Friday, January 18, 2013

THE SNOWFLAKE SPEECH, AGAIN

Listen, I know your mother told you that you were a delicate and unique snowflake.

But you're not.

Let me back up.

I understand that waking up at 5 a.m. (or earlier) to practice Yoga seems outlandish, extreme, or perhaps just uncomfortable.

But you are not "not a morning person."

We are tied to the earth's cycle of day/night by millions of years of evolution, also known as our  circadian rhythm.

Your DNA still thinks it's 2 billion years ago, and therefore you --- yes you --- thrive best when you see the sun rise (this suppresses melatonin) and set (this boosts it).

However, what I do understand is that you have developed over many years the habit of staying up late for TV, movies, email, Facebook, or conversation.

You also consume caffeine and sugar and other stimulants.

I also understand that waking up early is uncomfortable, and can be difficult and challenging.

You stay up late because you've never had the reason or impetus to develop the discipline to get up early. You've trained yourself to not wake up early.

Point being, we're both adults here, so please let's skip the "I'm not a morning person" bullshit. We can both recognize it as the excuse it is.

Look, I get it. I did this practice at 7 a.m. daily for more than 10 years (a habit I've now given up due to teaching; please note that I also choose not to practice at 4 a.m.)

Waking up that early means going to be a bit earlier, drinking a bit less booze, perhaps watching the night-time food intake a little bit, shutting down the computer at a certain point, saying goodbye to friends --- it means, in effect, getting your shit in order.

This is tough, and like I said, I get it. 

It may just be that Ashtanga is not enough to spark the flame in you to look at and perhaps change these habits.

This is absolutely fine! You're just not that into it! There is nothing wrong with this.

So in the future, please just say, "I'm just not interested in morning Ashtanga enough to change my habits."

Or "I'm just not that into it."

Stay tuned for the next installment, The Kid Speech.