A common refrain: “I hear yoga is really good for you, but I’m so out of shape/unflexible.
I try to remember myself as a 30 year-old moving to Chicago, drowning in extra weight from my French fellow’s late night pasta experiments (carbonara cannot be reheated!), and just relative sedentary office-work life. I had started to complain about my back in the same way my dad did, and he’s well, quite a bit older than I.
So I started swimming and doing yoga, at my office upstairs, in the way back, feeling sheepish and faintly sweaty the whole time. The yoga stuck–
The swimming? Well, maybe one day I’ll have unlimited access to non-chlorinated pool.
It was intriguing, yoga, it wasn’t a fitness class which were always kind of jock circles, and the first class I’d tried in college introduced trataka (candle gazing).
WTF is this about anyway? But ever a fan of an investigation, I followed yoga’s strange and evnetually startlingly (to me) clear path towards enlightenment or fulfillment or growth mindset, or whatever we want to call it, when life becomes easier and more peaceful and happy.
So don’t worry. Hearing about yoga is the first step. The desire or itch to try it is the preamble to actually doing it, however long it takes to get to the doing. You can start young or old, infirm (with care) or well.
But, we can also learn to skip the steps that tend to crowd in between the wanting and the doing.
Motivation is a funny thing. It can be created by will and discipline, and a hard-nosed look at action. Do it, or don’t do it. Having to feel like it is actually a sure out. Instead, ask ourselfs, “How will I feel after I do it?”
And as in yoga, so it is in everything!
Tricks to bypass motivation issues
Recognize resistance for what it is. Is it strong, medium, or weak?
Resistance will dull over time, and your genuine desire to do the thing will resurface.
Practice anyway. Try a little video, something short and introductory. Yoga’s a bunch of moves most all our bodies can basically do.
I used to think motivation was foundational, but will is more grounded in genuine desire and purpose. Motivation seems to come with practice and greater confidence. When you are able to get yourself to practice, thank yourself afterwards.
Lastly, while you are doing any movement practice, promise to protect yourself and limits. In my practice, I don’t ignore pains and aches, but the proper alignment of the body in asana has a generally good feeling to it. This increases with practice, and also more ability to find great pleasure in these funny movements of yogasana.