LOST YOUR DRIVE FOR
DOWN DOG? Not getting that same
post-savasana sweetness? Are you tired
after class, feeling edgy and wishing you
had just stayed in bed? Do you feel like
you’ve hit a yoga plateau?
Sounds like you’ve got yoga burnout
to some degree. Yep, it’s a real thing. It’s
a place ripe with rigidity and a hole easy
to fall into when you forget why you love
practising yoga. You go from springing
out of bed in the morning to ‘salute the
sun’ to seeing ‘tadasana’ as just another
pose you have to tick o the to-do list.
So how did you get here? In a
contemporary and busy world, we’ve
somehow managed to take this ancient
practice – originally intended to cultivate
peace, physical balance, focus and ease- and turned it into just another
‘competition’. Or we do it because
mindfulness is ‘so hot right now’. They
say that how you do one thing is how you
do all things. I believe this to be pretty
true. So how’s your yoga practice? And
how’s your love life? Your job? Your health?
Your connection to others? Are you gentle,
kind and curious? Do you practise and
live without expectations? Are you self-
accepting, open to possibilities and brave?
Or are you impatient, pushy and always
comparing yourself to everyone else? The
latter pushes you towards burnout faster
than you can say ‘namaste’.
What you practise on the mat is what
you take with you o the mat. Every time.
I’ve personally never hit yoga burnout like
I see a lot of my students do, but I have hit
yoga teaching burnout. And it looks
like this: I lose my edge. Joy, playfulness
and curiosity dissolves, and my sense
of creativity disappears. I feel scattered,
vague and, worst of all, I forget to drop
into intuition – the best place to live,
love, play, practise and teach yoga.
But here’s the thing: It’s the same
whether you’re a student of yoga or a
teacher, or whether you’re a professional
football player or an entrepreneur.
When what you do and love becomes
all about the hustle, leaving no space
for heart, we lose our edge and stifl e our
creativity. So, if you’re going through your
own yoga burnout, here’s my advice:# 1 WHAT’S YOUR WHY?
Why are you practising? Remember not
what drew you to the mat but why you
stayed. How did the practice make you feel
after those fi rst few classes? The contrast
will help you appreciate the practice.#2 PUT THE MAT AWAY
If you’ve been pushing to overload, it
sounds like your body could do with the
rest. Oh, and PS, yoga isn’t just about
the postures. Read up on yoga philosophy
and ways of living, as that knowledge
will add a di erent dimension to your
physical practice when you go back.#3 GO SLOW
The slower you move, the more deeply you
feel. So when you’re ready to step back
on the mat, move slowly. Often, as I start
teaching my classes, we play a game where
I get everyone to imagine we’re swimming
in a room of honey. The idea is that we
slow down every movement as if moving
through something sweet and thick. It
becomes more like a moving meditation
and less of a cardio regimen. You’ll also
avoid fatigue by tuning in and really
listening to your body.# 4 MIX IT UP
Shake things up and try something new.
If you’re a heavy user of vinyasa, power
yoga, ashtanga or any of the more dynamic
forms of yoga, switch it up! It could be a yin
yoga class, a new studio or perhaps a new
teacher. It doesn’t mean goodbye, it just
means ‘I want to see other people for a
bit’. Let’s call it an open relationship.#5 NAMASTE TO NOURISH
Once a week replace your yoga class with
a meditation or relaxation class or simply
go for a walk in nature. The healing
power of the great outdoors is intensely
nourishing and will have some of the same
relaxing e ects as yoga does. Enjoy. WF’s resident yogi, Kate Kendall,
has the fi x if you do...Do you
have yoga
burnout?
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