“There is no try,” according to Master Yoda.
It happens. You get on a good streak for your healthy eating habits, exercise regime, doing your constructive hobbies. Maybe it’s weeks long. Maybe months. Maybe even years. You’re doing it!
And then something interrupts. A busy time. A sickness. A relationship with a new lover. The addition of a new family member. Then you stop taking care of yourself quite as well as you once did. You are no longer doing it. You certainly aren’t trying.
And you start to feel it.
Last year at this time I was in Yoga Teacher Training. During my training, I began a morning Sadhana, spiritual practice, that lasted three or four months. I would get up an hour before I needed to leave for work. I practiced asana for approximately 20 minutes, practiced meditation for 20 minutes, and wrote in my journal the last 20 minutes.
I put my willpower to good use, and I did it.
There were mornings I felt super sleepy. And sure I slept in on the weekends, but I still did the practice. Some mornings I would modify Sadhana if I went to a yoga class. But I made space for my body and spirituality.
I’d have to go back and look at my journals, but I think what ended my streak was a combination of illness and fatigue. I started investing more energy than I could afford in my job, and I got sick. Then getting well became the priority instead of getting up early. Even after I was well, sleep became a priority to fight the fatigue.
I never did get the momentum back.
But I did start teaching a weekly yoga class, which helped get me back on track. Planning that class, and even the act of showing up, being present for those different students, helped keep me plugged in.
I chose to stop teaching the class as attendance dwindled and I had a couple of weeks of no-shows. The week after I stopped teaching that class there were five students. Go figure.
My bike trip has helped me get some of my priorities straight again. I’ve been thinking a lot about what I need in my life to feel truly healthy. Nature comes to mind. Also, peace, meditation. The bike trip was a form of meditation, though of the rolling variety. Pedaling up those mountains, stopping when my legs got too tired, forced me to pay attention to only the road that was in front of me.
And now after many weeks of rest, I’m finally starting to reestablish those good habits. I practiced my first Sadhana in months today. I’m starting to develop a plan for how to carry it forward when work starts back up full time, especially since I’m planning on bike commuting for a portion of the way. This means I’ll have to get up even earlier.
Will I falter? From time to time. But I also know I can do it. I have 100 days to show me that. This time, I’ll aim for 101.