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Practice In Any Amount
In Iyengar Yoga, you learn to hold a pose in proper alignment, even using props to help get you there. Once properly aligned, you hold, check in with your body, watch where you weaken and make the effort to bring yourself back into proper alignment. My instructor would tell her class, “reach in any amount,” “stretch in any amount,” “lift in any amount.” We’d bring awareness to our bodies and decide how much reach we had in us, how much stretch we wanted to give, or how much lift we felt comfortable. Eventually, “any amount” became my mantra off the mat.
“Practicing in Any Amount” means checking in with yourself to assess how much effort you’ve got in you for whatever you’re facing. It’s not a one-and-done decision. It’s regularly checking in and making a decision.
What I discovered in my yoga class was that I was the kind of person that heard “any amount” and translated that into “give more than what you’re giving right now.” She’d say “reach in any amount” and I’d reeeaaaaaccchhh, only to find myself too sore to move the next two days.
That was exactly how I operated in my life off the mat, as well. If I wasn’t giving my all, I wasn’t giving enough, and I’d end up mentally exhausted. It took time to realize that “any amount” could mean “this is already enough” or even, “give less than this.”
“In any amount” means that even if you decide to give zero effort, you are still practicing. Because it’s not about the amount of effort you give, it’s about the amount of participation. Deciding to give zero effort or deciding to give 110% is going to change your life once you realize that it’s the deciding part that makes the difference.
When you check in with yourself and own your decisions, the messiness of life starts cleaning itself.