The secret to success in yoga

Why being good isn't the point
 
Someone mentioned to me this week that they used to be better at yoga than they are now. 
 
Do you ever think that you aren't very good at yoga?
 
 
Notice self-judgement
Perhaps we have judged our performance in a pose, or noticed that we weren't doing a pose for as long as someone next to us or that we should be better than we are. That we didn't sweat much or that we didn't try hard enough.
 
 
The real measure
These aren't the measures of being good at yoga. 
 

There is really only one measure of being good at yoga.
 
That you are showing up consistently.
 
 
Are you consistent but still don't feel good?
There is a certain amount of trust that comes with this idea. 
 
Experience will eventually show you that you can relax and trust the process of yoga. That simply showing up and doing what you can is enough for all the benefits that will follow.
 
But this notion has to make its way through all our pre-concieved ideas of needing to be good at things and that if we aren't getting better then we are doing something wrong. 
 
 
Trying harder isn't better
Trying harder isn't better; sweating more doesn't get you further; postural perfection and a glowing mental state isn't the pinnacle of what you can gain from yoga.
 
 Learning to let go of these notions of good and bad, and just going with the flow of each day as it comes and all the joy that can be encountered here and now, not in some future idealised state, are learned through experience and the transformations that occur, subtly and slowly, along the way.
 

Trust the process
Going through the motions of moving your arms and legs, staying a while and feeling awkward while the pose works its way into your body and mind, breathing, and paying attention to as much of that as you can. 
 
The truth that experience shows us is that the practice is enough. You just need to do it.
 
You don't need to do it to a performance level grade. You don't need to do it better than last time, or as strongly or effortlessly as you did 5 years ago. You just need to do it. That is enough. The rest will follow.
 
 
Setbacks are part of it
The setbacks are your own personal challenge and journey. You will learn something from them if you don't discount them as frustrating or off-track.
 
Keep showing up even when you don't feel like it or when your mind convinces you that you shouldn't bother, that it doesn't work, and that you are no good.
 
And by the way, showing up in your PJs next to your bed for 10 minutes still counts.
 
 
Avoid otherthinking
Do your yoga
Next time you tell yourself your not very good at yoga. Or conversely you tell yourself that you are good at yoga. Step aside from overthinking what you are doing. Get to your mat, and do your yoga.
 
Enjoy. ​