"Do your practice and all is coming" Sri K Patthabi Jois
To learn any new skill or get better at anything you need to practice, practice, practice. There isn’t much debate about that not even in yoga.But here’s what you might not know: that the quality of your practice is just as important as the quantity.
This concept is known as deliberate practice, and it’s incredibly powerful.
Deliberate means ;done consciously ,with purpose and intention.
A deliberate yoga practice requires that you stay focused on what you are doing with an unwavering concentration. Not allowing your mind to drift away from the practice to what you did before class or what you have to do after class.To immerse yourself so fully that you're momentarily not thinking about anything else.
If you want to start working with an intention and purpose in your practice then you first want to take a look at what it is that you are hoping your practice will help you achieve. Why are you doing yoga;what brought you to class; why are you on your mat; is it to find more balance and peace; encourage more health and wellness; build more strength and flexibility in your body; learn to focus your mind; find a deeper sense of meaning and purpose; cultivate more love, compassion and kindness in your life, or maybe it’s something else?
There will be times that yoga class will not be fun that you will have to push your mind or body to its limits, there will be for sure moments that you will feel like quitting. The key to that is to challenge yourself even more and thus develop further and further .
This sounds like a lot of work. So why would you ever want to do all of this deliberate practice stuff?
The rewards of adopting a deliberate yoga practice are many.
- Your mind will become calmer.
- You will be able to focus on a task for longer and with more intensity.
- You will be able to handle stress a lot better.
- Your body will be more strong and flexible.
- You will feel healthier.
Yoga is not a work-out, it is a work-in. And this is the point of spiritual practice; to make us teachable; to open up our hearts and focus our awareness so that we can know what we already know and be who we already are.
Rolf Gates
