Begin Again

I took a yoga class the other day after not having been there in quite some time. If it weren’t for the fact that I was meeting my friend Katie, I probably would have skipped it all together. The me that suggested the class a few days earlier had great intentions and lots of energy. Unfortunately, the me that had to get out of bed at 5AM had access to way less motivation and lots more excuses.

From the second the alarm went off, all I could think about was how comfortable my bed was, and how incredibly uncomfortable the pigeon pose would be (If you know, you know or IYKYK for the young folks). Not to mention, what would I say to Christine, the super sweet, super bendy, little instructor, whose class I took religiously for months and then simply dropped out of nowhere.

Yoga is one of those things that when I’m doing it consistently, I absolutely love it. But when life gets busy and I fall out of my routine, it feels impossible to get started again. I think this is something a lot of us experience when we are trying to get something going again after previously letting it go. It can be anything: healthy eating, exercise, dating, job hunting, organizing, meditating, reconnecting, self-care, vacationing, a beloved hobby, or the hardest of them all - piled up laundry.

The biggest challenge isn’t actually doing the “thing”, it’s getting started on doing the thing. It’s breaking through our BS mental chatter and the lame excuses that keep us stuck in our warm, safe, beds and familiar self-defeating patterns. The hardest part is transitioning from comfortable to uncomfortable. Once we land in the uncomfortable, we begin the adaptation process; and before we know it, it’s not as hard as it once was.

That small first step is your biggest hurdle - it’s not the run, or the downward facing dog, or the necessary conversation, or the interview, or even the laundry. That stuff will flow once it has the energy of your commitment behind it. When we become actively involved with the task that we have been avoiding, a natural momentum starts to build and carries us through it. Getting yourself to not hit snooze for the 5th time and actually get out the front door is the most difficult part. In other words figuring out how to get over yourself is the true feat.

As you probably could have guessed, when I finally arrived at yoga, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I had imagined (except for the pigeon pose - that is just straight torture). Turns out Christine wasn’t looking for an excuse; instead she gave me a big hug and welcomed me back with open (super toned) arms. During our re-connection, I noticed the sign on the front desk that said, “No matter where you’ve been, you are free to begin again.” It was exactly what I needed to hear, at exactly the right time. I love when that happens. It feels like a little wink from the universe, letting me know I’m on the right track.

Maybe you needed to hear it too. Is there something that you briefly put down that is calling to be picked back up again? What are your excuses? What does that voice of fear have to say? Is the fact that you are reading this right now the universe's way of gently nudging you?

I’ve found that in most instances it's the same major culprits that repeatedly get in my way. The first is the fear of failure or looking stupid. The second is feeling like if I can’t do it perfectly then why bother trying. The third is the idea that I need to feel ready before I do something. The truth is that if you take action, the feeling will follow. And finally it's the all-or-nothing thinking that makes me think I can only start something on a Monday; or that if I eat one "bad" thing the whole day is shot and I'm now obligated to eat everything that's not nailed down.

Maybe your fears and excuses are similar to mine, or maybe they are completely different. Regardless of what they are, the function is the same - to keep you in your comfort zone. You can’t necessarily control those thoughts, but you can choose not to listen to them. You can choose to do the damn thing anyway, despite the noise.

It can start with a simple commitment to take one small step in the direction you want to go. It doesn’t have to be a huge leap from where you are at the moment. It certainly doesn’t have to be perfect. In fact, it can’t be, so let that $h!t go. As Martin Luther King said, "Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase. Just take the first step". And remember, if you happen to stumble along the way, you can always begin again…and again…and again.

Struggle Less.

Love, Maur