The right amount of effort

Let’s chat about effort.. how much or how little we invest into our practice… Sometimes in the Mysore room I find myself using one word repeatedly on a given morning and it becomes a theme - recently it was yatnaḥ. This is the Sanskrit word to describe effort, the effort that we put into our practice. We first find this in sutra 1.13:

तत्र स्थितौ यत्नोऽभ्यासः ॥१३॥

tatra sthitau yatnaḥ abhyāsaḥ

From these, practice is the effort to be fixed in concentrating the mind.

‘From these’ is referring to ‘practice & dispassion’ discussed in the previous sutra 1.12. I wrote a blog about that one before ;-) Essentially, in this sutra, we are talking about the time, diligent commitment and strides we take towards stilling the mind. This effort, our best endeavours to bind our awareness onto a point of concentration include āsana, along with the other eight limbs.

So here’s what I am thinking; if I ask you now about your yatnaḥ, you know - you intuitively know if you are tending to your practice lovingly, over a long period of time accepting the bumps along the way, or if you are neglecting it and dipping in occasionally with fierce determination only to leave it again for awhile. Perhaps, your effort is too intense towards āsana, hence neglecting some of the other limbs. I think you know this too.

I get asked about how much practice quite frequently, and I’ve shared that sometimes my practice is long, even stretching to 2 hours; but not every day. Other days it’s short - pranayama, standing and closing with no sequence slotted in. On these days my focus is razor sharp; truth be told more so than on those two hour stretches. Both are valuable and having options in your toolbox to focus the mind is useful, but here is the crux - place just as much value on the short and sweet days! Every practice has something to share with you.

When I was first attempting to learn the count, I used to sit quietly and take myself through the sequence in my mind, counting my way through. I still do this when not on my mat, but wanting to bind my awareness. This is yatnaḥ. I was reminded recently that sharing this with you is valuable. We all get ill from time to time, sometimes it’s more serious and recovery is slower. You can still practise though! Run through the sequence in your mind, maybe you can flex and extend your spine as you breathe with your count - this is yatnaḥ. See if you can count yourself through Surya Namaskar A, then B, then all of standing and even your full practice!

Practice may not always be the way you want it to look, or think it should look, but it is still a practice and the effort that you apply towards finding stillness is your reward.