Monkey, exhaustion and 3x practice a day

[Guest guest]

Practice six days a week. It's really

insufficient. Don't you want to practice more? Let's say twice

every day. And thinking: I want to become strong and

stronger every day. And if I practice three times a day I

will become ... what then? - And what you want to do

if you feel really bad and tired? Let's break the

body! -<br> The messagge here was very nice to read

about practicing without thinking on the right doing of

the asanas and concentrate on the bandhas or even

breathing. If we're deciding to do ashtanga in my opinion

there is in the same time the decision to do it in one

special way, we want to do it good like all things in our

life. That's the way we've learned in school and

elsewhere. Practicing only for having fun is not very

common. But you can make the experience if you are doing

some thing without thinking about what will comes out

at the end (to become strong) it will be much more

easier, and the practice of ashtanga will become like a

butterfly.<br> But it's hard especially in ashtanga yoga where

the progresses are quickly done (you will become

stronger), it's hard to do it only for fun. There is a way

to handle with this (and with other monkey minds). I

visited first time a workshop with Lino and did first

time a practice five times a week. I really feeled not

exhausted, even I am 38 years. My wife said: you're not

dead, did you really practice yoga? The main thing is

the breath. The way is to bring your thoughts always

back to your breath (then all monkeys will wait till

the end of your practice). And if you breath in the

right way you will not get exhausted but you'll get the

energy. So I think, if I feel exhausted after my practice

I'd lost the feeling for my breath. Then it was a

gymnastic, not a meditation. Instead of thinking of the

breath there was the wish to reach something. But in

yoga there is nothing to do, there is only practice

and breathing. The butterfly also does only fliying

and breathing. No wish to become stronger or get a

good practice, but only being with your body and with

your breath. It's so simple - but so difficult to do

it. <br>If you're really tired what to do? The body

says it to you: make a pause. You don't lose

something. If you learn to hear at your breath, you will

learn to hear also at your body. So you'll get finally

the fine intuition for your body and will get a

cooperation with your body and not an automatically

gymnastic. It's so simple, but so difficult to put it in the

practice. Try it, if you don't try it, you can't reach it!

Forget all monkeys, forget your thoughts to do it well,

breath, breath, hear your breathing, feel it and do the

asana. Lu