed.

My most important task today:

I’ll write a handwritten letter to a very nice seven year old boy. Also the youngsters must learn at home. It’s difficult to learn writing by hand if you have a PC and if it’s possible to type. One day it might not even be necessary to know how to write our own name. We can use our fingerprint. Nevertheless the schedule forces this smart little boy to learn writing. Why? He might not see a good reason. Tomorrow he’ll get a letter written by me, with some questions. Yesterday I bought a nice card in addition. I’ll express my joy if I get an answer. A return letter will be in my letter as well. I don’t want to create obstacles. I hope that my letter will give him a reason to learn writing by hand. It’s so much more joyful to have a positive reason than to be forced to do something. I know that I’m rather self-confident when I think that I’m a good reason to learn writing.