Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11a Part 11b Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15a Part 15b Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21a Part 21b Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26a Part 26b Part 27 Parts 28, 29 and 30 Part 32 Part 33 Part 34
I received a couple of emails asking me how I've managed to stay motivated and/or managed to get myself on the mat every morning, which is pretty much the same question.
In the beginning it was easy. you start off with the suryanamaskaras, and when your unfit and not very flexible that feels like a lot at first. Before you can get bored with that you include Sury B, which still brings me out in a sweat. Then of course you start to add the rest of standing which keeps it fresh and interesting for a couple of months. After a while you have a routine going, it starts becoming familiar you relax into it. You haven't exercised for a while before this so your starting to feel results right away, your feeling a little healthier , fitter, perhaps you've lost a kilo or two. After a while though it all begins to settle down. As you settle into a routine it becomes....well, routine.
It's now that the danger of dropping a couple of sessions comes up. At first, perhaps you were only practicing three days a week. You drop one of those and you have a gap of four days, it becomes harder to get on the mat. Before you know it you get around to your practice maybe once a week if you feel like it, or end up laying off it for awhile altogether though with the intention, always the intention to start practicing again soon. There's always a reason not to practice or a reason to put it off until tomorrow.
Practice tip 1
Routine is everything. Practice every morning. Even if it's only a a couple of Suryanamaskaras A and a B. just to get your body moving. But, do it on your mat. Roll the mat out and do your Sury A there. Cognitive therapists are probably nodding there heads here. Link up all those associations, mornings, mat, practice. Same with meditation practice, you might not be able to face a 20 or 40 minute session but even five minutes sitting on your mat or cushion will keep your practice ticking over.
Practice tip 2
Incentives. Mine at the moment is my half grapefruit with honey on top, love this. Tastes so good after practice. It's the first thing I have, before any water even. Looks bright and beautiful after my darkened practice room and when your parched, so so refreshing. no practice no grapefruit. I might not feel like practicing some mornings but I always feel like that half grapefruit.
Also Marks and Spencer's milk chocolate covered toffee popcorn. Did I practice this morning ? no? then they stay on the shelf.
To be continued......
9 comments:
I think that the motivation depends also on the reason(s) why one started to try or do Ashtanga. If someone looks at it as another type of sport exercise than motivation can be a problem later.
I think that the practice itself (at least it was so in my case) gives the ashtangi a very interesting well being. You mentioned it in one of your previous posts. One is tired, has sour muscles, even pain but together with these there is a fantastic good feeling overall in the body & soul resulting that "life is good".
I also think that the motivation later is changing, transforming. It is a mixture of curiosity ('can I do this asana?', or 'will I be able to do it one day completely?), ambition ('I want to do it') and other personal and intimate reasons (spiritual ones, or the "classical" - 'the only way out is in').
My motivation for example is to learn to listen to my body. Cooperate with it and not place 'requirements'. Learn to accept what I am capable of in that moment and be gentle with myself.
And of course there is a lof of motivation also in your blog for me
Thanks for the detailed Comment N. Had to run off to work so had to stop short, more to come tomorrow. So much to write on this and of course everyone has their own stratagies. I agree motivations change, problems can come I think when one form of motivation begins to wane and before another kind takes over. It might be health and fitness in the beginning but perhaps something more meditative or 'spiritual' later. I found all the showy stuff motivating for a while, handstands etc, now I'm motivated by keeping it as simple and tight as possible. Interesting too what you say about being gentle with your body contrasted with pushing it to it's limits.
Great post Grimmley. I've been reading your blog (and most other Ashtanga-related blogs) for a while now, but have never commented. However, your recent posts focusing on your home practice have really resonated with me.
I've been practicing at home for exactly one year (today!), and if anything, feel the momentum growing. Our stories have a lot of similarities. I also started with a book, and then some DVDs. I started practicing as an alternative to sitting meditation. And I'm also several pounds lighter than I was a year ago!
At the moment, I'm practicing 1/2 Primary, up to navasana, with a truncated closing of wheel, headstand, shoulderstand and fish before resting. So yes, I'm still a total beginner. And yes, I love practicing alone.
Thanks for all the wonderful posts.
te hee, I am such a fan of self bribery! I even bribe myself with mugs of tea at work ;-)
Thanks for commenting Melissa, It's a nice practice up to Navasana + finishing. i did that for awhile too. Taken me a long time to learn to love the second half of Primary but all those hip openers become so important for later on. Do you stop at navasana because of time constraints or because you find the second half tricky still?
Five mugs of tea a day at work here too OS
Grimmley, I stop at navasana for a few reasons:
1. In the beginning, physically, it was all I could do. By the time I got to navasana, I was completely wiped out. (Now, eh, not so much)
2. I'm still modifying about half of my vinyasas - dropping to the knees for chatarunga and doing cobra instead of updog. (I used to modify ALL of them)
3. I'm only doing vinyasas between poses, not between sides. (I could probably begin doing them between sides. Maybe this will give me the kick in the behind to actually do it!)
Basically, I want my 1/2 primary to be solid as-is, before adding to it. Sometimes it seems like the progress is glacial, but looking back on a year of practice, I can see a ton of changes - smoother breath, increased concentration, a huge leap in strength, and getting deeper into poses.
Also, even though I'm practicing on my own, I feel a certain amount of pull to 'perfect' as many poses as possible before I start giving myself new ones. There are still a couple of poses I modify - Janu C, Mari B & D especially - and part of me thinks it's a good idea to become more proficient in those poses before advancing. It's hard to explain, but part of me feels like doing more poses with modifications, as opposed to fewer poses that can be fully realized, might be counterproductive.
Sounds like a smart practice Mellisa. A year in I was mainly doing Swensons 40 min short form. Probably about the same number as poses as your doing though just a different selection. Felt about right, full practice was pushing it. I would do it on my day off but it would get a bit ragged. I like where you say 'I want my 1/2 primary to be solid' makes sense.
Don't know, if somebody read this in 2017 ... anyway
As said before routine is everything, so here is mine:
1) Try my best to feel better after exercising or try to reach a goal. I do a lot of Bastrikas.
2) I dropped a couple of ideas in my mind, because in the morning at 4:00 there is no sun, my room has no palms or an ocean ;-)
3) After 2) it was/is easy to do short sessions or do only easy asanas. Sometimes 15min are enougth or they grow to 1h.
4) I draw a mark on my *paper* calender
someone is reading, yes :-)
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