Boredom!

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

I work out regularly and practice yoga a few times a week from home using a website that I give monthly payments to for video classes. But recently whilst practicing yoga I simply have no motivation for it anymore and I get bored VERY quickly and end up just leaving it.

I used to get great pleasure from it. I can’t really afford classes at the moment and prefer to practice alone, it’s more personal for me. But I don’t want to have to give it up.

I don’t know - should I shorten the amount sesssion time (I generally try to do around an hour, would 20-30 minutes be enough to get the full benefits)? Or should I just leave it and focus on working out?

Any suggestions or personal experiences would help a lot.

#2

Since “boredom” has come up several times on the board of late…

There are two basic issues with what is labeled “boredom”. The first is that we opt to live in a society replete with over stimulation. As such, our nervous systems are constantly bombarded by chatter, music, traffic, movies, to-dos, and errands.

When we have not cultivated a sensitivity and awareness in our being AND we’re not over stimulated, we then feel as though nothing at all is happening. When we do cultivate that sensitivity and awareness what appears to be very little going on is actually quite a robust experience.

The second element of this has to do with the teaching methodology the OP has selected. Since it is has no relationship, since the practice is taught one place then beamed another, since there is no feedback loop between teacher and student, it is possible that the practice itself isn’t engaging enough.

#3

[QUOTE=Manwathiel;21731]
prefer to practice alone, it’s more personal for me. [/QUOTE]

Describe this, please. You might find some answer there.

#4

My preference is to practice yoga in a class because I love the energy and the heat generated with others. It also feeds my need for community. That being said, I will alternate with different teachers (I practice 3 times a week) as each instructor brings his/her ‘brand’ to the practice and prevents ‘flatlining’. I have recently mixed up my Ashtanga practice with occasional Iyengar and found that it helps me focus and get deeper in some postures.

Being not able to afford to attend class and having to practice on your own may be adding to your feeling of boredom.

#5

Hello,
I just do it for the health benefits and
keep doing it because as we age we loose
muscle, flexibility…
I suggest a change in styles and or in routine
from time to time until you know what really
works for you.
Also, if you do it with the goal of helping others;
you will have one more motivating point.
In any event don’t go beyond your capacity.

Namaste.

#6

Hello,
Many of us do yoga because of its health benefits.
To that end, a good starting point is to read
Perfect Health by Deepak Chopra.

#7

Perhaps you can try and give the monthly payment to a good and live teacher from whom you would receive more than just a few images on a screen, which I am sure will aleviate your boredom soon enough.

#8

My husband has a very cool quote “only boring people get bored”. Maybe it is true.

#9

I recommend reading about yoga from the books
written by authentic yogis. Please read the books
by Swami Rama or Baba Ramdev. Deepak Chopra
is just high profile glamorous personality who is
more interested to be associated with celebrities.
You can compare his health with that of Baba
Ramdev and decide for yourself whose teaching
to follow. I am not favouring Baba Ramdev. But
follow any authetic yogi’s books. That will be the
best.

#10

maybe boredom is yet another trick of the mind to distract us from doing what is beneficial and helpful to our evolution.

#11

[QUOTE=anula;22855]boredom is yet another trick of the mind to distract us from doing what is beneficial and helpful to our evolution.[/QUOTE]

This just became my facebook status update.

#12

[QUOTE=deepak_nath;21862]I recommend reading about yoga from the books
written by authentic yogis…Deepak Chopra
is just high profile glamorous personality who is
more interested to be associated with celebrities…[/QUOTE]

Amen to that. I’m glad you said. It was the very thought lodged in my mind, the very words dancing on my tongue. But I had to move past it. You’ve liberated me.

gordon

#13

Namaskar,
We -ALL- are here on this planet/journey to learn peace/love and to
become wise. Of course, we ALL are at different stages in achieving
these spiritual goals. From the stepping stone we are in now, we should be
looking in all directions for inspiration to fulfill our next step.
The answer may come by doing a Sun Salutation or by reading the Biography of Gandhi or from your next door neighbor, or from the Australian natives, or…, you fill in.

Let’s take from this forum what is suitable to us at this moment of our
evolution and be grateful for it!

Namaste

#14

Hi there,

I had the same feelings too on getting bored on my daily exercise routine. I used to attend yoga classes at the nearest gym from my work place 3-4 times a week. This routine has been 3 years and recently find it bored to attend the same yoga class although different teacher is conducting the class. I recently stop attending yoga classes as i am not motivated at all to hit to the gym after work. But on the other hand i can not afford to stop practising as i am worried my flexibility will be gone over night or i put on weight.

