abhyāsa

I find that around this time every year my schedule changes because of the holiday season. Sometimes I'm struggling to find some time to workout, or do yoga, or meditate. I always seem to manage to do it even if that means that I do those things close to midnight. (don't judge me). 

abhyāsa is a Sanskrit word that means "practice". The practice that abhyāsa refers to is uninterrupted practice over a long period of time. Uninterrupted in this context can mean every day but it also means that there is regularity to it. A regular practice does not necessarily means a daily practice. To me, it also means that even in the case of a pause in our practice we soon come back to it.

The kind of practice that abhyāsa refers to is not a discipline that comes over night. It is something we develop over years. When I was growing up I did not consider myself to have this kind of discipline. After decades of practicing with many gaps in between I can say today that when it comes to my yoga practices I am disciplined.

Sometimes this discipline is born out of necessity. That is how my working out practice became a regular thing  for me. After a health scare a few years ago I realized that I just had to include it as part of my life. I do have to say that I'm still working on my regularity on this one but it is coming along.

As we all navigate this holiday season our schedules may be disrupted. Even so we can still have some regularity in the way we take care of our body and minds.

Look forward to seeing you in class

Jorge Nihal