Mindfulness in a Fast World
Can you dedicate an hour to a daily yoga practice? Is it possible for you to justify spending even just 10 minutes meditating? It’s not always easy. In fact, it can be really hard in our world. If you read articles about how often should you practice yoga — the answers are vague. Some yogis recommend a daily practice and others claim that three times a week may be more than enough. But the bigger question remains: how do you practice mindfulness in a fast paced world?
Why do we have such limited time for mindfulness?
Because yoga and meditation don’t necessarily have an immediate benefit, it can be challenging to justify setting aside valuable time for a mindfulness practice. Why not use that time for studying or working? Especially with applications like Instagram and Facebook, it can seem easier to allow our “free time” to become time we spend on our devices. That can make it even difficult to be mindful.
Instead of pressuring yourself to practice for long time periods, try doing short practices.
One strategy to combat that unwillingness to practice for an hour or attend a class with a commute is to practice for shorter time periods. Mindfulness doesn’t necessarily mean practicing like everyone else — it’s about finding what’s right for you. So, if you don’t have time for one 60-minute class, try setting aside 10 minutes every two hours to practice some sun salutations. Does that 20-minute meditation practice sound too challenging? Break it up into four 5-minute intervals.
Yoga is a practice about learning to be mindful.
Yoga culture might promote the standard hour class after work, but if you think mindfully about what works for you — that might not be it. It’s all about being adaptable. No one person is unique and that extends to the yoga style that they practice. In fact, the way you practice yoga can change. Just because you have enjoyed a home or studio practice in the past, that doesn’t mean that will work for you forever. People change and it’s important to be mindful about what works for you.
If you’ve attended a lot of yoga classes, you might know the phrase “take your practice off of the mat.” It means that yoga isn’t just about the physical practice, it’s ultimately a practice about learning how to be more present in your day-to-day life. You can practice yoga when you’re stuck in traffic, working late, on your mat at home or in class. So, if you’re worried about how to fit in your yoga and meditation practice — try some of the shorter practices more often and if that doesn’t work, be flexible. If the shorter practices don’t work, try new ways of fitting your yoga schedule to your work one. Don’t worry if it takes time to adjust, being flexible takes time. Yoga is not just physical practice, it’s mindfulness — and you can practice that anywhere you like.
