As the New Year approaches, I have been thinking a lot about how to enhance my yoga practice. In this light, I have come up with some resolutions for 2013 to inspire and enlighten my inner yogi. The process has been very rewarding and I encourage you to come up with some yoga resolutions of your own. I hope it will benefit your practice as much as I feel it will benefit mine.
1. Stop the judgment!
I have struggled with my inner commentator since I began practicing yoga. Despite years of telling myself to that my practice is perfect the way it is, I still cannot seem to fully accept it without judgment. Almost every time I come to the mat, there is something that causes me to think some variety of “Why can’t I do this better?” or “Do I look fat in this pose?” (sad, but true).
In 2013, I need to recommit to extinguishing this negative voice in my head. Not only is it hurtful to my psyche, but it is detracting from my practice. It keeps me from being in the present moment and getting the full benefits of yoga. It’s time to overcome that voice in my head and the culture that I live in and embrace my body for its beautiful ability to practice yoga at all.
2. Ditch the fear
Over the past year, I have noticed that there are poses that I don’t try just because I assume that I won’t be able to do them. That I will fall or look foolish or some other lame excuse that is ultimately grounded in fear. This was the case when I first encountered Side crow. I did not even attempt it for months, until one day, I just did. Nothing bad happened! In fact, my practice expanded that day. I learned that, to make progress, I have to start somewhere, which started a journey to a more advanced yoga practice. I didn’t get into the full expression of the pose, but I was a lot closer than I was the day before.
This year, I hope to remove a little more of this fear to further benefit my practice. Every pose is new in the beginning. There was a day when Downward dog was scary, but I tried it, and it began a relationship with yoga that has changed my life. If I never try, then I will never grow.
3. Recommit
In 2013 I resolve to recommit to my yoga practice. I have to admit that I have been in a bit of a rut lately. I am so used to doing the same poses, in the same order, that I have lost some of the energy I used to bring to the mat. This year, I am going to find new ways to rejuvenate my yoga practice. Be it through reading, trying something new, like Anti-Gravity Yoga, or even starting training to become a yoga teacher myself, my practice is in new of new light. I will do what it takes to bring a beginner’s mind back to my yoga practice for the fun and excitement it offers. 2013 will bring an end to this rut!
