There are different motivating factors that keep me coming to the mat consistently. But no matter what drives me to the mat, staying on it involves discipline. And then to ramp up the practice and take on challenging poses takes another degree of desire. If you can easily do Triangle but have difficulty with Side Plank, why not just stick with Triangle? It takes a fiery discipline to move beyond easy and embrace challenge. I can clearly recall a day when I had a serious look at my practice and chose to receive and unwrap the gift of discipline.
Many years ago as part of my initial teacher training, I was observing a level one workshop for students new or newer to yoga. It was here that a student caught my attention and changed my practice forever.
He was an obvious beginner, in the back row, much older than me and not in the best of shape. His yoga that day was the yoga of determination and effort. He worked harder on poses than I had ever worked in my whole time practicing. Sweat poured from him and he struggled with each and every pose. He didn’t give up. He didn’t lesson his effort. He didn’t get angry, frustrated, self-defeated or embarrassed by his lack of skill. He just did the best he could do, steadily, one pose after another. I looked at him trembling in Triangle and thought, “Every pose that he is doing, I can easily do; some literally with my eyes closed. But do I try as hard as he does on poses that are challenging for me?” The answer was no, perhaps occasionally, but certainly not for 3 hours in a row which is what he did. After that workshop I told him how much he had inspired my practice. He was amazed that his self-proclaimed “flopping around on the mat”, could have inspired anyone. I assured him it had indeed. From then on I didn’t hold anything back. I challenged myself to find poses that held as much effort for me as Triangle had for him.
And so now what do I gain with that approach? I gain discipline; the honor of effort and something more. When you steep yourself in a pose, a pose becomes more than a mere acquaintance. It moves into long-held coveted best friend territory. Think about the differences between acquaintances and best friends. First off, you’ve spent waaaay more time with a best friend. You’ve been through the fire with them, spent time laughing and letting them in close. They change you, challenge you, inspire you and most importantly when you’re feeling down, they hold the image of you as a bright, powerful and creative being until you can once again realize those same things about yourself.
Challenging poses you spend time with are just like that. They bring you the mirror and shine the light into all amazing parts of yourself. They nurture you and they call you out on your stuff. (Remind me sometime to tell you about my fiery and difficult love affair with Pincha, last name Mayurasana…) Easy ones don’t take this trouble. They come and they go. Like acquaintances. They’re nice, but for the long haul, let me make more good friends. Let me continue to fuel the discipline required to make a go of the challenging poses. I desire a deeper relationship that lets me play at being my best self. This is the fun in discipline. You can’t get the good stuff without it.
Discipline allows you entrance into a place of exploration and experimentation. If you didn’t have the discipline to build up the capacity to hang out in a pose, you couldn’t go far afield or far ‘infield’ so to speak. If you are worried about being able to physically support a pose, your band-width is taken up with just staying in the pose. Build up enough capacity and your view changes. Now you have the wherewithal to simply explore and possibly shift your breath for example. You might play with inhaling and moving, exhaling and moving the opposite way. And then change it up. For example instead of exhaling and extending out that top arm in Triangle, you might inhale and extend; grow the pose more energetically from within. You might get so involved with this shifting and playing that the entire shape of the pose morphs. This is how Triangle might become Side Plank for example with just a switch of a hand and the stack of the feet… Play time. That’s what discipline gives you; more and more opportunity to play. Told you discipline was fun!
Always after an intense practice I realize that I am simply appreciative of my body for having given me the experience of the practice. I don’t always get a pose and that’s not even the point. I am enjoying the journey, gathering bits of intelligence and capacity for the next time. There really is no failure in a yoga practice. There is only try, learn and try some more. There’s only the joy of being in a relationship with a pose and ultimately in a relationship with yourself.
I hope that guy in the workshop knows how much he’s influenced me. The gift he gave me of sheer willpower and discipline has been priceless. They have taken me deeply into an abundance of capacity and joy. Next time you are considering bailing out of a pose early, skipping the ‘hard stuff’ or just not getting to your mat, think of what you are missing. You are missing out on the fun of being you and meeting some really good ‘friends.’
