Practice

Reading from Tuesday, July 28, 2015 yoga class

My friend, Becky, sent me an article written by Judith Hanson Lasater, my teacher of restorative yoga.  In the article she talks about practice and nonattachment.  The sanskrit word for practice is Abhyasa.  Here's what she says:

"Abhyasa is usually translated as "practice," but some have translated it as "determined effort," or what I am choosing to call "discipline."  Unfortunately, there are few words as off-putting to most of us as "discipline."  It brings back memories of being told to sit on that piano stool for 30 minutes and practice no matter what.  Or in our minds we may have connected discipline with punishment.  To me, discipline is not something that I force upon myself.  It is something that I cultivate and which arises in me as a result of two things: my clarity of intention and my commitment.

To have clarity of intention requires that I take the time to examine and understand what my yoga practice is all about. Is it about stretching my hamstrings or about transforming my life?  Do I use my practice to have a healthier and more attractive body, or to develop the awareness necessary so that my thoughts no longer run my life?  Maybe I want both.  What we want through our yoga practice changes over time.

And so I practice without knowing how it will all turn out.  Commitment to practicing means I practice if it is easy for me, and I practice if it is hard for me.  If I am bored, I practice; if I am enthusiastic, I practice; if I am at home, I practice; if I am on vacation, I practice.  This consistency and determination IS abhyasa.  In the beginning, this sustained exertion may be an act of will, an act of ego.  But as we continue, the practice itself creates a momentum that propels us through the difficult moments of fear and boredom."