“Undoubtedly the mind is difficult to subdue and is restless but it can be controlled by constant practice and renunciation. One who is unable to control his mind, for him yoga is very hard to attain, but by self-willed persons striving properly it can be achieved”

- Bhavad Gita

Nowadays a lot is said about self-discipline in blogworld and you will easily find 10+ books on personal discipline in every book store. World’s trend is getting more and more effective in our family life, our work and our practice and the first step to being effective is to gain stronger discipline and get motivated.

Since I first discovered yoga 7 years ago I’ve had many failures in setting up my daily practice. Many times I started and many times I left it for various reasons, feeling miserable again and again. It often happens in the same way: in the evening you promise yourself to start a new life tomorrow.. and in the morning you postpone it till next day. “I have to prepare my breakfast now, I will wake up earlier tomorrow and double-practice” you tell yourself. Or “I will let myself sleep for another 10 minutes. I simply cannot wake up”. Any reason works, if you don’t have enough discipline and motivation.

Discipline is one of yoga niyamas that should be developed prior to deeper practice.

“Self-discipline is like a muscle. The more you train it, the stronger you become. The less you train it, the weaker you become”

- Steve Pavlina

I accumulated several advices I want to share. A great number of other bloggers give own interpretation of these, and I want to emphasize the aspect of daily practice as a part of your life.

1. Start with small things

Should it be 15 minutes daily practice, or a few body cleaning procedures, or one healthy meal a day, or waking up 15 minutes earlier, - you should start with something small that will make you feel good. Something that you definitely can do. Do not start with difficult things you won’t accomplish. Don’t promise yourself to stop eating all the chocolate. Promise you will eat only 1 piece at a time. Don’t promise yourself a one hour morning practice if you did nothing previously. Instead, make a promise on 10 minutes that will bring you joy. Think on your goal and go slowly.

2. Try not to postpone

There are a few benefits of morning practice: first is the impact on your mood and emotions through the new day and second is getting your promise actually done. The longer you postpone the less chance you have to accomplish your to-do today. When you just start developing self-discipline, try to fulfill your promise as early as possible. Later on you will have enough mind power to do it at any time of the day.

3. Never miss a practice day

It is very important not to miss a single time. If you miss one, - your discipline level will fall, you will make an excuse for yourself and it will be much harder not to miss another one (of course this doesn’t apply to cases when we simply cannot train due to independent reasons). There’s no sense to make this difficult practice even harder. Try to keep your schedule, try not to miss. Be strict, honest, compassionate and loving with yourself. Just lay a yoga mat and let your practice happen… J

4. Make a strong practice motivation

Motivation is what drives us through tough times. Before you start any training or habit development, put a goal or several goals important to you. Having a goal is a must as you will probably reach a moment when you ask yourself “Why am I doing this? I can have another 15 minutes of sleep…” Your motivation should be so strong that you can deal with obstacles you meet. Do you want to get healthier? Decide what body parts you care of most. Imagine how happy you will be once you get healthy.

If you want to get calmer and more balanced, try to define what life aspects it should touch. You could wish to stop getting angry and irritated at people around you. Or smile more often.

Record your motivation list. Making visual reminder of your goal will be of great help: you can take a video reminding you of it, or write a paper mail with thanks and emotions you will feel upon reaching it, or draw it as a reminder on the ceiling, or ask your significant one to remind you about it.. anything. Be as creative as possible, help yourself. The only restriction with setting goals is: your goals should not harm other people. In fact, the more people will get good impact from your practice, - the more valuable your motivation is. Keep it in mind, - you aren’t practicing for yourself only. You do it for all the people around you, even if it is not that obvious in the beginning.

5. Positive thinking

I would call it the most important point. All previous advices and the practice itself will not work if you do not enjoy it. Get happier with your practice. Feel the need in it. Enjoy the way you stretch your muscles, or breathe pranayama, or meditate in silence. Think of practice impact on your health and discipline. Make it easy, do it without inner tension and start smiling when you notice that you frown.

6. Creating rituals

Monks have very simple lives. They practice, gather donations, they teach, they practice again, they do some necessary work, and they practice while doing work. They don’t overload themselves with 20 tasks a day as people do nowadays (trying to get more effective and staying superficial). Monks repeat this life circle from day to day, from year to year. Spiritual practices they perform have been done for ages by thousands of other people. It made these practices full of energy, full of meaning, full of other people’s efforts.

Repeating your practice with discipline and consciousness will help you to develop a ritual. I call it a ritual because after some efforts, it starts working on its own, supported by your diligence. After some time you will probably notice: your training, just as you start doing it, automatically brings you to the necessary state of mind. With yoga case, it will be enough to lay the yoga mat on the floor as your mind becomes calm and silent.

7. Thinking less

Sometimes we think too much and unnecessarily complicate simple things. This relates to many aspects of our life and practice is not an exception. When you try to change yourself, develop a good habit or give up a bad one, when you try to make your practice stable - try to think as little as possible of those shaking thoughts that undermine your motivation. Once you catch yourself on such a thought, gently ignore it. Tell yourself that you will think about it in three weeks when you get used to your new practice. Smile at it and simply stop thinking. Replace it with other kind of thought: light, motivating, encouraging. Repeat it every time negative thought appears, and soon you will notice that they slowly go away, not supported by your interest.

8. No self-punishment

I believe I read this advice in Leo’s ZenHabits blog and this is about being tolerant with yourself. Sometimes we set too difficult goals, sometimes we forget our motivation and sometimes we get influenced by world outside. Take it easy, smile and keep going further. Take a deep breath, analyze what prevented you from reaching your goal, remember it and try again. Again and again, and your discipline will grow step by step.

Yoga is not about torturing ourselves; it is all about mind control and open heart.

9. Stay with a practice for some

If you are just starting with some practice direction, - try to dedicate some time to it. Do not jump immediately from one practice to another one. Usually the practice you meet or get interested in isn’t accidental. Try to make most of it, think on its impact to your individuality and body. Question yourself how you can get deeper into it, how you can change yourself with it. Your practice will change and get more specific with time, once you reach a new interest, a new layer of it.

Be creative%