How to DEVELOP A CONSISTENT Yoga Practice

Photo by Surface on Unsplash

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The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is practice.

- Vladimir Horowitz

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We’ve all been there.  Perhaps we heard from a friend about the wonderful benefits they’re getting from practicing.  Or maybe we’re inspired by an influencer’s incredible poses.  Maybe we’ve practiced before but it’s been a while and we feel creaky or out of shape.

Starting a yoga practice can feel intimidating.  Being consistent with it can feel impossible.  Yet, in Yoga Sutra 1.14, we’re told “practice becomes firmly grounded when well-attended to for a long time, without break, and in all earnestness.”

That means to feel established in our yoga practice, we not only have to be consistent with our practice for some time, but we also have to do it with our whole heart engaged.

So how do we develop the habit of practicing yoga when we’ve been consistently inconsistent?  How do we even start to practice yoga?  I think this Sutra offers some ideas.

• Get Comfortable with Unsteadiness - One of the fundamental principles of practicing yoga asana is that the pose is sthira-sukha, which means steady and easeful.  Getting to the zero point of each asana - or “the edge” between steadiness and ease, as some like to call it - requires practice.  This means that at first, it may be challenging to find this balance or groundedness.   Based on our own natural tendencies and inclinations, we may find ourselves wobbly, muscling through a pose, or relying on natural flexibility instead of cultivating equal parts strength in each position.  Give yourself some grace.  Even those with natural flexibility struggle with poses that require strength.  Those practitioners who have innate bodily balance may still find it difficult to balance themselves emotionally.  And a very strong yogin might be challenged to fully sink into a pose requiring lots of flexibility.  Regardless of our experience or natural gifts, yoga is a gift that keeps giving only if we continue to work on finding that zero point, that edge, which shifts as our practice develops.  We are all beginners in this sense.

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• Commit to Developing for Life - Unlike some skills we might be inclined to develop (for example, strengthening a knee that was injured, learning to play a favorite song, or perfecting the making of a creme brulee), yoga is not one and done.  Think of it more like the commitment to keep one’s body injury-free, to learn the guitar, or become a fabulous cook.  These skills are things we can improve but never truly master.  We can get close but the truth is, there is always something to learn, always a way to develop ourselves.  Yoga is the same way.  Yes, we can learn how to master some impressive asana or a breathing technique and reap benefits from the pursuit.  But to truly practice yoga, we have to commit to it for life.  It doesn’t have to be complicated.  In fact, we can accomplish an entire yoga routine - asanas, pranayama, yoga nidra, and meditation - in just thirty minutes.  The important thing is that we commit to it regularly.  The more we look at our yoga practice as a lifelong commitment, the more a craving to practice develops within us.

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• Learn to Crave Yoga - I don’t mean to suggest that experienced practitioners never skip a day of yoga asana or can’t function without their routine.  In fact, a yoga routine can become an addiction as much as anything else.  In time, experienced practitioners should learn to develop detachment from their practice just like they detach from cravings for things that are harmful.  That way, if you do have to skip a day (and we all encounter emergencies, sick days, and unexpected opportunities that take us away from practicing for a day or two) your body and mind don’t go haywire.  Afterall, isn’t that the purpose of practicing yoga: to balance body and mind?  What is meant by “without break” is that our practice - whether asana, pranayama, meditation, or better yet, a combination of the three - is never far away.  It means that when we don’t practice, a craving for yoga ignites inside and our missed day of practice doesn’t become two.  We crave it because it feels good and it connects us to ourselves.  Yet, we can detach from this craving if needed.

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• Practice from Your Heart - And there it is.  If there were one thing I could recommend to anyone intent on beginning to practice yoga or reinvigorating their yoga practice, it would be to practice from your heart.  What we enjoy doing, we will continue doing.  If we feel good after a yoga practice, we will keep coming back and this will lead to advancement in our practice.  In turn, this inspires us to continue developing our practice further.  Rather than focusing on the outward accomplishments of practicing regularly and for a long time, we can focus on the connection we create with ourselves and how that inspires us to be in better connection with the world around us.  This is what yoga is really about.  Not how incredible our yoga poses look, not how long we can retain our breath, not even how focused our minds are.  Yoga is union.  That unity starts with ourselves and carries out in the world, making our small space a better place.

What we aspire to at 5KY is to cultivate an appreciation for the deepest, most powerful benefits of yoga.  I believe it is these benefits that will inspire you to return to your mat again and again. 

​Physical accomplishments, once mastered, will eventually wither as time passes.  But these inner accomplishments become grounded through regular practice, done for a long time, and in all earnestness.  That is what will inspire us to continue coming back for more.