I know it is a strange title for a post but it encapsulates how I sometimes feel about yoga. Yes I love practicing yoga, love teaching yoga and love living yoga, but sometimes there is a 'plodding' quality about my practice and I am coming to understand that this is the natural order of things. Sometimes it seems like the practice has plateaued and postures seem to remain the same for a while with no sense of going deeper either physically or mentally......at first I was a bit frustrated when I noticed this, but I continued to observe if I kept on 'plodding' things eventually moved to the next stage.
These periods of plateau in practice are very valuable to us, I believe it can cause us to have a shift in thinking, or maybe a change of yoga style or teacher. We may then end up reverting back or taking a whole new journey - but it is all about the exploration of the self through yoga.
I have also noticed that sometimes when I have reached one of these plateaus in my asana practice, there is often a progression in meditation or improved sense of presence and consciousness, and lately there has also been a shift in my understanding of yoga philosophy. I have been reading through Patanjali's yoga sutras - which delight, frustrate and intrigue me in equal measure. I remember several years ago I tried to read and understand these ancient yogic texts but then put them to one side thinking I would never understand, but as my physical practice is progressing (slowly) it seemed natural to read through again and amazingly I GET some of it - not a great deal, but some of it seems to now make sense on some level.
So if you feel a bit bored with your current yoga practice or feel stuck in some way - just keep going, you could be on the brink of a major shift either mentally or physically - just keep plodding on!
