The challenge continues... Here are the two things that I have learned after having practiced ashtanga yoga for a month:

It takes patience

If you’re one of those people who can get irritated easily when things don’t work out the way you think they should, then ashtanga can be a great opportunity to practice how to be more patient (with yourself).

When I first joined the classes, I thought it would be the perfection of asanas, more than anything, that I would need to learn to be patient with. But the truth is, even just learning the primary series sequence by heart takes patience.

And so it happens that after one month of not even getting through all the seating asanas (yet alone all the inversions), I would sometimes still mix up the order in which one moves from one pose to the next.

But you know what? It’s okay. It just takes, well, patience.

It takes discipline

Discipline is a big one for me, since being more disciplined about my regular yoga practice was one of the reasons why I’ve decided to join Mysore in the first place.

I’ve always been an early bird, therefore, waking up early in the mornings was never a big issue for me. But getting up at 5:30 am every second day to bike to the studio in the pitch darkness while it’s cold and pouring rain outside? A completely different story.

Somehow, I did manage to show up at the shala 3 times per week during my first month of practice, which I count as a tiny first step to become more self-disciplined. (Note that according to the traditional practice, one should practice ashtanga first thing in the morning, 6 times per week! It takes about 90 minutes on average to complete the primary series, or more if you’re doing the advanced series. So still a long way there.)

It was not always easy, but the feeling when I did show up at the studio and begin my practice was so much worth it. Not to mention the feeling you get when you finally lay down in shavasana, the final pose. Precious.

Kindly,

Neva.