If you want to become a real yogi, the first question I want to ask is: “Do you have a yoga teacher?” If we jump around among teachers without any consistent guidance, I don’t think we can have “serious” practice.
Each of us needs a teacher who will understand our personal situation, personality and mistakes, and hope to lead us on a path that will help us open up our own path and develop with our personal development.
What does it take to become a “real yogi”? Now comes the next question: How often should we practice yoga if we want to be “serious” about yoga? Before we had children, my wife, Nicki Doene, and I sometimes practiced six hours a day (which I realized was extreme).
Since we had children, we have been able to spend two hours every day.
But in the first few years, we have experienced regular practice, which has made my body more profound.
This allows me to practice more quickly and achieve the same effect.
Regardless of the student’s interest in yoga (asanas, chanting, meditation), I encourage the student to practice daily or at least regularly.
Malcolm Gladwell quoted a theory in his book that it takes 10000 hours of practice (10000 hour rule) to become an expert in any field.
Even if a student practices yoga for 12 hours a week, the total time of a year is only 624 hours, which means that it takes more than 16 years to become a yoga expert (according to the theory).
Personally, I have practiced for more than 32 years, and most of the time I still feel like a beginner! Define your personal goal No matter whether you are trying to master more advanced poses or just starting to practice, my advice is: do your best to practice yoga.
Everyone has different requirements.
I know you will be happy if you only need to practice for 3 minutes every day.
But that really doesn’t work.
Some people are born yogis, while others need a lifetime.
It can take years to master a posture.
When we try to put our bodies in an unprepared position, we get hurt.
That’s not to say that we can’t work hard for challenging poses…
But it’s a process: we start a pose, deal with it, and finally finish it.
You can become a yoga master, rather than a master of postures, or you can master multiple postures, but never become a yoga master.
For me, yoga masters have realized the tranquility of life.
The most astute masters will tell you that they are still struggling.
If not, please be careful.
Those who say I have been enlightened remain vigilant…
