Yoga works best when practiced daily. As we age, the benefits of our practice become more apparent. Unfortunately, the consequences of not practicing also become more apparent.
Sustaining your practice as you grow older is not always easy. As your body ages, even with yoga, at some point, if you live long enough, you will begin to lose flexibility and strength. Yoga does not prevent aging. It only promises to slow the aging process, and provide you with more energy, focus, balance, and health along the way. Most importantly, a regular yoga practice helps you to feel more connected and compassionate towards yourself and others.
If you measure success by feats of strength, endurance, or flexibility, at some point you will naturally peak, and the next day will be a very dark day. When you need yoga the most, you will feel less motivated to practice, and more likely to suffer from frustration or dissapointment. Your practice will become a daily reminder that you are getting older. You will measure your practice against yesterdays practice and find it lacking. In order to move through this resistance it is important to be clear in your goals and motivations, and the sooner you do this the better.
There are myriad goals that might work for any individual, but one that I find especially effective is the goal of enjoying your practice. How much do you really enjoy your practice? Not the idea of your practice, or the expected benefits, or even how you feel immediately after your practice, but the practice itself? The more you enjoy practicing yoga, the more likely you are to benefit from your practice and to hold onto a daily practice as you age. When this is your goal, you will naturally adapt your practice to how you feel on any given day, and how your body is responding the practice in order to maximize the enjoyment of your practice.
We are hardwired to enjoy pleasure. However, not everything that brings pleasure is good for us. I once asked an Indian teacher how we could tell the difference between. They explained that if something is difficult at first, but over time becomes more pleasant, that is a good sign. He gave the example of downward facing do. However, if something brings immediate pleasure, but with each experience less so, then we should be very careful. Such things can be addictive and destructive. He gave the example of sugar, but most illegal drugs also fall into this category.
One of the most important lessons that I learned was with Thich Nhat Hanh at a meditation retreat I attended at a convent in Burney, Texas. I was practicing the walking meditation that he had taught us that morning. When I noticed that he was watching, I tensed up a little and in my mind cycled through the instructions to make sure I was doing everything correctly. As he approached me with a beautiful smile I paused. He reached out an arm and swept it in a graceful arc bringing my attention to the manicured gardens that I was walking through, and out over the valley below. “It is ok to stop occasionally and smell the flowers. Do not hold onto technique so tightly.”
July 20, 2020
