KayaYogini

I am reading through old blog posts, that I didn’t post. I found this one from couple of years back, that I find is now highly relevant and I want to share it with you. Many people can not do their yoga practice at their studio. There are a lot of yoga online these days. This blog, however, is for you who want to establish your own home practice. 

I started practicing yoga about 12 years ago. About six years ago, I started practicing Ashtanga Yoga. I had a regular practice for some periods of time, and other times I didn’t. My practice was very on and off. One reason for this was my sleeping issues, one other was my hamstring injury, and one other was my lack of devotion. What I did have, which helped me to practice as much as I did, was willpower. 

Back in the days, I used willpower for everything. I used it to avoid sugar, to get up from bed, to go to school, to make all the right decisions through out the day. I din’t run on inspiration or joy. Life felt hard, and I spend a lot of energy every day on making decisions, being healthy, doing the right thing. It is a very draining way of living your life. 

If your intention is out of alignment, everything you do can be detrimental. Even yoga. If you practice yoga because you feel that you aren’t good enough, it will not feel good in your soul to practice yoga. 

For me, there was no option to not do yoga. I had (and still have) a scoliosis, and a big anterior pelvic tilt. I had lots of back pain, and felt better in my body if I did yoga. Even so, my practice was very out of alignment, I didn’t have any routine, and like I told you, no devotion. 

Why is devotion so important? Devotion is one way to have alignment in your practice. When you are devoted, you give your heart to your practice. You can’t give your heart to your practice if your heart says no. It is impossible to be devoted to something If your heart wants to do something else. If you are devoted, you don’t need as much willpower. Willpower is a brain thing. You push yourself to do something that feels hard. Devotion is a heart thing, you ease into it, instead of pushing through it. If you practice with willpower, chances are you’re going to push yourself to hard, and do poses your body is not ready for, or push yourself to hard into the poses. Yoga is not about getting as far into the pose as possible. The poses are tools for healing, not accomplishments. This is one more reason devotion is a better place to start your practice than willpower. 

I’m not saying you should never use willpower. Sometimes you have to. Willpower can be great. But, it is not how you should live your life. At least not in my opinion.

I have never really been a stable, determined, strong willed person (not long term). I’ve been a person who gives very easily up. One who gives up for pressure. Who is running away from pain. One who is starting new projects without finishing them. A regular practice has helped me feel more stable. I feel more grounded. And stronger mentally.

Today, I still feel that I am more devoted and committed to my practice and in my life in general. It is a practice in and of itself to live your life from your heart and not just your head. You need a balance between the two. You should not live only from your heart either. 

I wish you guys all the best. I hope you are healthy and that you get to practice yoga ❤ Thank you so much for reading. Please share with someone you think would need to read this. If you like more content, subscribe to my blog, or follow me on instagram.