«If you have pain and you take 2 or 3 days rest of practicing yoga, when you come back, pain will be back»

«No pain, no gain»

Khartik, Nirvana Yoga Shala

Finally muscle pain came back.

That means that I am training properly.

When pain is here, I have to keep training. It means that the muscles are growing in strength and stretching.

Training with muscle pain is hard.

It hurts.

Then the battle with your mind starts all over again, with a new reason to quit.

But you have to keep up.

I have been training for the last 2 days with big muscle pain in the ribs, it´s hard, motivation is low, I have trained maybe 70%, but that´s better than nothing.

The body is getting stronger.

Welcome pain.

A couple days ago, the Show Luzia from Cirque du Soleil made me cry twice.

With the tears came two thoughts.

1. We are all together in this. We are all trying our best.

2. We are a beautiful species

I don´t know if thoughts come first and then the emotions or the other way around.

In both cases it happened at the end of each part, when all the participants came into stage, with loud music, singing all at once. 

I feel the effort of them,

I see the beauty of their souls,

Which in the end is the beauty of our souls,

Of my soul.

Thanks for that, Cirque du Soleil

A couple weeks ago a friend asked me to help his nephew with geometry.

In that moment I felt that it would be too much work. I already had my work online, my daily practice of yoga and my interest for meditation with singing bowls. Apart from that, I am a father, who has to take care of the house and of the family.

Still I was not sure about what to decide.

I asked close friends an family for advice.

My wife said:

«Take it, you´ll activate your brain. In Russia we say that resting means changing the activity.»

I liked that.

But I got convinced with the philosophy of Yoga.

Just do your duty, without expectation. Get liberated and help others get liberated.

So just do what you have to do.

Help someone.

My work,

My practice of yoga,

Me taking care of the family…

Everything is very individual, very isolated (very selfish), very egocentered.

I decided that it was better to get out of my bubble and help someone.

A couple weeks later, I am very satisfied with the decision.

Not only I am activating my brain, I am also exercising love, by helping someone with all my heart and knowledge. And I am very proud of him, he is getting to understand concepts.

I have been practicing yoga 6 days a week for the last (almost) 3 months.

• Almost everyday a full session of Ashtanga Yoga Series.
• Almost everyday, at least, 2 hours of yoga.

Still my mind keeps tricking me.

Today,

While practicing,

I was cold, it was cold in the flat and I couldn´t get warm.

I didn´t start to sweat and I was considering the option of stopping, even after about 30 or 40 minutes (around Purvottanasana) .

I was thinking things like:

1. «Why do I need to practice everyday?
2. «Today I ame at the seaside with the familiy. Why don´t I just go out for a walk and join them?»
3. «See? I´ve been practicing for 3 months straight and still I didn´t get anywhere. On top of that, I am not that good. Look, I want to stop today. Let´s get out of here.»

Then, suddenly, I realized it.

It was my mind tricking me.

Again!

Then I decided to not listen to it,

I decided to just do what I had to do.

Continue with the practice.

Push a little bit until I started to sweat.

Then everything started to flow again. I felt motivated and enthusiast, I flowed from one asana to the other, I enjoyed Vinyasa inbetween and finished with upside down postures which I enjoyed.

The feeling at the end was great, as usual.

P.S. Your mind will keep tricking you forever.

Just do what you have to do.

Keep going.

By daily practice you can:

1. Control your mind
2. Supress your ego
3. Shine your intellect

– BKS Iyengar –

There is nothing wrong with the mind.

It can let you remember things from the past, dream with a brilliant future and make complex calculations.

It is a great tool,

Just like your hand, your stomach or your eyes.

The problem with the mind is that it can easily rule your life from the backstage, with and even without your awareness, making you believe things that are true or not true.

Yoga daily practice controls your mind.

For the last 2.5 months I have woken up everyday at 6 am to do my Ashtanga Yoga series for almost 2 hours.

Only until this last week, the Monkey Mind was complaining, asking «Do you really need to wake up that early? Do you really need to practice Yoga now?

Only since last week I wake up happily and enjoy from the first moment, knowing that the practice will do good to me, that I feel better after practice, that my mind is calmer when I practice almost 2 hours Yoga everyday.

