Guest guest Posted March 29, 2001 Report Share Posted March 29, 2001 Is it just me or did other people face a 'wall' at a certain level of their practice? I feel like I have to completely change my lifestyle to keep practicing and that's overwhelming. Did anyone experience making a choice such as this one? It is possible to blend the practice into our modern lives, but I am having a mental block about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 29, 2001 Report Share Posted March 29, 2001 Wow, I have the same problem, there are always people saying do Yoga six times a week, but I don't think I can manage that. May be sometime. But I am happy with my practice, I think that is important, to forgive yourself if you are too busy one week to do a full practice. I am lucky because I teach easy hatha yoga to a few people at work so I get in a short easy session twice a week. But as long as I do something aerobic I am happy also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 29, 2001 Report Share Posted March 29, 2001 Probably everybody must feel at some point like you actually have to fight various influences -- both from outside and in -- either just to keep it up, or to get more into it. I hate it when that happens! But that is what happens on the great battleground, right?<br><br>No pat answers, just a continuous struggle... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 29, 2001 Report Share Posted March 29, 2001 It is for eveyone to decide how it works for their life. I ended up changing my life a lot but it happened gradually. Once I asked a teacher of mine How will I know when to quit my day job? She said oh you'll just know and I did.Maybe in the context of your life three days a week, or whatever works. you don't have to fit some rigid mold. Happy practice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 29, 2001 Report Share Posted March 29, 2001 Reaching a plateau in our practice has happened to everyone I've ever swapped notes with. There are times it seems the harder you try the harder it is. With yoga, even Ashtanga Yoga, sometimes less is more. My advice to you is, "Do what you can." If what your doing now is to much, back off a bit. That's OK., but do continue to practice. Just don't bite off more than you can chew. Your personal practice will build over time and those lifestyle changes that were impossible before, will develop on there own for the most part. <br>This is key -- continue your practice at some consistent level. Choose a realistic (for you) amount of time that you can devote to practice, and stick to it. If you need help developing a shorter practice I would love to be of service.<br>Yoga does work with a modern life style. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 29, 2001 Report Share Posted March 29, 2001 Wow! you quit your day job...what are you doing in place of it -- are you a yoga teacher? curious... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 29, 2001 Report Share Posted March 29, 2001 I guess this is what everyone means when they say ashtanga is deeply transformative -- it infiltrates almost every area of your life...I too am making gradual lifestyle changes...changes I would have seen as nearly impossible just a year and a half ago. But as I make the changes I find that the practice prepares me for it and strengthens my will so when the time comes it is not as difficult as it would otherwise be...Also, as you begin to change on a very deep internal, spiritual, psychological level, Loss is also involved...but really what is the alternative -- same old, same old? We are yogis meaning that we are the people who need to move things around all the time -- and that can be uncomfortable at times -- but it's growth. Anyway I'd be curious to know which lifestyle changes you're experiencing and how they are overwhelming... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 29, 2001 Report Share Posted March 29, 2001 Yes, at the time I was working, raising kids and teaching yoga part time. It was a real juggle but I felt more and more drawn to teaching full time. So it took several years to be the right time for that. It keeps evolving over time.The place it has in your life can be different say five years from now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 29, 2001 Report Share Posted March 29, 2001 <Loss is also involved...but really what is the alternative -- same old, same old?><br><br>same-same but different :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 29, 2001 Report Share Posted March 29, 2001 Hi,<br><br>Yes, I feel like the whole "makeing it fit" thing taken control. I take classes two times a week. Then do my own pratice in the am every other day. I work in sales and have to work into the evening regularly. Then I'm trying to do a Yoga video when I miss a class. My whole intention was to help me deal with stress. Will it pay off?<br><br>Lewis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 30, 2001 Report Share Posted March 30, 2001 I don't think it's just you at all, I think it's quite normal and natural.<br><br>I've seen a lot of people come and go in yoga and other activities. A lot get really enthusiastic for a short while then disappear again. A few reach a steady level of beneficial practice that they find they can integrate with the rest of their lives and carry on indefinitely at that level. A tiny fraction find that this really is where its at for them, and eventually end up making it central to their lives, which might involve going professional. (I wonder if really experienced teachers can spot who's who among beginning students?) I don't mean this as any kind of value judgement about the people who fall into any of those categories, it's just something that I've seen happening a lot.<br><br>I studied karate for a few years, got to brown belt and realised that if I wanted to go for black belt it meant a serious commitment to making martial arts a big part of my life, training for a couple of hours five days a week. So my choice was make a serious commitment, be content to trundle along at the middling level I was at, or give up and do other things. I personally have never been one for the "just trundle along" option (again - just an observation about me, no value judgement about other people intended or implied), and decided this particular big commitment wasn't for me, so I gave up. <br><br>When I reached a similar point with yoga practice, it was completely obvious to me that I do want this to be central to my life from now on. It wasn't a question of making a difficult choice, just seeing what I want to do and going with it. What does that mean? I practice close to six days a week and my practice takes precedence over most other things. Am steadily becoming much more aware and careful about what I eat and drink. Haven't given up the day job and don't imagine that I will for a few years yet, but I do plan to take several months off to go to India next winter, and I work freelance in order to be able to make that kind of choice.<br><br>"Completely change my lifestyle to keep practicing" is putting it a bit drastically. If you're going to be a serious ashtanga yoga student you will have some choices to make about priorities. And if you find you don't want to make those particular choices about this particular thing, that doesn't make you any worse a person than someone who does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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