Is Your Practice -- Or Your Life -- Getting Stale?

"Life is fresh but you are stale, and you become stale because you go on carrying the yesterdays. The past functions as a barrier between you and life. Die every moment to the past and then life can be felt and lived as fresh as it is."

--Osho, excerpted from Nirvana: The Last Nightmare, chapter 8

STOP! Take a deep breath in. Let it out. Now ask yourself -- have things gotten stale? This applies to your life as much as it does your yoga practice. Do you feel less pleasure (or -- GASP! -- little pleasure at all)? Are you feeling more dread than anticipation? Are you feeling angry or put-upon? Do you feel frustrated or stuck rather than free flowing?

It's frighteningly easy to get stuck in a rut and not realize it until you're mired in and sinking fast. When this happens to me, I usually find that my over-active mind is to blame. Of course my ego, not to be outdone by my mind, is typically playing a supporting role. I'm believing something that's been proven true by my feelings and WHAMMO -- I'm stuck and not happy about it. Gee, can anyone say samskara (I urge you to check out this link for an excellent listing of definitions of this word -- I'm sure some of it will sound mighty familiar!)?

Ironically, one of the definitions of "asana" is nava sarira samskara -- or, for those of you who haven't brushed up on your Sanskrit -- a new pattern of the body or a new way of being. Suffice to say that lately I've needed a lot of asana regarding a particular area of my life (I was as stale as month-old bread -- eeeeewwwwwww!). Just yesterday I realized that I was looking at this area of my life in a way that doesn't serve me. I needed to shift my perception of the reality (or, more likely, see reality as it really is rather than how I perceive it to be). I decided then and there to look at it from another direction. I simply made the intention and the result has been quite amazing.

Today I was faced with a situation that frankly, really ticked me off in the past. Instead of looking at it the old way, I tried my new view on for size. I ended up laughing and I turned the situation into a funny, teasing one. Viola -- a new pattern. I have to say that it feels good. Of course I'm going to have to work at reaffirming this new pattern, but at least I got it out there. I read something that struck me as funny -- and so true -- yesterday. It was something like "you don't throw bad habits out the window; you walk them down the stairs nicely and show them the door." The ole tortoise was really onto something -- slow and steady does indeed win the race (or at least help you replace old samskaras).

Okaaaaay, so let's circle this wagon around and get back to your yoga practice. Is it stale? I remember a friend telling me that she found yoga "boring" because it was always the same poses day after day. I chuckled to myself thinking that my daily practice is never the same because each day I'm different, my body is different. Despite this, we sometimes force our practice to be the same every day. So, if things have taken a turn for the stale, what do you do? Here are some suggestions...

1. Mix it up. This could mean a lot of things -- mix up how long you practice, mix up the style of yoga that you practice, mix up the time of day you practice (which, ultimately, will have an effect of the type of practice. For instance, you wouldn't do a power flow in the evening before bed.), mix up how you practice (if you normally practice with a DVD, go to a live teacher or use a CD instead or if you normally practice with music try it in silence).

Here's a personal story -- there have been many times throughout my life AY (after yoga) that my yoga practice has gotten stale. I remember going to a workshop on a different style of yoga than I was used to, thinking "this isn't really yoga." HA! That type of yoga eventually became my mainstay. The point was that I was practicing only one type and the routine was the same every time (the very fact that I used the word "routine" should tell you something!). My pattern became "only this yoga." When I shifted and looked at other styles, my practice took a 180 degree turn (for the better, I might add).

2. Change o' location. Are you used to practicing at home? If so, go to a studio or a workshop or a conference. Are you used to practicing in a studio? Then take your practice outside.

Another personal story -- during the period I mentioned above, I decided to attend a yoga conference. I deliberately signed up for every style of yoga other than my primary style. Ever since that workshop, I practice many of those styles that I tried on a regular basis.

3. Do less. Are you feeling like you "must" practice for 30-minutes or 60-minutes? STOP! And now, I'll recommend something that sends fear into the hearts of some people, so you might want to take a deep breath before reading this piece of advice...DO THE BARE MINIMUM! Yep, be a yoga underachiever (I say that with a smile and a wink because we all know that yoga isn't about achieving anything or getting anywhere)! Practice for 10 minutes or even 5. Do it every day. Notice how that shifts things.

Yet another personal story -- I admit to having baby-out-with-the-bathwater tendencies. Unfortunately, this can lead to the awful "well, if I can't practice for my full 60-minutes then I'm not going to practice at all." Ummmmm...you'd think I'd never heard of the expression a little is better than nothing. This especially applies to yoga. The funny thing was, when I set myself a time limit of 10 minutes, I often ended up at the very least doubling the amount of time. When I eased up on the pressure, my ridigity eased up as well.

4. Do what doesn't "feel" like yoga. Sounds weird, doesn't it. Here's what I have clients do when they start hemming and hawing about not having enough time, blah, blah, blah. It's very simple -- stand in Mountain pose. Inhale and about 3 seconds after you start inhaling, raise your arms up with your palms coming together at the end of your inhale. Exhale and about 3 seconds after you start exhaling begin lowering your arms back to your sides with them reaching your sides at the end of your exhale. Repeat. Do this about 5-10 times. That's it. That's your yoga for the day. Another one of my favorite things to do with someone is some brief laughter yoga. It's a great way to elevate your mood and change up your practice -- and most importantly, it reminds you to HAVE FUN!

5. Reevaluate. Ah, yes -- we all come to that point in our practice when we have to ask ourselves the BIG question. Why am I practicing yoga? The answer to this question can be enlightening -- and can change the shape of your practice temporarily -- or in some cases permanently.

My final personal story: When I asked myself this question some years back I realized from my answer that I wanted to delve deeper into yoga. From that point on, my whole perception of my relationship to yoga changed. I became a student of yoga rather than a practitioner.

Don't let your practice get all moldy! Set an intention to get out of your rut. Here's the final thing to remember (it should really be number 6 on the list) -- don't take yourself (or your yoga practice) so seriously. That in an of itself is a great stale repellent.

Namaste! 

Comments

[Diane]

Hi Emma!
Well, I love that you love it! Thanks for saying so.

[Emma]

I love this post!