There is a lot of controversy in the yoga world about practice. How much should you practice? Daily? If so, for how long? How much is too much? These are all good questions that I will get to after I take a trip down memory lane.
My first yoga class was in a community center in Illinois during my senior year in High School. My memory of the experience is rather foggy but I think it was a Hatha class. During college I took more classes in a variety of styles at different studios around Madison. It was during this time that I began a home practice. I did not have a mentor or a teacher or anyone telling me this was a good thing to do, it just made sense. It wasn't so much that I was a broke college student, having the support of my parents and year round job, it was more that my schedule didn't always line up with classes.
You may not know it, but I am something of an introvert. My husband likes to call me the most extroverted introvert that he knows (he definitely being TRULY an introvert!!!). But it is true! I have always been shy and sensitive. I have never felt comfortable with big groups of people I don't know. So, when I had the choice to just practice at home by myself or enter a studio, often I chose to be at home. Some people really struggle with creating and maintaining a home practice. I cannot say I relate to this. It usually takes less than a week away from my home practice when I start to see my life deteriorate in quality all around me. I have a shorter fuse. I am not as productive. I commit prajnaparadha (crimes against wisdom) you know, bad choices, choices that will not make me feel happy and healthy in the short or long term. This is when you willfully ignore your own inner wisdom or that little voice in your head.
So how often should you practice? My advice is that you practice every day! While listening to an interview with Dr. Baxter Bell on Yoga for Healthy Ageing, I heard an interesting quote from Judith Lasater on practice. When asked how often you should practice, she responded, "Only on the days that you want to feel good." I agree! This does not mean you need to practice 2 hours every day. Or if you miss a few days you should beat yourself up over it. But, making a commitment to practice and sticking with it will have what is called the 'glacier effect'. The weight of the practice, like a glacier, reaches a critical mass and it slips. The practice and way of life takes hold of you and will just move you along (Sutra IV.26). You'll feel so good from your practice that you will keep doing it, you will want to do your practice because you will see the benefits.
How much should you practice? For me, it was helpful to set a minimum daily requirement (MDR). It is not much either! My MDR is ten minutes of asana, five minutes of pranayama and ten minutes of meditation. That's 25 minutes. Also, if I am feeling very tired those ten minutes of asana might just be restorative yoga with a bolster, blanket and eye pillow, savasana anyone??? This leads me to my next point; daily practice should make you feel better, not worse. So if you are tired, let your asana practice be mellow, if you have some steam to work off or need to do some strengthening work, pump up the volume (dance, dance) on your practice and get moving! Your MDR may be more or less or include different things. If you don't have a pranayama or meditation practice, no worries (although I would highly recommend them!). To sum it up, daily sadhana is worth it! Just do it!
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