Bernd’s weekly blog No.2 : Discipline!

Hi everyone! Me again. ;-)

After last week’s entry into the wonderful world of blogging, I figured it was time to actually create these musings on a weekly basis. Today it’s time to talk about an aspect of yogic adventuring many people do not want to hear or deal with or engage with…

Discipline

Aka

Dropping the act of cherry picking

So if you are sitting on a sofa right now, slouched and despondent, cradling a coffee with extra cream and whiskey added in copious quantities, put that drink down, and at least sit upright while reading these words.

Or you could continue to slouch a drink and be merry and have a life that does not bring fire into your belly or magic into your heart.

Up to you.

I know I do occasionally become somewhat provocative… I do hope you will forgive me for my strong words! Yet, they are needed in this modern world, where so many of us have lost our way and are lacking direction or any real joy.

This post is motivated by a gross misunderstanding of what it means to be a yogi, one I see all too often out there in the world. In the befogged land of new ageism (a name referring to a teacher who has cobbled together all the bits they enjoy of various traditions, and left out anything too challenging. Think fairies mixed in with yoga philosophy), there is this weird idea that the yogi needs to be all about going with the flow, doing whatever they feel like, while probably wearing some white, flowing clothes and eating plenty of fruit. 

Silliness aside, this is a serious issue. Yogic practice is designed to transform us, to take away all that is heavy and unhelpful, to break down habits and patterns that are harmful to us and the world around us, and to essentially dive deep into every aspect of our lives and selves, reorganising continuously until we have actually become a being of magic and wonder, rather than a struggling little human walking despondently through the rain. 

How on earth can we make such a radical shift without radical effort? It’s just not going to work. If we look at any successful artist or creator or entrepreneur or scientist (the list could go on), one thing that I would argue is fairly constant among them is extraordinary effort. The yogi needs to do exactly that; dive in deep with tremendous effort, and as a result make of oneself a work of art.

How does this tie into discipline and cherry picking? Well, the danger is that we only pick the bits of yogic realms we like and leave the rest, while practising more or less when we feel like it.

Here’s the thing. We need the help of experienced guides on the journey of yoga. And if they are someone sensible, and someone we can trust, we need to listen to their suggestions on what we actually engage with on a daily basis. If we just on our own choose what we like, we will never go beyond the surface level. Practice may well help us feel good, but we won’t really go beyond that. And there really is so much more potential within yogic development than just feeling good! 

When I work with my students, I tend to check what their current practice looks like, and make suggestions. To start with, I’ll often just suggest one particular little practice to make a daily routine of, until it becomes well established, but then gradually I will add more.

Crucially here, of course we need to stay true to our lives. If we are parents, have full time work commitments and so on, we do not do as much as someone for whom yoga is their entire purpose in life. Even one hour of daily yogic practice, done consistently and skilfully, is incredibly powerful.

But in that hour, we need to really dive in. Not hold back and only do those bits we like. The body needs to be challenged, the breath developed, and the mind fine tuned, one day at a time. Picking and choosing is an egoic activity, and we must never forget the following:

Yoga tries to bring us beyond egoic concerns into something far, far bigger.

So stop thinking small. Get off the couch, put down your drink, and leap into action. Your body, breath, mind, and heart will be so grateful, and you may even find that the entire universe begins to shower blessings upon you.

With boundless love,

Bernd.