Inside Yoga 41 (8/8/11)

One of the common questions by yoga practitioners is how much practice must I do to achieve X, Y or Z? It’s a valid question though one that does not come with a simple answer. One response could be:  “how long is a piece of string?”, as how much we get from yoga depends upon so many factors, such as time we devote to practice, our health in terms of body and mind, and the type of practice we take up.

There is one piece of advice that applies to all of us: it is important to establish a steady and regular practice, which is a challenge but one that is rewarding.

Of course, we might say: “I haven’t the time”. But in this tried and tested practice of yoga (it dates back more than 4,000 years), yoga practitioners have found that it is better to ourselves to practice daily, even if it’s just a few minutes, because once the routine has been established it becomes part of our day – as much as brushing our teeth is a daily routine (for most of us).

Establishing a regular, daily, practice – when most days involve just a few minutes of practice – means that when we do have more time it not so difficult to practice for longer. It’s all about making yoga part of our routine.

I thoroughly recommend developing a personal practice and using group classes to learn and add to our personal practice. In the group classes we can learn how to get into and out of postures, and at home alone we can deepen this understanding.

When speaking of a regular practice, as far as I am concerned a daily practice includes days when we do not practice, but importantly we know why we did not practice that particular day. For example, we were not well, we were travelling, or simply we took a day off (if we practice intensively, it is a good idea to include a rest day in the week). What this means is that we remain conscious of our practice, and aware of what we do – and do not forget to practice, which is important. Fundamentally, yoga is about the mind, and remaining mindful of what we do and what we do not do – and that does include a day when we do not practice at all or very little.

This way of acknowledging when we do not practice can also help avoid giving ourselves a hard time about missing a day of practice. Being hard on ourselves in a negative way can be counter-productive to a healthy practice.

Though it is correct to see yoga as a discipline that means we must work hard at it – I have read a description of the meaning of hatha yoga which described it as being “discipline yoga”. We do need to be disciplined in yoga to derive benefits – and as that applies to most things in life, it is hardly surprising that this rule applies to yoga.

If we seek to practice every day, the best time of the day to practice is in the morning, and before anything else – except, of course, the toilet visit comes first! And then go straight to the yoga mat, the meditation cushion, or the space for practice and begin.

The hardest part is always the first step, so it’s a good idea to get into a routine of warm ups. These can be simple stretches to energise the body or a classical sun salutation. The point is we don’t want to think too much on waking about what we must do, we need to get straight into it. This also includes sitting in meditation as the first act, even thought that might seem like doing very little, it is still practice and might be just what we needed to get into the right frame of mind for continuing our yoga practice.

And on those mornings when time is very limited, a few minutes of exercises can be followed by a couple of minutes sitting and focusing on breathing – all this can be over in 10 minutes. But if we have a regular practice those few 10 minutes can make a lot of difference.

When we practice regularly the length of the practice is not the key but the quality of practice: some days we might practice for half an hour, maybe one hour, and on those days when we have more time perhaps 2 hours.

Once we establish a regular personal practice, it doesn’t take long to slip into “yoga mode”, where the body-mind-breath link is activated. It is like switching on a computer programme that we use regularly, it comes on quickly and we immediately know what to do.

Or to use another comparison, yoga practice tunes us into the right frequency for the day – it prepares us, and when done every day, it doesn’t take much time to get back to that place that we enjoy being through our yoga practice. Early morning practice helps shed sleepiness from the night before and waken us for the day ahead.

And why practice in the early morning? There are a few reasons for this advice: on an energetic level the early morning is a good time to practice. It is when everything is quiet – in yoga we speak of sattvic mood, which is one of the gunas. Sattvic is balanced energy, harmony, peacefulness and stillness – it corresponds with sunrise and sunset. It is where clarity is found – a good energy to have at the start of the day? Although with our long days in summer and short days in winter, we might not time it to sunrise and sunset, but near as we can is recommended.

And another reason is about being realistic and practical. There is more chance of practising in the early morning, before the rest of the day gets ahead of us; before the rest of the family or flatmates get up. Basically, it is best to practice before breakfast, before work or school, before the business of the day ahead takes over. Before other things take over and stop us from practising.

And for those with young kids, we might even find ourselves practising while the young ones play around us and under us – as I often find happens at my home! But at least I get some practice.

And this brings me to the other time of the day to practice – late afternoon, early evening (depending on summer or winter time!); ideally near sunset. Again this time is sattvic, so the mood is conducive to a practice that can remove stresses and strains of the day we have just had.

But the problem of planning to practice later in the day is that it can quite often not happen, as the day’s events take over and before we know it, there is no time left in the day to practice – and that’s why aiming to practice in early morning makes sense.

If we do happen to find time at other times of the day, and it’s possible then practice – as there is no time like the present. Though do not practice after a large meal – that would not be such a good idea; nor is it a good idea to practice while intoxicated. These are simply guidelines.

To keep a regular practice, plan your day. Set the alarm a few minutes earlier, roll out of bed a bit earlier…. you will feel better for it. The number of times I have lain in bed pushing myself, willing myself out of bed onto my yoga mat is so numerous, yet I always felt better afterwards and glad I kicked myself out of bed.

Try it for yourself.