Motivation

Motivation is a strange beast.  The driving force which carries us through a task.  At the start, the newness was its own motivation.  Doing something new has always had a strong pull as a motivator for me, and without a transition into other forms of motivation my interest can wain.

Thinking back, I think that excitement was the motivator I found second, and that lasted quite some time.  The speed at which I developed in my postures was quicker in the beginning, I was meeting and getting to know new teachers at the studio, and my personal challenge was a regular topic of discussion.

In the middle of my initial thirty days, when I felt like I was breaking down, and the newness and excitement had somewhat tarnished, I had to change gears and rely on determination.  Determination is a nice way of saying that I am stubborn, a trait which sometimes works out to my benefit.

Perhaps one of the most dangerous motivators is habit, which is where I feel like I am now.  Dangerous because it is less actively motivating than the previous three.  100 days is so far off that it is hard to draw motivation from, and so I try not to think about what exact day I am on or how many classes I have done.

I think those have been my major motivators over the last several weeks, though certainly there have been less constant ones.  Ego more than once has offered its form of motivation, especially, as mentioned, in triangle pose.  Subtly different than ego, the desire to impress has also motivated me from time to time.

For day thirty, when my sister was in town to celebrate, I think there were many strong motivators that came into play.  I was excited to be finishing the thirty days, I wanted to see just how well I could do at the postures, and I had a strong drive to do my very best, more so than any other time I have walked into that room.

I think that it is important to bring motivation into the room anytime you practice, whether or not you take the care to identify it.  The more motivation you can bring, the more energy the class has, and the easier it is for everyone.  If you have abundant motivation, others around you will feel it.  Conversely, if your motivation is waning, feel free to draw from outside yourself.

Namaste.