Rob - Days 33-35: Patterns

I'm beginning to figure out where I tend to fall off the train. This week, and last, I missed practice on Thursday and Friday. See what I've come to realize that while an evening practice is possible, it's tough. I'm best served by making sure that I make it to Mysore in the morning.

Thursday is the toughie. I sign in the Mysore class at the studio and then head straight to work. By the time I come home I'm exhausted and have no strength or motivation to practice. I think I'm going to hold on to Thursday as my optional day of rest. I mean, it's not completely keeping with the original intent of this project. However the MAIN intent of the project was to observe the process of a consistent practice. With that being said I've observed that I really need that day both for the sake of my schedule and my body. But Friday is another matter. If I'm going to take Thursday as rest I'm going to need to be vigilant about making it to Friday Primary class.

So what does this all have to do with patterns? Well, I've realized that my challenges with those days (Friday specifically) have come from my complacency with my diet. Now many would argue that I'm healthy, and sadly by American standards I'm way healthier than the rest. I maintain a Vegan diet and try to avoid processed food, etc. However since this experiment began and my schedule's gotten booked I've really fallen back into some bad habits. This has created a drag on my system which makes it hard to wake up in the morning even when I go to bed early and thus miss morning practice.

Mainly I've stopped cooking and have relied on prepared foods. Now this isn't necessarily all bad but its expensive and greatly increases my chances of eating crap. Confession: I've been eating at Burger King (GASP!) more often than I would care to (which is not at all). They have a Veggie Burger and my roomies go there a lot so it's an easy choice. I've also been neglecting to eat enough fresh veggies mainly due to my not preparing my own food.

So what am I going to do? Well, the cooking is going to be a bit of a challenge but it's something I'm going to work towards fitting into my schedule. In terms of prepared foods I'm going to stick to the least processed, highest quality foods I can get. Probably mainly from TJ's and Whole Foods.

I'm also making a conscious effort to eat less. It's so easy when we follow a Vegan or other healthy diet to go out of control with portions. Now I'm not trying to lose weight. It would probably be really unhealthy for my weight to drop any lower. What I am going to work greatly on is eating smaller portions of healthier foods. I've really come to realize how much big portions of caloricaly dense foods slow me down. The past few days I've been monitoring portions and only eating till I'm full. I already feel much better.

I may expand on this as I progress but I think those two steps are a great place to start.

Now what does this have to do with my practice? Well, EVERYTHING! I have forgotten how instrumental the entire diet and outside life is to a successful practice. Sure, I've been doing my Asana and getting great results. But I know deep down that by implementing these bigger changes my other practices will be greatly assisted. I'll feel better and actually have the energy to practice every day (or almost every day at least).

Just to check in. Asana is going swimmingly. I'm progressing very steadily I would say. This is the first time I've ever been so consistent for so long and I can definitely tell. I won't go into too many details, I'll save for a later post.

Another project: renewing my Dharma Practice (It's also going great but I'll also save that for another blog entry)

Final Project: Get back to writing on here every day! I have so much to talk about and it really helps me check in and keep focus.

Stay tuned for the continued evolution of this process. And if you're one of my friends, either real life or online, please help keep an eye on me! One of the main reasons I started this blog was so that I would have public accountability. I love hearing from you guys and appreciate all your support!

Rob -Day 17: OOOPS! I did it again.

Okay, so maybe it's time to be a bit more realistic about this whole process.

Yesterday, as last Thursday I was busy from 5:30am-9pm. And of course this left me with little to no time to practice. Sure I could have busted out a few poses before I went to bed but that was really the last thing I wanted to do at that point. I really feel as part of this process that quality is as important as quantity. Frankly I don't don't feel like (as David Swenson would say) just "making an asana out of myself." Maybe I should make Thursdays an optional day of rest? My schedule's so busy those days that that may be a good option. Of course I'll make my best effort but sometimes it just might not be possible. At least I know that this is happening out of a literal lack of time and not any lack of discipline on my part. I guess that's all I can really hope for!

I'd love to hear if you guys have any thoughts or suggestions on the matter.

Namaste, Om Shanti, etc.!

Heather - Day Five

Again, I found myself resisting a yoga practice today. The combination of the working so much of late, heat and a more recent habit of laziness had a big pull on my inclinations today. I intended to get up and take Lynne Begier's 9:30am class, but nixed that to lounge around with my boyfriend in the a.m. before teaching restorative. I knew I would have time to just do a good Ashstanga practice after working the desk and before leaving to go home. But by the end of my shift I felt tired. I decided to go home. When I got home I fought my instinct to make dinner and curl up with my book and set myself up with a dharma talk by Ajahn Brahm and a good, hour long Yin practice. Again, as before, I felt more awake and energized. I apparently made the right choice of practice. Yay me!!!

I actually listened to a talk with the title: self-discipline. I thought it was appropriate since I was so mentally resistant to pursuing the discipline I had set up for myself. Ajahn Brahm talked about how one should use positive self-reinforcement. For example, if you get up in the morning when your alarm goes off, reward yourself with an extra bit of breakfast or a pat on the back or something. He encourages this rather than what most of us do which is bemoan and mentally punish ourselves for hitting that snooze a couple of times rather than just getting up and sitting or making breakfast or reading the paper, etc, etc... He you are going to train yourself into the habits you want by rewarding them rather than just falling into the negativity inducing mental states that steal your energy and make developing good habits even harder.

So, I am eating chocolate chip cookies. While the yoga itself is a great reward, I decided that I am going to positively reward my choice to carry out my commitment to this 365 day challenge.

WishinG you happiness, metta, and cookies of your very own from a little dot in the universe called Boston,
Heather