How Sia’s Unstoppable Drastically Improved My Performance in Yoga Today
And how the Zeigarnik Effect made me become more mindful
It’s 08:30 in the morning. I’ve just laced up my shoes, checked if I took my headphones (got ‘em!), zipped my down jacket and slowly closed the door behind me not to wake any of my flatmates.
I still feel sore from yesterday’s killer workout. So on my way to the gym, I‘m signing up for the yoga class to take it easy for today.
All right, all right. I know. I haven’t been doing yoga for almost 6 months now. But I was strict in my practice before then. I can handle a 90 minutes yoga class.
Easy peasy lemon squeezy 🌞
Oh boy, was I wrong.
But we’ll get to that.
I notice my data is about to be used up. As any broke student would do, I turn off data for Spotify on my iPhone and search for an already downloaded song alternative. Apparently, all I have is Sia’s Unstoppable.
I don’t ask myself why. I push the play button and listen to the same thing for the next 20 minutes, until I get to the gym.
I’m at the yoga class with about 15 more yoga enthusiasts. Our beautiful instructor who doesn’t have a tiny bit of fat on her body comes with a bright smile and welcomes everyone. Damn, she’s gorgeous. Ok, sorry — that was not the point.
So, back to the class. She says we’ll be working on our breaths for the next 10 minutes or so. We’ll practice fast breathing first, and then… slooow breathing.
She says “Choose yourself a positive affirmation and keep repeating it as you take each deep breath. Set your intention for today’s practice.” or… something like that. She then adds some examples we can choose from: “I’m smart / I’m healthy/ I’m grounded”.
I take my first deep breath.
“I’m a Porsche with no breaks”
Wait, what?!
I shake off my head. Trying to repeat the cool sentences I’ve heard from her.
“I’m grounded.” — Really? Am I? What does ‘grounded’ even mean?
I squeeze my eyes shut. I take another deep breath.
Next.
“I’m smart.” — Naah, definitely feels unnatural to say that to myself.
Next.
“I’m hungry.” — No, it was not that. What was it, really?
“I’m a Porsch…”
STOOOP ITT! You’re being cheesy. I breath out, slowly.
“I’m invincible?”
Geez, can’t you be just cool and you know… grounded for a second? Another deep breath.
“Yeah, I win every single game.”
God damn it Sia! You’ve just poisoned my otherwise mindful mind. My not being able to be grounded today is all your fault! Shame on you. I breath out.
“I’m a Porsche with no breaks.”
You know what? I’m not going to argue with you. Play the damn thing in my mind over and over, as long as you can. You’ve already ruined my practice.
“I’m invincible.”
“Yeah, I win every single game”.
Cool, you can go on. I’m not angry. I take a deep breath.
“I’m a Porsche with no breaks.”
I slowly release my breath.
“I’m invincible.”
Another deep breath through my stomach.
“Yeah, I win every single game.”
…
I shudder when she says “Okay, great. Good job everyone. Now…”.
Wait, what?! Has it been 10 minutes already?!
No, please. Let me repeat: WHAT?!!
The Zeigarnik Effect
We humans have a strong craving for closure. When something is left uncompleted, our brains help us ‘remember’ it more than anything else. And this is what psychologists call the Zeigarnik Effect.
This is why cliffhangers drive you nuts and you keep coming back for the next week’s episode. Until the case is closed. I’ll be honest, there were times where I hated How I Met Your Mother just because of the never-ending cliffhanger of ‘who the mother is’.
Anyways.
This is why waiters have better recollections of still unpaid orders. Yet, they immediately forget them as soon as they’re paid. Because now, the case is closed and they’ve been set free.
And this is why telling yourself “I’ll only work on my thesis for 5 minutes. That’s all. Nothing more.” is more effective than anything else when it comes to beating procrastination. Because once you start (even if it’s a tiny little step), you crave for completion.
Imagine the Zeigarnik effect as our brain’s way of saying:
“Finish it, god dammit!”
Lovely.
Let me ask you something.
Have you ever wondered why is it that sometimes songs get stuck in your head and you can’t seem to get rid of them no matter how hard you try?
If you’ve ever had a song stuck in your mind (seriously, is there anyone who didn’t experience that?), you know it causes some sort of a “brain itch” when that happens. And just like a mosquito bite, you just want to scratch the damn thing by repeating the lines over and over in your head. But the more you scratch, the worse it gets. It feels like the song will be stuck in your head forever and will claim its own territory somewhere in your brain.
