Commitment ain't Easy
- Oren Zaslavsky
- Nov 15
- 6 min read
Dear Friend,
I hope you are enjoying the beautiful colors of Autumn as I am. The days are definitely getting shorter, which means it’s a great time to do some indoor activities (like yoga :)
We are living in challenging times…
There are so many sources of distraction all around us, not all bad. We have access to an unfathomable amount of knowledge at the palm of our hand while at the same time it feels like superficially has completely taken over most aspects of our life. Our attention tends to hop from one casual thing to another — scrolling aimlessly down our screens, consuming anxiety soothing content for temporary relief, going down a rabbit hole of impulsive online shopping, and communicating with our fellow human beings through emojis and abbreviated text. Of course, not everyone lives like that, but it sure seems like most of us do, at least to some extent.
I don’t mean to be bleak, as I mentioned we also have access to valuable resources that humans have never had before, we have many communication channels that allow us to easily connect to all corners of the earth, and we are living in the most prosperous and safe era in the history of human kind (even if following the news gives a different impression). Nevertheless, what I find somewhat troublesome is that we may be missing out on the potential fulfilment that we can get from truly committing to something, from diving deep into it.
Commitment can be a double edge sword, on the one hand it requires spending much time and effort, and more important — consistency, which is the most essential factor in any process of growth or development, and often is the biggest obstacle. On the other hand, we get profound rewards for our efforts. The fulfilment we can get from actually sinking our teeth into something is much greater than taking a small bite from many different things. For most of us, commitment is not something that can be artificially manufactured, it can only stick if it is genuine, if there is true passion and drive behind it which is rooted in a belief that whatever it is we are dedicated to has real benefits.
Often a conflicting internal dialogue arises, whether consciously or unconsciously. Part of us knows there is real value in whatever we are pursuing, say yoga for example 😉, while at the same time another part of us often lacks motivation to actually do it. We may notice certain forces within us that pull in other directions, wanting to stay at home and chillax, or go out for a drink, or do anything else that requires little effort and maybe give us some short lasting reward. It’s a negativity bias that is very common in humans, we rather minimize the difficulties than increase or deepen the rewards. This is a natural phenomena among out species, nothing to feel guilt or shame about, we all share this pattern.
It is no coincidence that people who are fully committed to something, for the most part, at least from my observation, often carry some past trauma or severe difficulties that brought them to be dedicated to an endeavor with passion. When I was in Mysore (India) practicing intense yoga for about a year, I noticed that the vast majority of my fellow enthusiast yoga practitioners, many of whom have fully devoted themselves to yoga, had all sorts of past issues, from acute depression, to abuse, to disease or other health condition. For most of them, yoga was perceived as their savior, the thing that completely changed their life and took them out of the low point they were in a place of happiness, fulfilment, health and wellbeing. And if I’m honest, I feel the same way.
I’ve been giving this topic a lot of thought in the past 12 years of teaching yoga fulltime, wondering what makes some people more committed to the practice than others, and if there is anything I can do to encourage more commitment. From my own subjective experience, yoga, when done consistently and effectively, is a transformative process that significantly improves life on all levels, and I feel a strong urge to share these benefits with others. Life is not too long, and I want to live it with as much positive impact on others as I possibly can. At the same time, I have to remain humble and acknowledge that it is not the case for everyone. For some it is just a nice thing to do occasionally that for one reason or another doesn’t work on this deep level that I am experiencing. I know and accept this fact and I find it to be very much ok!
When I reflect back to my early days of practicing yoga, I remember that I did see its potential to change my life for the good from the get go, but for the first year or two I was an on and off practitioner. I would practice regularly for a few weeks and then the flow of life took me elsewhere and I would be off yoga for some time only to come back to it when the circumstances allowed it. At some point in time I consciously decided to go all in, I realized that I have a strong tendency to avoid any kind of commitment in all aspects of my life and recognized that it is preventing me from living life to its full potential. And so, I decided to devote myself to two things simultaneously, to yoga and to learning how to play the guitar. It was an experiment I made to see what real commitment feels like and what long term results come from it. I took a secular vow and laid out its terms — for yoga it was a minimum of 2 years, 3-4 times per week, consistently, no quitting allowed. I purchased an unlimited membership with the local yoga studio, and started attending classes regularly. As part of the deal I made with myself, after 2 years I will reassess and examine if it is actually worth it or not, and if I see no real benefits I will just quit. And here I am give or take 18 years later.
At first I tried lots of different teachers and styles, it was exciting to discover all the different approaches and effects that yoga can have. But after a year or so I realized that this was another form of avoiding commitment, and so I stuck with only two teachers that I really liked for a while. Later on, as my practice evolved, I switched my exclusivity to other teachers, but never more than 2-3 at a time and usually for at least a year each, some for much longer. Eventually I also committed to only one style, and then developed my own mish-mash style and the commitment became predominantly to self-practice. Early on I was also drawn to workshops and all sorts of talks and events in order to clinch my thirst for expanding my yoga horizon and deepening my practice.
To summarize, everyone has their own way of committing to something, there is no right or wrong way, whatever translates to consistency works. If there is no real drive that is bubbling under the surface and wants to burst outward then it might have to be relying on some willpower or deliberate decision at first, but it will probably not stick if there is no belief in it, if there is no resolve.
Some people are just not made to commit to some things, while they may commit to others. No one can commit to everything, we can only commit to very few endeavors, and if we also want to have fulfilling relationships then they too require some kind of commitment that is demanding of our time and effort. In the yoga tradition this phenomena is called karma, it is our past actions and experiences that determine what drives us in the present, maybe even our past lives (if you subscribe to that) have something to do with it. Living a good life is also about embracing our own unique karmic conditions. The simple fact is that the effort and time we put into something determines how much we get out of it, and some of us can only put in whatever is available.
It’s important to acknowledge that whether you’re an on and off yoga practitioner, or you are a regular, or even if you live as a fully devoted yogi or yogini, you are wonderful as you are. If at some point there is a light bulb moment that yoga has deeper potential that you’d like to explore, I would recommend to give it a fair chance for at least a year, sticking to it no matter what just so you can properly test if it works on this level or not. And if that time never comes it doesn’t really matter, you can still live a happy and fulfilling life focusing on other things that will bring lots of profound value as well.
Would love to know what you think about it!
If you find yourself curious about these kinds of topics - join a workshop, a retreat, or any other event on offer.
Looking forward to sharing yoga with you in November & December.
Wishing everyone peace and happiness,
Oren
♡
Check out the entire Newsletter:
Comments