Home Practice: Pick Yourself Up, Dust Yourself Off, and Start All Over Again

by Nina

People who know me are often impressed by my dedication to my home yoga practice. Although I take class once a week, most of my yoga practice consists of what I do on my own, in my own house. And in general I'm very steady and consistent about practicing. But, of course, I'm only human, and sometimes I fall off the wagon. 

The two main times I fall off the wagon is when I have house guests (I just cannot bring myself to sneak off and practice while friends or relatives are in my house) and when I'm traveling. Yes, I know, we're posting all kinds of information about yoga you can do anywhere and everywhere, at the airport, in your hotel room, blah, blah, blah, but here I am in Austin, Texas, at a bed and breakfast, helping a family member who is going through some hard times, and, you know what? I'm not practicing. My days are long, with a lot of walking, unpacking of boxes, shopping for necessities, etc., and practicing just doesn't feel possible. 

But years of experience with similar situations have taught me that when I return home and things get back to normal, I'll simply resume my practice, with no harm done. It's like that song from the Fred Astair and Ginger Roger movie "Swing Time," where Ginger teaches Fred to dance: "Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again." Years of experience with this have also taught me that it's easier dust yourself off and start all over again if you don't judge yourself and just accept it as a normal part of yoga for real life. If you're too hard on yourself, your more likely to think of yourself as a failure and give up entirely. And the more often you do pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again, the easier becomes. Maybe even as easy as it is for Ginger to teach Fred to dance!

Ginger tells Fred not to be discouraged:

 And, of course, Fred learns to dance really quickly: