Well, it's Day 24 of yoga, and I have to say, the last few days I've been hanging onto my yoga wagon by a thread.

I've been examining this, and there's a few contributing factors that I'm hoping to learn from, and by extension, possibly help others to think through. So here's my Top Three Reasons Why My Yoga Practice Sucks At The Moment. 

1. Lack of focus.

The last week or so has seen the start of classes, which means that most of my waking energy is spent reading and writing and putting together presentations for my classes (I'm a TA, and my professor is giving me about a half hour each class to do a multimedia presentation on whatever our topic is for that week. It's a graduate-level class, so you can imagine the work involved. If you can't, then imagine working all week on research and then the night before class staying up till 3 a.m. to finish the dang thing).

Yoga requires focus. It just does. So many stories I read about people who decide to start yoga by doing a home video, and then feel like they've gotten nothing out of it, make me think about the fact that yoga classes are a better idea for beginners, because the teacher helps you focus, and helps you modify things to suit your body.

But focus is required not just to get the most out of the asanas, but also to stay with your practice. I sometimes suffer from lack of focus - the kind where when I make up my mind to do something, my brain suddenly comes up with ALL THIS OTHER STUFF I could be doing, all important and necessary, but also distracting. So staying focused on the task at hand - that is, yoga - is tough until I actually get onto the mat, when everything just falls into place.

I'm not great at getting to yoga classes, but I know enough to be able to do practice at home. And the last few days it has been a very short practice or hardly anything at all. I didn't do yoga yesterday because I had no time, and my body is complaining about it today. Stiff, sore, generally out of whack. But when I went to roll out my yoga mat, I ended up not doing it, because of...

2. Clutter

Yoga requires space to move. If your floor is cluttered, if there's not enough space, you won't be able to do yoga. The thing is, if you're like me, then any excuse is a good one. Meaning, the slightest reason NOT to do yoga will often be the one that keeps me from doing it. Lately I've had too much to do to be able to clean up the living room floor where I do my yoga practice. It's cluttered with books and papers from all the work my husband and I have been doing. So this is something to address. A clean living room will be good for me, my husband, and my yoga practice. It will help with clearing out excuses, so that I can more easily respond to...

3. Motivation

The first two weeks are always the easiest. After that, confidence and motivation begin to falter.  Excuses like lack of time/energy and too much clutter are easier to fall prey to, because motivation isn't as strong as it was.

What I have to do is remind myself of why I was doing yoga in the first place - to take care of my body and improve fitness and circulation. The blog here has been to help keep me motivated, and I notice I don't update it as much when my practice slips.

So here I am, saying, okay, I need to get back on track before I fall too far away. I need half hour yoga routines, and should do a one-hour class once a week. And at some point I also need to start taking advantage of my local gym more often, perhaps alternate swimming and elliptical machines to get my cardiovascular fitness improved. But I don't want to get ahead of myself.  

I'd love to hear some of your motivational strategies, or even just some words of encouragement. If my yoga blogging has been helpful or inspiring to you, give a little shout-out and tell me how it has encouraged or inspired you. It helps with my own motivation.

And now, I'm going to go tidy up the living room just enough to do a gentle yoga practice. I encourage and challenge you to get up and stretch and do something active right now!