It’s easy to sit back and see someone else doing something that we wish we could do. Then we try once, or twice and because we can’t do it as well as that other person we decide that we can’t do it and just give up.
Or we don’t even bother to try because we know we won’t succeed at first.
But we forget, that other person has probably been practicing for weeks, months, years, to get to where they are, and we are only seeing the sum of all that work. We don’t see all their fails, frustrations and moments of doubt.
A few weeks back I threw “Wild Thing” into my Monday night yoga class. A few people tried it, a few people laughed at the thought of trying it, a few people flat-out said they couldn’t do it. And that’s cool – you don’t have to try something if you don’t want to, but if it’s something you’d like to be able to do – give it a chance. Maybe you’re not ready to flip over, but you can still take the first step towards it.
Maybe you try something you’d like to be able to do and you fall, maybe you don’t – but one thing is for sure, if you don’t practice, you won’t make progress.
Yoga is something I love, but also something that continues to elude me. I’ve become good at working on my daily practice – but not my daily asana practice. That, is something that I still struggle to fit into my day. Not because I’m so busy I can’t find time to spend 10 minutes moving through a short flow. Because I simply haven’t made it a priority.
I keep saying that I will. But then I don’t.
I’ve become so much better at self-care, meditation and taking the time to look inwards, but I still struggle at finding the time each day to practice on my mat.
And yet I admit to being jealous when I see other’s posting poses I haven’t yet mastered. A jealousy I have no right in feeling because they have put in the time. They’ve practiced. I have not. So of course they have progressed further than I have. It would be unfair if they hadn’t.
But how often do we do just that? For me, it’s more often than I’d like to admit.
So once again, I find myself sitting here, thinking about how I’m once again writing about how I want to bring a daily practice to my mat.
But will this time be different? I don’t know.
But I do know one thing, at least acknowledging what I want to do, and recognizing where I’m falling short of my own expectations already helps me progress further than doing and saying nothing.
And for a little added motivation, some fun new workout clothes are always a great way to get me excited to move. So to kick off my goal of hitting my mat daily, I put on my new capris and sports bra from SKINS to get me jazzed to flow!
SKINS is a line of compression wear designed to help improve power, speed, stamina and recovery. Endorsed by the APA (Australian Physiotherapy Association), SKINS are pretty new to the Canadian market but I’m sure you’ll be hearing more about this brand in the coming months!
[Tweet “Practice makes progress – you need to do the work to see the results. “]
These pieces are seriously high-tech! How high-tech? Well check this out:
SKINS INCREASES ENDURANCE PERFORMANCES BY:
• Increasing blood flow velocity
• Increasing muscle oxygenation
• Reducing blood lactate at submaximal intensities
SKINS INCREASES POWER BY:
• Increasing force production
• Increasing lower body proprioception
SKINS REDUCES THE RISK OF INJURY BY:
• Reducing swelling – as defined by limb circumference
One other thing I really like is when practicing poses that require a lot of core and lower body strength, the compression fit of the capris especially helps you focus on contracting your muscles to provide the best foundation for whatever crazy post you might be working on. 😉
And I don’t think I need to tell y’all how great these would be for both running in and strength training!
One thing you can’t tell from the photos is that the straps in the bra are slightly padded, making it much more comfortable than most. I wouldn’t wear it for and high impact activities but it’s great for strength training and *ahem* yoga – which is where it’ll most be used anyway.
If you are looking for some fun new workout gear (that helps you workout and recover faster!) check out SKINS online at SKINS.net and if you want to join me in my quest to FINALLY achieving a daily mat practice let me know in the comments or by sending me an email at suzi@confessionsofafitnessinstructor.com.
I hope you are all having a wonderful week, and I’ll talk to you soon!
Disclosure: I was provided with SKINS capris and sports bra in order to facilitate this post. All opinions expressed are my own.