3 Ways to Get Out of Your Own Way

How to Start a Yoga, Meditation, or Mindfulness Practice

If you are wanting a yoga, meditation, or mindfulness practice but are unsure where to begin, you might be surprised at how little it takes to get going. Anything new that we want to integrate into our regular rhythm of life can be introduced patiently, with as little as ten minutes a day to start.

Benefits of Yoga, Meditation, and Mindfulness

If you ever find yourself experiencing symptoms of life in a highly individualized, modern society, such as depression, anxiety, stress, nervousness, insomnia, and/or any number of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aches, it could be serving you to begin giving yourself a safe place amidst life to retreat and heal from those conditions.

Even just sitting down at some point in the day, closing your eyes, and trying to do nothing but breathe for ten whole minutes can slowly begin to shift your brain chemistry to a calmer state of being.

Start Small: Just Ten Minutes a Day

Imagine doing that for six days in a row. You will have spent a whole hour just breathing, not demanding anything more of yourself than to just be. Today, the average person spends multiple hours a day looking at their cell phone or computer, consuming rather mindlessly whatever content the algorithms of the internet have generated for them that day. Yet, we often struggle to dedicate a mere ten minutes of our waking hours to recuperating our brains and bodies from the mess of life in these times.

In this way, your simple effort of yoga or meditation becomes a radical action of choosing to pause and tend to yourself in a world that makes it increasingly difficult to do so.

Imagine how our world culture could shift if we all spent just ten minutes a day sitting down to breathe, or just be.

Overcoming Common Obstacles to Building Your Practice

1. The Challenge of Consistency in Your Practice

One thing that hinders many people trying to begin any yoga or meditation practice is getting started and doing a bit every day. Then, once struck by the inevitable unpredictability of life, maybe we miss a few days (or weeks, or months... or years) of practicing. This often causes feelings of shame, guilt, self-criticism, or self-doubt that keep us from going back to try again.

Luckily, a yoga or meditation practice is not like a houseplant or an herb garden. If neglected or "unwatered," it does not die. All one must do is return back to it again.

Yoga is not about perfection. It’s a personal journey, and there are no “levels.” The practice is yours, and it’s always there for you.

At some point, it does not matter so much what lineage you practice, how "good" or "flexible" you are, not even for how long you practice or how long you've been practicing.

What matters is THAT you practice. Even the word itself, "practice," indicates that it is all an ongoing process, with no clear beginning or end.

2. Flexibility and Yoga: You Don’t Need to Be Flexible to Start

Another common barrier people face when starting yoga is the belief that they need to be “flexible enough.” How many times have you heard someone say, “I cannot do yoga because I’m not flexible enough?”

No one takes swimming lessons because they already know how to swim. Everything is a process. And if you feel your limbs and muscles are tight or find any kind of stretching uncomfortable, consider that not only would yoga be helpful for you, but your body might actually need it. Gradually, as you begin trying it out and feeling the benefits, not only will you find your flexibility increasing little by little, but you will likely also begin to observe your initial feelings of self-doubt and self-criticism slowly retracting from your internal dialogue.

Breaking the Myth of Selfishness in Self-Care Practices

3. Feeling Selfish About Prioritizing Yourself

A third reason we often struggle to give ourselves to a mindfulness/wellness practice is the feeling of selfishness. In a world that constantly pushes us to care for others and contribute to the economic and societal machine, choosing to focus on our own well-being can feel "selfish."

This is especially common for those with families, children, or other responsibilities. It can be difficult to justify taking time away from them and from work to practice yoga, meditation, or do literally anything that is just for you.

This belief is ingrained in our culture and is a side-effect of the pressures and pace of our society. However, it’s time to acknowledge that caring for ourselves enables us to better care for our families and communities.

The Benefits of Consistent Self-Care

As you begin to come to your practice more regularly and start to feel the benefits affecting your mind and body, it will inevitably become easier to arrive at your mat, or wherever you practice.

The association that the time you are taking to care for yourself is positively impacting other aspects of your life will begin to clarify. You may reach a point where you find your sleep is so positively impacted by a quick ten minutes of breathing and stretching before bed, that this small ritual, which was once so hard to begin, is now a sacrament in your evening routine.

You may find you have more patience and presence to offer the people in your care because of your newfound time investment in your own well-being.

Conclusion: Starting Your Journey Toward Mindfulness and Wellness

Whatever it may be that brings you to begin your practice does not matter as much as that you have arrived at the beginning of something good.

Be patient with yourself and as radically forgiving to yourself as you are to the people you love the most. Just keep trying.

The yoga waits, and the hardest part of beginning is soon to be a distant, happy memory.

As always, truth is just on the other side of fear.

Just start, whatever it is you know you need to, and your blooming will attest to itself.

XO With love, LEX of the jungle