What i did was i added some other exercise to my daily routine , like jogging for 30-40mins around my housing area and immediately continue some yoga practice at home. I find it interesting now. Especially after jogging , our body has warmed up and it is kinda like setting in the exercise mode and more energetic to do more.

Probably u can try on self practice without watching the video. Try to read on some yoga books or magazine and pick some asana to practice on your own. Self practice without a teacher will bring some benefits , eg. u will tend to understand the pose deeply as you tried out everytime and if u are stuck with that pose , go online and search for the answer or ask anyone here at the forum and discuss it.

Below are some of my daily routine for self practice, just for sharing :

  1. 5 mins warm up - cat cow pose to stretch your spine , and butterfly pose for hips rotator.
  2. 15 mins - 10 rounds of sun salutation.
  3. 15 mins - triangle pose , warrior 1 to 3 , dancer pose ,tree pose , side plank.
  4. 10 mins - cool down , add in some twisting pose , sitting forward bend, fish pose and child pose.

Hope this helps :slight_smile:

Love and peace.
cass

#15

Doing yoga right after any intensive physical exercise is not
advisable. That will miss the real point in doing yoga. If one
does so then yoga will be nothing more than a flexibility
exercise. If your aim is just that then fine but it will not
help you go beyond that. After intensive exercise one
should rest and allow breathing to be normal. After that
one can start with yoga. Also, typically, after intensive
exercise one is tired. And one must not be tired before
starting yoga. So I recommend rest in between.

Regards,
Deepak

#16

[QUOTE=deepak_nath;23467]Also, typically, after intensive
exercise one is tired. And one must not be tired before
starting yoga. So I recommend rest in between.[/QUOTE]

How much time do you recommend? I typically work out at a gym at noon and practice yoga at 6:30 that evening. Hasn’t affected me too much.

#17

30 mins gap is fine according to me. And of course even if
you don’t observe the gap it will “not affect”. But then you
will not be able to reap the full benefit of yoga. It will not
be felt like relaxation. It will sound like “exercise”.

#18

completely agree that as we age we lose flexibility and its a good physical exercise too so y not continuing it? just to get out of the boredom…just an half an hour of practice may not create a problem at all…

#19

Getting bored in yoga itself means that yoga is not
being done in the right way. Proper practise of yoga
makes you relaxed and calm and still. Well I can’t
exactly describe this state in words but for sure this
very state is not something one would get bored in.
So getting bored while doing yoga means the
practisioner is somehow in hurry to finish it, waiting
to finish his cycles/rounds etc. This itself is a wrong
way. That means something is lacking in the practice
which is preventing the practisioner from enjoying
it and so s/he is waiting to finish cycle quota of the
day. I suggest that if this is happening, try to do
the yogic techniques more slowly so that one can
feel them and be conscious in those states. If you
do it in rush, of course you will miss the 'experience’
and then it will be reduced to some mechanistic
process waiting to be finished at the earliest, and
so will cause boredom.

When you do yoga, tell yourself that you are doing
it to experience the special states, so go slow. Try
to be conscious. Though in order to measure our
progress we need to use cycles/rounds in Yoga, it
is unwise to treat those cycles/rounds like those in
Gym excercise.

The ideal scenario is that one should be able to
enjoy it, like an evening relax walk. One doesnt wait
for it to finish quickly, though it comes to an end
at some stage in natural way.

Regards,
Deepak

#20

I experienced this while swimming the other day – this is something that my husband remembers being very good at (he’d go to state as a high school swimmer more than a dozen years ago) and I . . . well, my mom was afraid we’d all drown, so I am very much learning how to swim and be comfortable in the water.
Last night the idea of being at the pool was irritating in a peculiar way, and I confided to my husband that I was bored with swimming. He remarked (in his lovable, non-biting but sarcastic way) “Huh, swimming laps is boring? I never would have noticed.” But then he told me how to get through the two hour practices he would do way back when: you find something to work on. Which my yoga ears took to mean, don’t let just your body do the swimming – use it as self study, and get all of you into the pool.
It definitely got interesting, as I noticed the cracks in my form before they became downright shatters, and experimented with ways to keep my ribs and my pelvis in communication with each other.