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Q:
How Often Should I practice yoga, and when is the best time to practice?
A.
My teacher's mantra is "More yoga!" I know that many of you
are so busy that more yoga is probably the last thing on your mind. We
all have so much to do and so much ahead of us that stopping, or
even slowing down, seems out of the picture. We chase after an
elusive to-do list that is growing longer all the time. Caught up in the
race, our attention focused ahead, we neglect to question whether
the race we are running, or the way we are running it, is worth the
cost of entry. Lilly Tomlin quipped that even if you win the rat
race, you are still a rat!
The first line of the
contemplation that I shared last week in class was (quoting from my
teacher Rama Berch’s book Yoga: Seeds of the Soul):
"Your job in
life is to find and know your essence of Greatness, and then to pour
it into your life..."
Yoga helps us remember
that we are much more than a frantic rat. Yoga reminds us of our real job
and highest priority. When we get caught up spinning on the treadmill,
forging ahead but disconnected with our essence, what are we pouring
into our lives? What are we accomplishing? More important,
what are we losing, and what do those we love lose as a result? How
can we truly love when we are in a spin?
So to answer the
original question, how often should we practice yoga, I suggest
practicing whenever possible.
I know what some of
you are thinking: "Oh sure! That is easier said than done!"
Honestly, I am
thinking that, too! I know how difficult it can be
to put aside the tasks at hand. I also appreciate that most of those
many things you are doing are much more important than what a rat does on
a treadmill. You have jobs, families, homes, and so forth to care for. These
are certainly important, and they do require time. There are only 24
hours in a day, and we have to sleep some!
But remember that when
you stop to practice yoga, you do not have to practice a full hour and a
half every time, as in a typical yoga class. Even a few minutes will do! A
few minutes of practice is better than nothing, and every time you
practice, you are enriched. This past week or so has been March Madness,
when the college basketball teams (men’s and women’s) vie for the
national championship. This sport, as with just about every other sport I
know of, has breaks built into it (after each quarter, for example). In
addition, time outs can be called: whenever a team’s play starts to
fall apart or the momentum is lost, the team can call time out to
regroup. The time out only consists of a few seconds, a minute or so at
most, but it can make the difference between victory and defeat.
In the same way, I
recommend that you plan for regular breaks in your day, and whenever you
start spinning out of control, call time out! Just do a few yoga postures, perhaps some Ujjayi breathing,
and you will get a handle on things again. Do not let the March Madness
get to you, nor any month’s madness!
As to when is the best
time to practice yoga, I can be more specific. In the morning, yoga is
especially beneficial because we tend to wake up stiff from the night of
sleep. Yoga in the morning helps us loosen up and get the blood moving so
that we feel better more quickly. Why wait?!
It also helps quiet the mind so that when we start engaging in the
day’s activities, we can more easily maintain calm, clarity, and
connection with our essence.
Before bed, yoga is
nice to help unwind from the day and to bring better quality sleep. The
yoga helps ensure that we do not carry "tension baggage" along
with us through the night. It releases physical and mental tension both.
(Mental tension can also go on in our dreams!) Instead of sleeping with
too much of our energy consumed by tension and waking exhausted, we sleep
in a way that is rejuvenating and restorative.
A daily practice is best, once or twice a day. I, for one, notice the
difference when I miss a day. My body will let me know: "Hey, Phil!
Did you forget something?!"
One more piece that I
want to share with you. Whenever I think that I have too much to do and
too little time to stop for yoga, I remind myself that yoga practice
actually saves me time in the long run. Firstly, I slow down inside. I
become much more focused and my actions more efficient. As a result, I
end up finishing more work in less time; that is, I end up with more
time! Secondly, the practice of yoga fills my fuel tank and slows down my
metabolism so that I need less sleep, which translates again into having
more time. Thirdly, my health improves, which means less time recovering
from illnesses!
In addition, the time
given to yoga is not time taken away from my responsibilities or my loved
ones. The time given to yoga is time to connect with that essence of my
being, from which I can pour more out into my life for others. Yoga
practiced in integrity never brings neglect or sacrifice of
responsibilities and family; it helps us fulfill our responsibilities
more lovingly.
At the end of a
Svaroopa yoga class, you are always asked to remember the best of your
practice so that you can bring it into your life. Yoga is not meant to be
confined to your mat; you are being encouraged to bring it home with you,
to your loved ones, to everything you do.
The contemplation
shared with my classes this past week, in addition to the line “Your
job in life is to find and know your essence of Greatness, and
then to pour it into your life,” also includes these words:
“Don’t ask your
life to make you great, but pour your greatness into every task, every
conversation, and every relationship --- for every other person is also
that same Greatness that you are.”
Following this
principle, we can then appreciate the meaning of the greeting “Namaste.”
When we are connected to our own essence of Greatness, we can then start
to appreciate and honor the Greatness of those we come in contact with.
Namaste!
Phil Milgrom
800 815-7374
http://www.philmilgrom.com
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