Why being consistent is overrated

Hi Yogis

Have you ever started a new habit and gone really strong for 2 weeks only to fall off the wagon and have to start from scratch?

I have done this many times! And it hasn’t seemed to matter what I was trying to do – a new exercise plan, dietary change, work habit… It used to frustrate the hell out of me. I got so angry with myself and couldn’t understand why I was so inconsistent.

Then I started learning about cycles. When you think about it, nature is cyclical. Seasons, life cycles, day and night, even cycles of breath. What I thought was inconsistency because each day wasn’t the same was actually consistency within a cycle.

The whole concept of being the same all the time as desirable is relatively new. It was only with the industrial revolution that it was even possible to have the expectation that humans would be consistent all the time, with things like electric lights and standard work hours.

So getting back to hormonal cycles, did you know that the hormone levels in women’s brains can vary by up 25% depending on where they are in their cycle? This is huge! Men have a cycle too, each 24-hours. In my Life Artistry courses and mentoring I teach a lot about this and how to leverage it for work and life. It’s super cool and life changing and I could talk about it all day!

However, in the interests of keeping this concise, I’m going to just encourage you to let yourself flow with life a little bit more and start noticing your own patterns. Rather than getting annoyed when you aren’t equally productive or energetic all the time, start paying attention to your cycles. It’s easiest to start with your daily patterns:

Is there a time in the day when you feel naturally more focused?

When you have more physical energy?

When you feel most extroverted and dynamic?

It can be really powerful to start to notice and then plan to do the activities that come most easily at that time as much as you can. The more you can do this, the more you’ll find you can achieve more with less effort and enjoy what you’re doing more. It’s about leveraging our nature rather than battling it.

Let me know how you go!

Lots of love

Ruth

The Purpose of Yoga

Have you ever had the experience where someone tells you not think about elephants, and immediately all you can think about is elephants?

This week I wanted to write about integration. Integration is the purpose of yoga. It’s like a process of weaving all the parts of ourselves back together. You might have heard me, or another yoga teacher, talking about yoga being when the body, mind and spirit are all united in your pose practice, for example.

But as I’ve furthered my Tantra studies this year, I have realized that this is far bigger deal that being a bit distracted or stressed out by life. All of us have learned at some stage that we have good and bad parts and that to be a good person we must keep a tight leash or even banish our less virtuous tendencies.

Body image is great example. The part of us that fit what we want = good, anything else = bad.  But the trouble is, when we internally fight with ourselves like this, we empower the bits we are trying to repress and weaken ourselves overall.

When we decide that bits of us are not ok –  thighs too big, tummy too round, legs too skinny… it doesn’t help us. But if we can change our attitude – everything changes. People often think if they drop the war, they’ll lose the battle. For example, if they stop hating their body they’ll get fat. But did loving skinniness make you skinny? No. And all the research shows when we are positively motivated we tend to stick to our plans longer and get better results. I even know people who talk to themselves.

Imagine being collaborative, hell, even supportive, of your body, for example. What could that look like?

Here’s a little exercise to demonstrate why being friends with ALL our aspects is more helpful than not.

·      Visualize your body in its ideal form. Close your eyes and feel in your body. How that would feel? How would you go about your day?

·      Then come back to your reality right now but keep that feeling and live your day the same way.

Lots of love

Ruth