The best is to start with small steps.

Rather than aiming for one hour yoga a day, start with just one minute inner gaze, that's all.

You wake up in the morning and as you lay down still, practice your favorite meditation technique (for instance, breathing or using a simple mantra).

Practice this technique for one week.

Don't aim for more.

Be happy with this one minute a day.

When you start meditating or practicing yoga, your mind set is reoriented or repolarized.

As soon as you focus on it, transformation starts taking place.

Your take a mental decision to focus on a one hour technique but if you feel resistance to do it, it is the sign that it's already far too much.

Take a small step you can afford without major effort.

Keep it simple, light and fun.

You might get the impression that one minute a day is not enough but that's not true.

Your practice is like a stream of water.

A one minute a day can be all you need to get you started.

Imagine that you water a tree in your garden. No matter how much water you give it, it won't grow faster than a certain pace.

Same goes for a yoga or meditation practice.

In the original stages, you are breaking the “shell” and even a very small stimulation like a one minute practice will have the desired effect.

The goal is not the practice in itself.

The goal is to allow your mind and body to naturally shift form one state to another.

When you practice yoga or meditation, you are stimulating a new flow of life force in your being and activating change.

Change requires energy.

It happens even with a one minute practice.

Every time you focus on a technique, you are invoking energy and this energy needs to be digested and integrated in your system.

Take a tiny step (one minute focus) and once you feel comfortable with that step (within a week or two), slightly increase your practice.

You can do this by:

• Having another minute of focus during the day.
• Adding another technique just after the one you practiced.
• Slightly stretching your technique from one minute to two.

Focus on the natural flow of your practice rather than the discipline aspect.

What matters is not the amount of time you spend on it, it is the fact that you go with the flow and listen to your body and full being.

The long term goal is to find a pace you can maintain on the long term without major effort.

If you practices are fed mainly by will power, you’ll only be able to sustain them for a few moths before running out of motivation.

On the other hand if you connect with a very natural flow and approach which does not require a major will power input on your side, you’ll simply go with the flow and easily reach your target.

Take a very small step and you will find it quite natural to simply go with the flow.

Trust your instinct rather than a "mental model" of what you think you should achieve.

Too high expectations or ambitions can make you very unhappy and frustrated.

On the other hand, going with the flow and integrating naturally techniques and empowering habits within your daily routine will take you exactly where you want to be: greater happiness, vitality, inner brightness and clarity.

Good luck and enjoy!

Labels: articles, challenges, meditation, motivation, yoga