Only with discipline I got to control my mind

• When we don´t have 5 seconds to apprecidate the beauty of a little 1-year-old girl trying to make her first steps
• When we don´t have 10 seconds to let a person cross the door at their own pace and we have to pass them on the side
• When we don´t have 25 seconds to wait until the traffic light turns green

Then it means that we are doing too much.

Our intentions are good, but we do too much.

• We are all too busy buying presents for our loved ones
• We are all too busy making plans and preparing things for others and for ourselves, so that we can have fun and enjoy
• We are all too busy, keeping our houses clean and good looking, taking care of our bodies and looks, for us and for others
• We are all too busy trying to satisfy the demands of our boss or clients

We are all too busy with life,

That we forget to appreciate life itself,

We forget about our inner peace, which is the best that we can do for ourselves, for our loved ones and for the world.

We are doing too much.

INSTEAD

Take a moment for yourself.

Breathe it.

Relax.

Take a moment with your family.

A real one, without any other agenda.

Just look at them.

We don´t have to do that much.

Everything will be fine.

Appreciate those little seconds when you realize that you are going too fast.

Do less. Slow down

On Wednesday I had to pick up my wife from her language class at 17:30 and I wanted to wash the car. It was 16:45. I had time to go and wash it before and then pick her up.

INSTEAD,

I decided to go straight to pick her up.

I arrived together with my daughter 15 minutes in advance and we enjoyed walking around and waiting for her mom. It was very cool moment.

After that, we want the three of us to wash the car.

I could have washed the car and then go to pick her up. It was possible from the point of view of time and efficiency, but instead I decided to do less and go slower.

On Thursday we were going to meet friends for dinner at 19:30. It was 17:00 and I was already free. I had time to prepare the dessert that I had in mind, a healthy one that we would all enjoy.

INSTEAD,

My wife wanted to go for a walk with the little one.

We went the three of us and enjoyed more than 1 hour walking around, seeing how our daughter enjoyed the swings and slides in the playground.

We had nothing for dessert that dinner. But nobody missed it.

Instead, I could offer my good mood to my family and friends, without rush.

On Sunday I decided that I would have Monday off of my early morning training of Ashtanga Yoga at 6 am.

And suddenly, that same Sunday evening,

I fell on my old pattern.

1. The old pattern

From 2018 to October 2022 I felt very lost.

I felt bored and lonely.

• Yes, I had to keep up with my online business that was running decently since 2016
• Yes, I travelled here and there and it was fun
• Yes, I followed some courses of languages, of carpentry, of yoga and I learnt things, which felt good
• Yes, I got married in 2020 and felt less  lonely
• And Yes, we had a daughter in 2021 and we were very busy and happy

Everything helped to be entertained and of course feel less lonely.

But still, I felt lost,

Very lost.

I felt kind of empty inside.

• Like there was no point, no purpose
• Like I didn´t know what to do, nothing was meaningful
• Like I was paying to much attention to what others did, making myself dependant on them

One thing felt very good and it was volunteering using Workaway in exchange for accomodation and food.

I did it twice, once in a house in Cahors (France) and a second one in a hostel in New Orleans (USA). Both were great experiences, I felt full of excitement and fulfilled. Something was telling me that worki was good to me, despite what I always thought that having free time, freedom and being on vacation was the best.

2. The turning point

In October 2022 I touched deep ground.

My wife, who is extremely caring, patient and understanding lost her patience.

She got mad at me because she felt guilty for my unsatisfaction with life.

In that moment I felt that I was following her plans, because I had nothing better to do.

I felt miserable.

And I made her feel miserable out of guilt.

In that same moment I decided that I could not continue that way.

I decided that I had to commit to do something that was meaningful to me. I couldn´t be just running around behind someone else´s plan.

I had two options:

• Running a hostel
• Becoming a Yoga teacher

The first one sounded too big, buying a house, starting a new renovation (we had 2 in 1 year)… it was too big in that moment.

So the decision was easy: I would become a Yoga teacher.

And I commited to it.

