Building a Regular Yoga Practice
By Dada Vedaprajinananda
People come
to yoga looking for various things: peace of mind, stress reduction,
improved concentration and weight loss. Yoga
can help you to accomplish all of this, but "yoga works,
if you work!" You have to do the practices on a regular
basis in order to get the results.
If you have bought some books on yoga and meditation, don't
let them gather dust while you sit around thinking that maybe
one day you are going to practice.
Yoga postures and basic meditation exercises are simple enough
to learn. In fact, I teach them to children and they pick them
up quite easily. So I am sure that you can learn what to do fairly
easily and quickly. The big problem for most people is to establish
the habit of doing the practices on a regular basis. Here are
a few tips which may help you to do your yoga and meditation
on a daily basis.
Get in the habit
Start with firm determination. Yoga begins and ends in the mind.
Make a determination that you are going to give yoga a fair
try and you are going to practice, because it is important
to you. Close your eyes and think, "For the next three
months, I am going to do it every day." Over the course
of time, whenever you start thinking, "Oh today I don't
want to do my yoga exercises," remember your initial determination
and stick to it.
Do
it together with some friends. Learning how to give and share
is an important part of yoga, so don't keep yoga to your self.
If possible, find one or two friends who would benefit from
practicing yoga, and do it together with them. The good thing
about practicing with others is that if a day comes when you
are not motivated to do the practice, the enthusiasm of your
friends will
carry you along and you will do the practice with them.
Make
a regular schedule and stick to it. Yoga is not like tennis
or some recreational sport that you do if the sun is shining
and you feel like doing it. To get the true benefits from yoga,
you have to do it every day. So free some space in your busy
schedule and reserve this time for your practice of yoga and
meditation.
If you get
up a bit earlier in the morning, you will have a
nice quiet time to do your yoga before the rest of your neighbors
wake up. In the evening, do your best to keep some time free
for yoga before your evening meal. Once you have set your schedule,
stick to it as best you can.
Do
your practices with a free mind. It is not enough to reserve
time for yoga with your body doing the exercises if your mind
continues to worry about other things. When you stop to do your
yoga and meditation, you should remember that the next 30 or
40 minutes has been reserved for yoga and for your development.
Don't jump up to answer the phone or respond to every minor disturbance.
This period of time is for you.
If you begin
to think about all your other responsibilities and problems,
gently drop these thoughts and imagine that your
problems are tucked away along with your shoes at the corner
of the room — or better yet, in another room. (You shouldn't
be practicing yoga with your shoes on!)
Be
patient. Sometimes you will feel the effects of yoga, and
sometimes you will not feel anything. Don't worry about the immediate
effects; continue to practice. It takes a while before the most
profound results of yoga are realized.
It took you many years to build up your present personality
and physical structure. You can't change it overnight. But the
good news is that you don't have to wait many years to change
yourself, because the regular and systematic practice of yoga
postures and basic meditation can help you to make great changes
in a period of six months to one year.
So hang in
there, start practicing, continue practicing — and
slowly but surely, yoga will help you to realize your most important
goals.
© Dada
Vedaprajinananda
Dada
Vedaprajinananda has been practicing and teaching yoga and meditation
for the past 35 years. He is the founder and associate editor of
New Renaissance Magazine http://www.ru.org and is the author of Yoga
Weight Loss Secrets, an e-book guide to yoga-based weight
reduction http://www.YogaWeightLossSecrets.com.
