Hello Good People!
When I was younger, pre-pregnancies, I practised yoga every day. I loved it so much that I did a three year, part-time yoga teacher training course and I qualified as a yoga instructor. I set up my own little business and taught for about two years.
I loved the classes - mostly ladies. I think I'm a teacher in my soul. Every time I learn something new I want to teach it! The problem was, I was not great at marketing myself. So, eventually I gave up the teaching as it was not even covering my expenses! Not to worry though, I met some lovely people along the way.
The question I'd like to pose today is how do you all get motivation to exercise? Are you motivated to do exercise that you love doing? Or do you need to find motivation even for exercise that you love? Or, maybe any kind of exercise is easy for you guys?
Personally, I'm finding the older I'm getting the harder it is to motivate myself even to do yoga. As I've told you before, I have two teenage boys and looking after them and my husband (we look after each other, really) keeps me busy. When they are at work and at school I have plenty to keep me occupied and by the time they get home, it's go go go with homework and after school activities. Whenever I get five minutes, I prefer to sit down and take a break! Have a cuppa!
Is that so bad though? To take a break during a busy day? Do I need to feel bad that I have not done any exercise at the end of a busy day, as I climb into bed?
Again, the older I'm getting the more forgiving of myself I am becoming.
I no longer silently scold myself at the end of the day if I have not done some specific exercise routine. I barely sit down all day and when I do I am usually writing some report or assignment. My 'break' is when I get to write to you guys. That's my special treat and it keeps me going during the day. So, I'm done with the Mammy guilt or any other kinda guilt for that matter. I'm done with it because there is one thing I know for sure about myself, as I am sure you all know about yourselves, is that I do the very best I can for me, my family and for others (usually not in that order). That is all I'm ever going to ask of myself from now on! If, at the end of a day, I can truly answer that I did the best I could today - that's alright for me!
Anyway, I digress as I often do! I'm not saying I'm never going to do exercise again. I'm simply saying that when I do exercise it will be enjoyable. For instance, going for walks with friends or Fabio or doing yoga in a class with others. These are my choices lately.
At the moment, I do yoga every Friday with a friend. We are both old yoga pros so we help each other by suggesting poses as we go along. It's very enjoyable and we can go on for as long as two hours sometimes. It's not power yoga. It's more restorative yoga, stretching and breathing and then some more intense poses followed by some meditation. We set the pace. We both agree, we feel great afterwards!
My motivation is human interaction or should I say, my caring network. Of course, I do yoga by myself sometimes but it's not as enjoyable for me. The social aspect is important. I walk by myself too, with my headphones in and it's also quite enjoyable. There is nothing like a walk with a friend though. When we lived in Dublin, I had a walking mate. She would bring her dog and we would walk for over an hour on Sandymount beach or on the Nature Reserve beside the beach. We both felt great after it! We would go at least twice or three times a week.
I've never been one for gyms or swimming pools. I don't like the artificial smells of either place. I much prefer getting exercise out in nature. Perhaps, this stems from my childhood spent in the West of Ireland?! Who knows?
So people, what motivates you to do exercise? Who do you do exercise with? Do you prefer exercising alone? How did you get into yoga? Or are you looking to get into yoga?
I'm very eager to hear your stories! Connect with me!
Namaste, my lovely people!
Maria (that's not me in the picture by the way!)
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