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Why Your Yoga Practice is Falling Apart

Nov 29, 2021

There are four major reasons why you feel like your yoga practice isn’t what it once was and each one of them is completely fixable. Let’s dive in and take a look:

#1. You know so much more about great alignment and proper technique than when you first started.

So, this is the number one reason people actually give up on yoga. When you are a beginner to yoga you are grateful to make it through the class. And, it’s all about making shapes. Making shapes = success = good at yoga.

And, then you begin to see the postures in detail. If you are working with a knowledgeable instructor they are going to ask more out of you over time than just making shapes. This is when postures you thought you completely figured out become a challenge once again. 

This is normal. This is not a sign that yoga is not for you. It is the exact opposite. Rise to the challenge of noticing, working for more, and diving into what it is to be a yoga practitioner… a life-long learner.

No one, not even the best instructors out there, or the bendiest person on the interwebs, knows it all. So, embrace the adventure that there will always be more to learn.

#2. You are right on the brink of a breakthrough.

This is so darn true I should put it on a t-shirt. Your practice is going to feel like it is completely falling apart right before you hit the big breakthrough you’ve been working toward.

The key is to keep going. As long as, you are for the most part feeling good in your body and not injured from the practice, just know that the breakthrough is coming.

This is not the time curtail your practice, quit your practice, or decide that you’re going to take up running again. Keep going. It’s going to get so much better if you just get to the other side of it. 

#3. Your technique is off and you walk away from your mat feeling more injured than healed.

This is actually the definition of what it feels like to have your practice fall apart. If you are fine away from your practice, feeling good in your body and life, and then after your practice your back hurts, shoulder bothers you, knee throbs, etc. you need to talk to your instructor.

 And, if they don’t have the answer, are not willing to work with you to figure it out, and cannot offer you some modifications to postures that might agitate the issue, go talk to another instructor.

#4. You think of yourself as someone that practices yoga, but you haven’t stepped on your mat for six plus months.

This happens. And, I’m here to tell you, it’s okay. Sometimes life gets in the way and our practice becomes non-existent. It could be due to family, health reasons, career changes… the list is endless. But, if it’s important to you, you’ll get back to it.

What you most need to remember though, is you’re going to need to ease back into it. Do not expect to be able to get into every posture the way you once did. Take your time reacquainting yourself with your yoga practice and enjoy your new beginning.

 

Listen, no matter which of these you relate to the most, I’ve been through all of them. Yup, even the six-month break one. So, know that the key to a yoga practice is to begin again and again… and again. Be open to every part of your yoga adventure. It’s just another chapter on the way to learning more about and fully becoming, You.

 xo,

Tori


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