Overcoming my resistances to yoga

I don’t have time.

I’m not one of those yoga people.

I can’t meditate.

I stretch (for 5 minutes after a workout!)

I don’t know the poses.

Every heard yourself say any of these? Yes? Well you are not alone as these used to be my go to excuses for not doing yoga. I think number 2 was my favourite excuse! Oh how things have changed.

I always saw Yoga as just another form of exercise, so why did I need to have a consistent practice when I was regularly in the gym or out cycling. This exact opinion lead me to having such an unbalanced relationship with my practice. To be honest I wouldn’t really give it enough credit to call it a practice, more like a rocky relationship that was fresh out of a soap opera!

So what changed, how did I overcome all these resistances and actually create a practice I commit to but also that I feel huge benefits from. Honestly, I stopped overthinking it.

I am a classic over-thinker (yes I’m a pisces), so I can tell you it wasn’t easy at first. I wanted to have a ‘plan’ for what I was going to do on the mat, have a challenging posture to achieve and time slot. But that brought failure.

So instead I took some time to really think about WHY I wanted to practice yoga. I could quote all the text book benefits of practising but that didn’t really mean anything so instead I started to review my emotional state before and after my practice. The positive change it brought was a big enough WHY. I also noted that this change took places regardless of how long I was on my mat. So no more saying ‘I didn’t have time’ because 5 minutes was all it took.

Needing a plan turned into - just move - and that brought this real sense of connection with my body and mind. Honestly, sometimes all I feel like I do is lie on my mat for 10 minutes but this still has huge benefits.

So what excuses are you using? What resistances are standing in the way of you and your yoga mat?