Later

I would like to share a situation I frequently encounter.

When I come across with one of my former students, whom I have not seen for a long time, he or she immediately started telling me, as the students often do when we meet, how much he or she wants to come to yoga classes, but why he or she cannot find time to do it.

Generally, I believe that this approach is not very realistic. Not knowing what to say, I find myself listening to my students without really wanting to. I experience this situation a lot.

Yesterday when I was on my way to give my yoga class, the same situation occurred. On the metro I ran into a former student who immediately told me how much she wants to do yoga but prefers to wait until the weather cools down, and that in the meantime, she started to run in the mornings. Suddenly I could not hold back and interrupted her: “This is not real. ‘When the heat subsides I will start with yoga’ is a game your mind plays with you. You may convince yourself, but for me it does not seem very real.”

My words surprised her and she became silent. She looked at me with a smile.

“Later” is a program, and for this reason postponing something, usually, is a game of ones mind. Whatever you postpone will always remain in the “later”. Something happens, and then something else needs to be done, and so on. This continuous to ad infinitum. For example, the weather cools down, but this time the workload increases. When the workload gets less you need to go somewhere. It is like a setup. The important thing here is where you set your priorities. If you give priority to your body, it actually clears up your whole life.

I remember the time when I started with yoga. I know, my mind used to play games with me in order to escape, because sometimes it would be hard for me to do yoga. Nevertheless, when I did my yoga practice I would feel very good. I cannot remember that I ever said, “I wish I hadn’t done yoga”. Heat or cold it always felt good. In particular during most difficult times it made feel much better.

Let me continue with the conversation with my student. I then said: “If you were truthful, you would really want to do it. Look, you can spare time for running because you really want to do it.”

She responded: “You are right.”

She also mentioned that she injured herself while running, but I will not go into that topic as it is a separate issue and worth writing about in another post. However, in a nutshell, what I want to say is that yoga or running should be done with awareness. In bringing awareness while performing reduces the risk of injury and at the same time makes it more enjoyable.

Let us get back to our topic. I realized that when students, who have not practised yoga for a while, see me they sometimes feel guilty. As I mentioned previously, I have lived this situation many times before. However, there is no need for that. You do not practise yoga for me or somebody else. You do it for yourself. Whenever you feel like it, you do it or you leave it. Take it easy. You do not need to give any explanation to anybody.

Anyway not everybody is obliged to do yoga. There are a lot of different ways and maybe other methods are more appropriate for you. Yoga helps me and that is why I enthusiastically like to share it. Yoga is a simple path and that is what I love about it.

If you plan things for “later”, do not deceive yourself. “Later” will never come and remain in the “later”. Yoga is not related to how you feel in a later moment, but how you feel in the now, the moment you are in. Look at how you feel this very instant.

See you next time…