Habit On-Ramping...

Are you in a Yoga slump right now?

Or even just in a general slump the last while?

Can't quite summon the motivation to go for a run?

Or the willpower to roll out your mat?

Or the determination to get on your bike?

Or simply go for a walk?

You're not alone Yogis.

Nearly everyone succumbs to those kind of doldrums at some point in time.

It happens for a whole variety of very human understandable reasons - health, work, family, finances, along with all kinds of other small & big competing interests, commitments & obligations.

It sure happened during, & even for a good while after, Covid-19 & even now, many people are still not back into the swing of their usual, chosen fun, social & wellbeing activities & healthy habits.

So ok, falling off the proverbial 'horse' of our wellbeing, fitness & healthy lifestyle habits happens - but then what?

Well then, like some mirage appearing on the horizon in an Arabian Nights tale, it can seem like it's never quite within our reach to get back to 'it'. Even when the initial cause or issue has disappeared or resolved itself.

We tell ourselves...

Oh I'll for sure go to Zumba class when I feel more like it.

I'll definitely get out for a hike when the weather turns better.

I'll be better off waiting to go to Yoga again til I have more energy.

I'll for sure want to head off on the bike or go run in the New Year.

It's as if there's some FUTURE US 2.0 who is somehow going to be magically different than CURRENT US 1.0.

Well, sadly no!

There is just us, in the here, in the now - choosing to do the thing or not do the thing.

Remember that avoiding a decision or procrastinating about it is still actually a decision.

When it comes to our wellbeing, a whole lot of choosing nothing (as in, not moving, not exercising, not getting fresh air, not getting the blood flowing) can sadly & unwittingly turn into a whole lot of something & that something will not be so good - weaker muscles, stiffer joints, ill-health, energy depletion, mental lethargy, unease in ourselves & our bodies & a whole lot more besides.

So we know we 'should do something about it' but how, HOW do we get over the hump?

How do we bust out of our slump?

Giving out to ourselves isn't kind & it also doesn't work.

Waiting for magical levels of motivation to arrive mysteriously also won't help.

Relying on willpower alone is a hiding to nowhere.

What can help is making it real, making it small, making it quite tangibly something that we can actually do.

So instead of saying "In December, I am going to run every morning/practice Yoga every night/walk to work every day" we can instead say

"Today I am going to roll out my Yoga mat & practice for 5 minutes" or

"Today I am going to walk the 10 minutes to my favourite cafe & sit in for an espresso before walking back home" or

"Today I am going to cycle to work & just see how it goes".

The difference is the first statement is based on FUTURE US & also on what are very likely unrealistic goals. This is like trying to join the motorway out of nowhere at 120km an hour!

Whereas the second examples are based on CURRENT US & based on what we can likely do, today, in the here & now, & based on how we are. And this is like taking the 'on-ramp' to wherever we want & need to go, nice & easy & slow & safely so we don't feel 'whoa, too far, too fast, what the heckedy-heck' 😮.

One last point Yogis - per our Yogi pal Yoda below, please don't tell yourself you'll TRY.

It is actually a not-so-kind way of setting yourself up for failure, of reneging on yourself in advance. It is from the GET-GO giving yourself an 'OUT'. "Well, I only said I'd try...."

Just go do the thing. Make it today.

And the 'it' needs to be small, doable & something you (relatively!) enjoy too.

No time for any 'hair-shirts' here at EveryDay Yoga Ireland I can tell you!

Maybe grab a pal, your partner, your child & do it together.

Mind yourselves Yogis.

Om Shanti

Yoga Lili 🙏🏽