Bad yogi in Thailand

Laziness is a darn thing.  Laziness causes to make excuses.  Laziness makes you procrastinate.  Laziness makes you fat and unfit.  Laziness is I.

I've been so damn lazy since the start of my travels in July that I've hardly been yoga-ing in the past few months.  "I don't have a mat", "I don't have time", "I'm meeting someone later and there's not enough time for a practice and shower", "I'm tired", BLAH BLAH BLAH.  We all know those are excuses yet we make them all the time to postpone doing the things we know we love to do.  Ironic, I know.  So when I'm here on a beach (current location Koh Samui, Thailand) with so much time, some excess body fat, and my brand new travel-friendly yoga mat, there can be no more excuses to be made.  It is time to break in that new mat.

After an action packed 2 weeks in Beijing along with many days and nights of gourmet food indulgence, it was so good to get back on the mat.  The flow of the body in sun salutes, tuning your mind to the rhythm of your breath, feeling your long forgotten muscles, remembering those old injuries and how to push enough for some progress but not too far as to cause damage once again... OMW WHY do I keep making excuses not to get on the mat?  What a bad yogi I am.  

That said, I know many people who have similar problems to me, breaking in a new habit, or fitting in an old habit in a new routine, or in my case, the lack of a routine.  I find it so much easier to get on my mat when I'm in a calm and peaceful place like this, because my body is channelled to a different type of energy as the city.  However, isn't that the point of yoga as well, to find peace and serenity amongst our chaotic lifestyles.  So what can we do to break in a habit when we are so used to making excuses for just about everything?  How about this:

1. Start with a shorter practice.  Maybe 45min instead of an hour.  Maybe even half an hour.  Even 20 minutes is better than nothing, building up to a longer practice.
2. Yoga-on-the-go.  This is something I've been doing for a while now - observe your breath throughout the day.  It can be while you're on the subway, at work, having a massage, eating lunch, on a dive, whatever!  Just observe.  Take in deeper, longer breaths.  Focus on your excuse.
3. Let's not forget that yoga is not just about asanas.  It's also a way of life.  Acceptance, forgiveness, patience, love.  Those are things we can practise everyday, including forgiving ourselves for making excuses for not getting on the mat!

Posted via email from Karen In Wonderland