3. The new pattern

Ever since I commited to become a Yoga Teacher, I am practicing almost everyday.

Quickly I decided to follow a 200 Hours Yoga Teacher Training Course, which I did in January 2023 in Mysore (India), best known city in the world for Ashtanga Yoga.

There I built the habit of practicing the hard series of Ashtanga at 6:00 am and I am keeping it now, just by myself, back at home.

I feel fit.

I feel with energy, although the body can be tired and some muscles may hurt at times.

But the mind is in order.

3. Falling into the old pattern

So, as I said in the beginning, I decided to have Monday off of early morning training.

Therefore, on Sunday evening I didn´t have to go to sleep at 11 pm.

That´s why I stayed a bit longer (11:30 pm) checking Instagram.

And then wandering around.

And then, when I finally got into bed at 12, I decided to fall into another old pattern: playing chess on the telephone.

That took me again 40 more minutes.

Chess (and probably the screen) made my brain very excited, very active.

So when I turned off to sleep, I couldn´t.

I simply couldn´t.

For 2 hours.

The little one also woke up (as usual) and made me more awaken.

So I could only fall asleep at 3 am.

And I felt guilty and stupid,

For not being able to have a loooong night sleep, since I could wake up later do to the rest.

4. Conclusion

Even though waking up at 6 in the morning in order to practice around 2 hours of yoga is energy and willpower demanding,

The truth is that I become a better person.

I experienced the case for one day of falling back into the old pattern, the routine where I had nothing special to do on the next day, and all I did was just waste time in front of a screen, get nervous and even sleep less than usual.

When I have my morning practice, 

Even if it´s hard and sometimes I get grumpy,

It feels very good.

I feel energized, I feel clean, strong, determined, enthousiastic.

And the day just flies.

CONCLUSION:

Keep practicing yoga everyday. It´s good for you.

For some reason, everything that I have been told about yoga and the benefits of daily practice, it´s true.

I can keep trusting it.

Karma Yoga is the Yoga of action.

1. Do your duty consciously
2. Without any expectation on return
3. With complete devotion towards God

Surrender to God.

The fruits of your work are to God. It´s liberating; you are free of any responsibility.

If you received the fruits of your work, you would always argue.

So,

Just do your duty.

Who can control his breath, can control his mind.

Pranayama means regulation of breath.

Normal breathing in a person is about 15-18 times per minute.

With constant yoga practice we aim to reduce it to 8-10 times per minute.

Calming down your breath you can:

1. Calm down your mind
2. Slow down your time of response
3. Improve your listening skills

Quick response usually spoil everything.

By slowing down your breath and therefore your reactions, you will automatically have more time to think and offer a better response. And you will listen better to others, which will be translated into more love to them and more love coming to you.

Just by breathing consciously.

Yesterday we arrived from our trip to India, where I did my Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga TTC.

In the same afternoon we went to buy two blocks and a strap for yoga practice.

It´s the first time that I buy those props.

Never before I had used them for my practice at home.

But I learnt a lot during the Teacher Training Course about my limitations and how to improve with the help of props.

Other than that,

An immense sense of coherence invaded me during the whole afternoon.

Buying those props felt like a first step in the right direction.

Those props facilitate the yoga practice for me and I have the feeling of buying a bunch of them to facilitate the practice of others.

It happened the same when I bought some Singing Tibetan Bowls in Mysore. Those bowls helped me once to calm my mind and enter meditation in an extraordinary way and I believe that they can be very helpful and healing to others.

Those blocks, strab and bowls feel like the first equipment of our hostel.

Really.

I am not sure if I am flexible enough to become a yoga teacher,

Even, I have no idea if we will ever settle down or be able to by a house for that dream hostel that we have in mind.

But the direction feels right.

And that is key.

I believe in taking care of yourself, in the importance of having a calm mind, in detachment from material things, in eating just enough, in enjoying the here and now, in walking barefoot…

I deeply believe that yoga can heal and make of us better people.

Probably that is why I felt that endless coherence after having done the Yoga TTC and after buying those props.

Probably that is why I still feel coherence.

My actions are getting aligned with my mind and my heart.

Thanks Jean Pierre.