Body & mind.

My favourite yogini, Katja. Pics by me.

I do a lot of hard workouts. As a matter of fact, around 80 % of my own workouts are really intense. Now, you don't have to be a fitness guru to know there's something wrong with that. 

In my defence: I instruct a lot of group fitness classes with a variety of intensities. That means that I really don't need any light jogging or dancing on my free time, I get plenty of that at work. But just to balance things, I should do some yoga, stretching or any other type of light exercise to recover better. Something to improve flexibility and give me peace of mind.

Why can't I do it?

I've discussed this a lot with my friends and coworkers. I need to achieve stuff, feel that I'm really good at something and beat myself every time I do something. I set realistic (and sometimes unrealistic) goals for myself and work my butt off to get there. It feels really difficult for me to do something just because it's fun. Ridiculous, isn't it?

We're all driven by different things. I'm the type of person to be driven by extrinsic motivation. That means that I really like numbers and setting goals - I get really motivated when I see a change in myself, whether that's a change in physique or attitude. I'll learn to like the actual workouts eventually. Doing something just because I like it feels like a waste of time, when I could be doing something really productive. 

I stress easily and lose sleep over silly things, because I feel like I can't let go...

What should I do about it?

Now, I know that I like yoga. I actually reach the yoga state of mind - serenity - quite easily. I should just convince myself that I really need yoga. It would improve my stress levels and therefore help me reach my goals more easily. It would most definitely help me fall asleep at night (and in case I wake up, I could fall asleep again with a relaxation exercise). Yoga would also improve my flexibility and core strength, and by increasing the flexibility in my hips I'd get better results at the gym.

How do I get started?

I should definitely make yoga a part of my weekly workout schedule. If you've been reading carefully, you've seen that I've already done that. I do everything I promise and more. Sometimes I exceed my weekly workouts by a few quick jogs. Maybe I would feel better if I exchanged those jogs into yoga sessions or pole dancing classes with my trainer? Oh, yes.

I'll start right now. Ommmmmmmm...

Have you ever encountered a similar problem? It doesn't have to be about yoga, or any exercising for a matter of fact.

Hope you're having the best Wednesday,

Love,

Ulrika

Have you had motivational problems? How did you get through it?