Considering giving up practice in 99% Practice Forum

RSS
Email

0 Points

Considering giving up practice

Author	Comment
dalikiefer	Considering giving up practice	Lead	[-]
Posts: 74 (01/27/10 09:37:43) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Tags : None Remove this ad Is anyone here considering giving up their practice after many years of dedication? Or has anyone given up their practice for a period, only then to return?
liashtangini		#1	[-]
Posts: 1 (01/27/10 09:44:02) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I have given up practice for a few months at a time, for various reasons usually relating to my life getting in the way of my yoga. I always end up missing it and figuring out a way to carve out some time.
aejeus		#2	[-]
Posts: 5 (01/28/10 16:27:54) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I've been practicing on and off for about 5 years now. I have stopped for months here and there. Currently I am practicing. As far as giving it up, like as in, "This isn't my kind of thing.", no. There are times where I should ease up; slow down or take a break. And other times when I should stop procrastinating and have more devotion. I wonder what brought up the question you posted, dalikiefer.
Floss		#3	[-]
Posts: 22 (01/30/10 22:12:14) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I gave up for 6 months 2 years ago. I just needed to question why I am practising. I am currently practising.
southernyogi		#4	[-]
Posts: 2 (02/01/10 14:01:48) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I am practicing but not as dedicated as I once was. I am in a teacher training that is kind of all over the place with styles. There approach is non-dogmatic. I have been trying other styles during my training. I am always curious if this is the right practice for me. But that could just be the procrastinator in my head...
dalikiefer		#5	[-]
Posts: 75 (02/03/10 07:06:14) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I'm just not sure that I actually believe in this discipline any more - so many aspects of it seem disempowering and unhealthy. No-one else feel like this?
YogaVane		#6	[-]
Posts: 1011 (02/03/10 12:30:03) Lady Governess Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I went through a couple of phases last year of thinking that it was too hard, and I was hurt, and it just seemed like so much effort. And I longed for "a normal life". But at the end of the day, I just love this practice and I've never, in fact, felt disempowered by it but completely the opposite. In fact, a couple of weeks ago I turned a page in my head (during practice) in a way that I feel will have positive consequences in my life. But I don't want to go all Pollyanna on you - want to talk about the aspects you perceive as negative? Could it just be a function of your circumstances, rather than the practice?
dalikiefer		#7	[-]
Posts: 76 (02/05/10 07:02:58) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I guess I just no longer have an emotional connection or understanding of the practice itself.
Lavazza64		#8	[-]
Posts: 243 (02/05/10 13:42:22) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Everything is practice, but sometimes practice is sloppy. ;-)
dalikiefer		#9	[-]
Posts: 77 (02/06/10 07:00:24) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	What does that actually mean though?
YogaVane		#10	[-]
Posts: 1013 (02/06/10 14:35:48) Lady Governess Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Remove this ad I don't get it either, but anyway: I'd say if it's not working for you anymore, then stop doing it. Why put yourself through something that, frankly, is fairly hard work if it's not working.
dalikiefer		#11	[-]
Posts: 78 (02/07/10 07:48:00) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I'll maybe reduce the number of days I practice to three times a week and see how I feel. Hope everything is okay with you YogaVane - thanks.
YogaVane		#12	[-]
Posts: 1014 (02/07/10 09:35:23) Lady Governess Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I'm doing well, thanks. Goa with Nancy G was fantastic.
Lavazza64		#13	[-]
Posts: 244 (02/07/10 14:32:47) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Yeah, maybe it is dualistic of me saying that practice is sometimes sloppy. ;-) "If the true teacher is the present moment, everything is practice." Michael Stone Last Edited By: Lavazza64 02/07/10 14:46:24. Edited 1 times.
dalikiefer		#14	[-]
Posts: 79 (02/08/10 07:07:18) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	And therein lies my dilemma - if everything, including this very moment is practice, why become so dedicated to the one discipline that results in a very restricted life that excludes other possibilities?
Lavazza64		#15	[-]
Posts: 245 (02/08/10 13:04:29) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	As I see it a dedicated practice of asanas, pranayama, meditation, chanting and so on is the starting point and/or the guiding line of the larger practice in the everyday life. If that dedicated practice does not seep into your everyday life more and more something is not working out the way it should and it would be a good idea to talk to your teacher about your practice and/or your attitude to your practice.
tat tvam amasi		#16	[-]
Posts: 2236 (02/10/10 09:42:12) Forearm Modulator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	More people have stopped practise than have maintained it. Many more. So I'm more curious about the motivations of the tiny minority who carry on. doug
Lavazza64		#17	[-]
Posts: 246 (02/11/10 06:32:19) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I guees the most common answer is that they are building on intense practice in earlier lifes: Two kinds of aspirants: Two kinds of aspirants are described in sutras 1.19 and 1.20, both of whom can attain the goals of Yoga: 1) Advanced: The first is those who have made tremendous advancement in previous lives and find samadhi easy to attain (1.19). 2) Others: Most people are of the second type, which means following five types of effort and commitment (1.20). http://www.swamij.com/yoga-sutras-11922.htm
tat tvam amasi		#18	[-]
Posts: 2237 (02/11/10 07:25:17) Forearm Modulator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Let's just assume for a second that re-incarnation is in fact unproven mumbo-jumbo (call me crazy, I know !!!) and that this one life is all we have. So what's the motivation? doug
dalikiefer		#19	[-]
Posts: 80 (02/11/10 07:48:30) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Devotion maybe?
jeru1ie		#20	[-]
Posts: 46 (02/12/10 06:10:43) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Remove this ad i've been thinking about doug's question and funnily enough two of dalikiefers answers gave me my answer. Possibilities: for me there are no more possibilities. I have arrived at my final possibility, if that makes sense. I have dabbled in a lot of activities/sports over the years and i got a great 'buzz' from them, but after a few years at one thing i moved on needing a change and looking for another possibility. When i found ashtanga yoga i guess that searching stopped and i found something that really gave me so much and made sense to me. Devotion: This really struck a cord with me as it was a word my girlfriend used to describe me recently. We broke up a few years ago and recently got back together. My practice played a large part in the break-up. Tearing a meniscus and being seat bound for more or less a year due to ashtanga, played a part. We talked recently about my practice and her attitude towards it. She said she realised this is my devotion, just like a priest is devoted to religion. I thought, yip spot on! So it hasn't been easy really, it has been a rocky road for me and ashtanga, it has affected my life sooo much, changed it immensley for the better i think. My teacher asked me once, how/why i kept up the practice after all the crap, i didn't have a good answer for him at the time, i thought about it a lot after he asked me and realised i have Faith in the system. Faith.

<< Previous Topic Next Topic >>

Yuku free message boards

Considering giving up practice

Considering giving up practice