In the Mood

If you've lost the desire to practice, these ideas will help rekindle your passion for yoga.

By Laurel Kallenbach

"There should be a Yoga Inspiration Hotline for those who have gotten away from their practice," jokes Todd Norian, who teaches yoga nationwide and is the former director of teacher training at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in Lenox, Massachusetts. For those stuck in the yoga doldrums, his phone-support idea sounds pretty appealing.

And everyone has a yoga slump now and then—times when your practice is in a rut, when you feel your discipline slipping away, when you realize that you've been to class only twice in the past month.

Getting yourself through the yoga blues is a challenge, but the first step is to recognize that "This too shall pass." Norian says, "When I'm in a lull, I acknowledge there are different seasons to my practice. Lapsed enthusiasm doesn't mean your yoga days are over," he points out. "A dry spell can be connected with stress at work, emotional issues, or relationship difficulties—wherever your energy is tied up. My best advice: Don't get caught in negative self-talk."

In fact, Norian considers a flagging practice an invitation to go deeper into yoga. "If my attention or commitment is wandering, I know I need a challenge, so I start holding postures longer and deepen my breath," he explains. "These two key things help me break through to new levels of excitement and adventure."

Embrace Change

"Yoga inspires change. It's a tool to help you drop negative habits and adopt helpful ones, to embrace whatever the present and future hold," says Max Strom, a yoga teacher in Santa Monica and Brentwood, California. "I believe you must assess what you're hiding from and be willing to change. For instance, when I'm resistant to my practice, it's often from fear that I'll have to face an emotional issue. We store and process emotions primarily through our bodies, so yoga brings them up," he says. "In difficult times, I return to a few days of gentle, restorative practice so I feel nurtured. I find this leads me lovingly back into a full practice pretty quickly."

Norian echoes Strom's emphasis on being gentle with yourself. "There's an attitude I call 'begin again,'" says Norian. "Every time your mind wanders when you meditate, you simply begin again. Don't worry if you fall away from your practice—just come back to it."

Diagnose Your Yoga Flu

"When someone tells me they're committed to yoga and yet they're not able to act on it, I wonder why," says Bea Enright, an Integrative Yoga Therapy teacher in Boulder, Colorado.

If you're in this situation, you're probably asking yourself the same question. Perhaps you're bored or resistant to practice because your routine is stale, you've hit a physical plateau, or you've achieved your original objectives. Maybe your life has changed but you haven't adjusted your yoga practice to fit your new circumstances. Regardless of your scenario, assess the situation. Why are you losing interest now? What are your priorities, and how does yoga fit into these goals? Finding some answers will lead you along the path to renewal. After all, as Enright says, "If you commit to a practice that enlivens your life, brings feelings of accomplishment and well-being, and helps relieve stress and pain, how can you not stay focused?"

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