How & Why To Make Yoga A Habit
Yoga isn’t for the flexible its for the willing.
Making yoga a habit is the only way to discover and receive the gold it has hidden inside of it and for its magic to slowly work into you. Most people come to yoga initially for the stretching and for physical reasons but they stay because of how it makes them feel.
A consistent practice is going to give you far greater results than god given flexibility will, when it comes to uncovering what it has to teach you.
Aside from learning yoga postures which over time make you stronger and more flexible, you learn to breathe using your nose, a lost art in the modern world and one of the reasons why people are so stressed and anxious. Deep breathing into our bodies relaxes our nervous system, improves our lung capacity and also helps regulate our heart rate and immune system so that all the systems of the body are harmonised.
Training the breath helps to calm and focus the mind. By giving the mind the simple task of keeping its attention on the breath, the thoughts naturally start to slow down and you feel more grounded in the body, which is where the mind feels most safe so that you experience more peace and a sense of ease.
The way to make your practice a habit is by attending the same class or classes every week. Book it into your schedule and make it a non-negotiable - Bikram Mondays.. Vinyasa Saturdays.. Yin Wednesdays. Dedicating yourself to one single style of practice such as Bikram especially in the beginning gives you a feeling of progress, which motivates you to keep going because you feel the changes and the benefits.
You want to be doing at least 2 -4 classes every week to keep your progress up and to feel the benefits of this ancient healing practice. Your mat will become a sanctuary and a place to shelter from the storm. A place you can come to where you know you will always feel better when you leave.
Slowly slowly you free the body of tension, calm the mind, create vitality in your energy and regain the ability to focus so that you feel more at home with your self. Over time your practice becomes less about the postures and more about the relationship you are creating with yourself which is kinder and deeper. Yoga is 100 percent experiential which no one can teach you, it is something you discover for yourself and the real beauty of it.
