Is your yoga practice helping you lead a better life?
Your daily yoga practice time can be an opportunity to work with yourself addressing your own needs. It is very easy to harm yourself while you try to copy what everyone else is doing without knowing where you stand and why you do what you do. You can easily feel frustrated about not able to perform certain postures. It is always good to have an intention set for the practice and work towards the goal. The goal can be as simple as “increasing mobility in the hip joints” or “relaxing the nerves”. Unless you have a goal, you keep moving from one asana to other and get lost in whatever you feel like doing without any fulfilment. The practice is not about the number of postures you do. It is about paying attention to what is going on in the body by being aware of subtle aspects of the practice and working with your own imbalances. More than sweating, improved awareness is the indication of a good yoga practice. What is the use of practicing if you have tight hips and pushing yourself in Baddha Konasana forward bend without knowing how to work around the tight hips with other postures and get to the same posture easily?
There is no need to get too ambitious. As far as yoga practice is concerned, few postures need dynamic movements, few others need long stay in the asana to bring life into the posture. At the end of the class, it is about feeling better at physical, energetic, mental, and emotional levels.
Each one is different in the way we feel about ourselves, other people, and our environment. The journey need not be a struggle. You meet yourself only where you are at, not where others are. It is your Sadhana. You are in your own journey. Know where you are. Set an intention. Beyond your practice time, you have other commitments. Let the practice help you feel fulfilled and carry out your other responsibilities well. Let your practice nourish your soul.