So, now let me explain what happened to me today.
Apparently, I could only memorize 3 consecutive lines from the song during my 20 minutes of walk to the gym — as you also might have memorized by now (sorry, not sorry!).
“I’m a Porsche with no breaks.”
“I’m invincible.”
“Yeah, I win every single game.”
My performance? Not bad, to be honest. But if you’ve ever listened to the song, you must have noticed what I could memorize is the chorus of the song. Not the beginning and definitely not the ending.
My memory of the song is highly incomplete. I can’t seem to recall anything more than these three pesky lines. So I keep scratching my mind, hoping for a closure with each new attempt.
But nope, it’s not happening.
The Zeigarnik effect is begging me to hear the song again, from start to finish, so that my mind can be set free of its delirium.
Well, if only I could do it.
But here I am, in the middle of a 90-minute yoga class, repeating the same 3 sentences over and over, and feeling grateful for not being heard by anyone else.
I have 75 more minutes to go.
We’re practicing the flows now. Everything’s going well, and I’m still a Porsche with no breaks. I’m invincible. And OH YEAH, I definitely win every single game.
I’m 100% convinced now, after repeating the same thing for gazillion times. Because you know, I’m not able to think about anything else.
Until… we hit the last 45 minutes and start practicing the warrior sequences.
My sore body starts shaking. I lose my balance, my thighs are burning and my face is getting more and more red. She says “Great job everyone. Keep breathing. Stay focused. Stay in the pose.” with a bright smile.
Yeah, thanks. I’m super focused on my great misery.
I start thinking about quitting. We still have a long way to go and I feel dead. So dead. In fact, I don’t think I’m able to handle 1 more minute of it, let alone 45.
I start hating myself for bringing myself into such a situation.
We then go into the downward-facing dog pose and I hear a loud, crisp voice in my head:
“Yeah, I win every single game.”
Oh great. It’s you again. I’d be lying if I say I missed you.
We go into one-legged down dog.
“I’m a Porsche with no breaks”
We go into high lunge.
“I’m invincible.”
Sure you are.
We go into warrior II.
“Yeah, I win every single game.”
…
“All right, great job everyone. We’ll start cooling down now. If you have a sweatshirt with you, you might want to wear it now. Because it’ll get cold in the studio.”
Wait, what?!
Are we done yet? How about the last 30 minu…
No, wait… Is this even real?!
I am thrilled.
I am shocked.
I am on cloud nine.
But there’s only one question in my mind: How on earth did I manage to ‘enter the flow’ and lose track of time when I was in such pain?
You guys, the answer is simple.
My body and my mind was so tired that I stopped judging my thoughts.
I focused only, and only, on my breath and on my next move.
I let the Zeigarnik effect do the work.
The same three lines kept repeating in my mind, with each pose I get into.
“I’m a Porsche with no breaks.”
“I’m invincible.”
“Yeah, I win every single game.”
I became present, when I stopped trying.
My pain was gone and I was focused. This time, on my breath.
My mind let my misery fade away.
At the end of the day, I remind myself:
Yoga is not about being perfect. When you set an intention for the practice (and for the day), it doesn’t have to sound ‘cool’.
It doesn’t have to be something that everyone else seems to choose.
It can be the most unusual, unexpected sentence ever.
Just repeat something, anything where the words are positive and encouraging.
Take a deep breath in, and repeat your sentence.
Slowly breath out, and repeat your sentence.
Don’t judge yourself for what you’ve chosen.
Accept whichever words and sentences came to you.
Embrace them.
Remember, you’re communicating with your inner self.
Be kind to him, just like you’d be kind to your best friend.
When you think you’re not able to stay in that hard pose, turn to your sentence (or sentences) you chose.
Let your sentence do the work, stay calm.
Keep telling it to yourself, even when you don’t believe in it 100%.
In fact, keep telling it especially if you don’t believe in what you say.
Repeat it for 100 times.
And for another 100.
Keep going.
Until the sentence is ingrained in your mind.
Until it slowly starts to change your limiting beliefs about yourself.
Keep repeating it every.single.day.
Until it changes you.
Until it changes your life.
Because, words are magic.
“As you think, so shall you be.” — Dr. Wayne Dyer
Do you have any fun moments you had in your yoga practice? Have you learned anything from your practice? Do you find it hard to be mindful? Do you have ‘special sentences’ you repeat to yourself when you’re going through something hard?
If so, please make a comment down below. It’ll make my day :)
