As a mindfulness teacher and hypnotherapist, regular yoga practice is a wonderful way to deepen my mindfulness practice and enhance the connection between mind and body.
This summer, my lovely yoga teacher, Lucy, of Living your Yoga, decided to set her students an August challenge of completing 10 sun salutations per day (5 of type A and 5 of Type B). If you’ve any experience of yoga you’ll probably know that they aren’t the easiest thing to do, especially the type B. But I’ve always been a bit competitive and I really do like a challenge. I hesitated, and the second I signed up for this one, I instantly noticed a shift in my mindset and my competitive streak reared its head after lying dormant for some time. Charles Darwin would argue that it’s all to do with survival of the fittest. In my case I’ve never been the fittest at anything in particular but like many of us I don’t like the thought of failure. I also didn’t want to let Lucy or myself down and knew that if I missed even one day, I wouldn’t be happy with myself. This way of thinking is called ‘all or nothing’. I knew this wasn’t a healthy mindset but brushed it to one side as we often do when we don’t want to acknowledge unhelpful thoughts.
Getting Started
The first day of the challenge was a Monday and my motivation was high. Monday is generally the day when we start most things. I’ve started numerous diets on a Monday in the past and ended them by the following Friday.
I chose to complete the 10 sun salutations in my rather small living room during the evening and included several short breaks to breathe a little. It was a bit cramped to say the least so the following day I moved outdoors to the patio for my practice which was much better.
By day 3, my arms were aching and I was leaving it even later in the day before I even started. By 10pm on Friday evening I still hadn’t done my sun salutations for the day so rolled out my mat in my small living room and made a start. It wasn’t fun. It was then that the realisation hit me and the problem was staring me in the face. I laughed at the irony of it.
Adopting a Non-striving Attitude
As a mindfulness practitioner and teacher, I teach the benefits of adopting a non-striving attitude, allowing things to unfold without becoming attached to a particular outcome. In other words, if you focus wholly on the goal, you’re less likely to enjoy the journey. In fact, because you’re thinking about the end result, you’re less focussed during the process and therefore less likely to achieve what you set out to do in the first place. I’d been focussing on the end result of feeling that high, that sense of achievement as well as the physical changes I was expecting.
I decided, there and then, to let go of any expectations, to be kind to myself and just enjoy the process from moment to moment as if unfolded.
The following day, my practice felt very different. It’s an amazing experience when you’re fully present and ‘in the flow’. My mind and body were working in harmony and it felt good. This continued for the next week or so. I had a routine that worked for me. Lucy often
talks of bringing some playfulness to our practice and I was able to do just that. It felt joyful and liberating. I even extended the practice beyond the 10 sun salutations to incorporate more Asanas.
By week 3, I was loving the journey and looked forward to my daily practice. However, as we all know, nothing ever stays the same and I had a challenging day with an early start and a late finish. It didn’t help that my car got locked in a car park halfway through the day. I ended up eating dinner quite late and then realised that I hadn’t completed the day’s challenge. I had a decision to make. Do I force myself to get my yoga mat out or do I choose to not complete the day’s challenge?
Loving Kindness Starts with Yourself
Now, I regularly include a loving kindness meditation in my teaching and it’s as much about extending loving kindness to yourself as it is to others. So, I chose to be kind to myself and give myself a day off. I didn’t need to prove anything to myself or others. It didn’t mean I would have failed the challenge. It was the right decision. I had a great night’s sleep and completed my sun salutations early the next day.
As the challenge came to an end, I noticed that my body felt stronger and more. As well as the physical changes, this challenge also gave me the opportunity to deepen my mind/body connection, become more self-awareness and learn to let go of some of those stubborn, unhelpful thoughts and habits. Thank you so much, Lucy for setting this challenge.
To learn more about Mindfulness and it's benefits, contact me for a free consultation.
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