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How to Become Regular in Your Yoga Practice
Dada Vedaprajinananda
People come to yoga looking for various things: peace of mind, stress
reduction, improved concentration, and weight loss. Yoga can help you
to accomplish all of this, but "yoga works, if you work!" You
have to do the practices on a regular basis in order to get the
results.
If you have bought some books on yoga and meditation, don't let
them gather dust while you sit around thinking that maybe one day you
are going to practice.
Yoga postures and basic meditation exercises are simple enough to
learn. In fact, I teach them to children and they pick them up quite
easily. So, I am sure that you can learn what to do fairly easily and
quickly. The big problem for most people is to establish the habit of
doing the practices on a regular basis. Here are a few tips which
may help you to do your yoga and meditation on a daily basis.
1. Start with Firm Determination: Yoga begins and ends in the mind.
Take a determination that you are going to give yoga a fair try and
you are going to practice, because it is important to you. Close your
eyes, and think "For the next three months I am going to do it
every day."
During the course of time, whenever you start thinking, "Oh today
I don't want to do my yoga exercises", remember your initial
determination and stick to it.
2. Do it Together With some Friends: Learning how to give and share
is an important part of yoga, so don't keep "yoga" to
your self. If possible find one or two friends who would benefit from
practicing yoga, and do it together with them. The good thing about
practicing with others is that if a day comes when you are not
motivated to do the practice, the enthusiasm of your friends will
carry you along and you will do the practice with them.
3. Make a Regular Schedule and Stick to It: Yoga is not like tennis
or some recreational sport which you will do if the sun is shining
and you feel like doing it. To get the true benefits from yoga you
have to do it every day. So, free some space in your busy schedule
and "reserve" this time for your practice of yoga and
meditation.
If you get up a bit earlier in the morning, then you will have a nice
quiet time to do your yoga before the rest of your neighbors wake up.
In the evening, do your best to keep some time free for yoga before
your evening meal.
Once you have set your schedule, stick to it as best you can.
4. Do Your Practices With A Free Mind: It is not enough to reserve
time for yoga, with your body doing the exercises but you mind
continuing to worry about other things. When you stop to do your yoga
and meditation, you should remember that the next 30 or 40 minutes
has been reserved for yoga and for your development. Don't jump
up to answer the phone, or respond to every minor disturbance. This
period of time is for you.
If you begin to think about all your other responsibilities and
problems, gently drop these thoughts and imagine that your problems
are tucked away along with your shoes at the corner of the room, or
better yet in another room. (You shouldn't be practicing yoga
with your shoes on!)
5. Be Patient: Sometimes you will feel the effects of the yoga and
sometimes you will not feel anything. Don't worry about the
immediate effects, continue to practice. It takes a while before the
most profound results of yoga are realized.
It took you many years to build up your present personality and
physical structure. You can't change it overnight. But the good
news is that you don't have to wait many years to change yourself
because the regular and systematic practice of yoga postures and
basic meditation can help you to make great changes in a period of
six months to one year.
So, hang in there, start practicing, continue practicing and slowly
but surely yoga will help you to realize your most important goals.
Dada Vedaprajinananda has been practicing and teaching yoga and
meditation for the past 35 years. He is the founder and associate
editor of New Renaissance Magazine, www.ru.org and is the author
of "Yoga Weight Loss Secrets," an ebook guide to yoga-based weight
reduction,
http://www.YogaWeightLossSecrets.com
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