Consistency – why is it so hard?

Consistency is a quality I am working on. Consistency and discipline in some areas of my life have not been my strongest qualities so far. I tend to start things and leave them half way. I started learning Indian classical dance at 40 and the other day my teacher said I can’t teach you Mana cause you’re not a sincere student, ouch that hurt 😖, I started learning Iyengar Yoga when I was 20 but was never consistent and now my fellow students have become my teachers and I still stop and start my classes. Had I stuck to it I could have been a teacher by now. \r\n\r\n

\r\n\r\nWhat bothers me is my daily routine, how do I motivate myself to do my exercise daily. True my kids with me one week with their dad another does make it hard to have a consistent routine but I know if I practiced consistency and discipline I would find a way to exercise daily. There are times when I have shown great determination, if I really want to achieve something I know I can do it. A foodie like me fasted for 8 days in 2010 and 16 days the next year. Being a Jain, Jains follow Mahavira an omniscient teacher, who taught the middle path, it’s about practising control, the fast is called Pajushan, after my separation I felt I needed a cleansing of sorts and also to prove to myself that if I can have only boiled water from sunrise to sunset for a week, no food of any kind for a week or for the duration of the fast, then I can control what I eat on a daily basis. When faith and grace come into the picture I seem to be able to pull out the strength from somewhere inside of me. \r\n\r\n

\r\n\r\nThis Sunday I cycled 10 kms for a greener more sustainable city, it was tough cause I don’t cycle but because I am so passionate about working with Mother Earth I did it non stop.\r\nSo the trick for me would be to somehow access this strength inside of me when it comes to my daily exercise.\r\n\r\n

\r\n\r\nWhy do I want to exercise daily?\r\nThis body is my holy temple, it has supported me through a lot, protected me, made me feel safe, even when I abused it with the wrong kinds of food when I was in pain and denial, so now as I peel away the layers, let go of the pain, it’s time to worship my body, consistency in exercise would be like praying in this temple, like a Sadhana a spiritual practice, so be it 🧡