All of us who practice yoga know that consistency is essential to good yoga.

But consistently it is not always forthcoming, and when it slips, as it has periodically form me, I have wondered what to do about it.

My solutions have been hit or miss. Sometimes of course the circumstances can interfere with a good yoga routine, but often it is more internal than external. Our attitude to a discipline we may have been engaged in for decades may need a new spark. Marriages and friendships work this way, so why not yoga?

All of us yogis have probably felt a bit embarrassed when consistency has slipped and a week or more has passed without hitting the mat. If we have lapsed longer and our body starts reminding us, then we must look around for our lost mat, dust it off, and get on it.

Yet, despite my good intentions, often starting daily sessions again meant lapsing again. However, now over six months have passed without missing a day, all because of a simple solution, which I want to share. I needed a new approach, and it came to me when I recognized I was demanding too much of myself and raising the bar so high that I was looking upon my yoga sessions with a weary glance and not the enthusiasm I liked to have. My new “solution” is simple and is working. It can be expressed in only three words: “less is more.”

A little about my yoga background is in order. My 50-year old body was seasoned by surfing, monkey bars rings, and hiking when I began my yoga on a suggestion from a friend, Denise Kaufman, who taught at Sacred Movement, in Santa Monica, California. I jumped straight into level three classes, always 1.5 hours per session, and intense. It took about a month getting the hang of it, during which time I remained by choice at the back of the class. A few months later I was in the first row and remained there for the next five years or so until I moved to Maui and began solo practice. I really didn’t deserve being in the front. My form was horrible, despite having the strength to do the poses. But, in the front, the air is freshest.

Although my form was never good (and still isn’t), I loved going to the classes so much I would generally do back-to-back level three classes and could do most of the poses except balance poses. I found the camaraderie of being in a class inspirational, and the $1,200 per year pass even more encouraging.

After years at Sacred Movement daily, I sold my house and moved to Maui. One of the big sources of the anxiety as the move drew near was not shifting schools for my kids and settling the family into a new way of life in the Islands; it was, selfishly, anxiety that I could do yoga well at home.

To my surprise my fear proved unfounded, and I developed a consistent daily practice at home, about two hours each session. I would join a class every month or two to get pointers on my form, but otherwise my yoga was at home. (I saved a lot of money and enjoyed the convenience—no $1,200 year passes on Maui.)

In recent years—as I approach 80—my yoga became more sporadic, a few months on and a few months off. In addition to yoga, I have a daily meditation practice, a practice I began as a teen. One day while meditating, my yoga slipped into my awareness and the fact that I was an “on/off yogi” (while my meditation practice was consistent). This struck me in a particularly strong way as something I should remedy. Awareness of my yoga shortcomings came from time to time, always followed by a resolve to get my act together, which meant at least 1.5 hours on the mat—following the time allotted for a level three at Sacred Movement. This time was always considered my minimum and generally would go considerably beyond that.

However, my recent resolve to rekindle my yoga came with a new twist and it has worked far better than my previous resolves. The thought never occurred to me previously that perhaps if I reduced my time on the mat, I would be there more consistently. Well, that is exactly what happened. I decided to fix my time at exactly one hour, not a minute more or less. And, I might add that from the start of my yoga practice I have always had a rule never to leave my mat after a session begins, a habit I have maintained since day one. I have had close calls having to pee, but so far, my mat has been dry, and I keep my phone at a distance.

The reduced session time has worked like a charm. I have not missed a day in over six months, and my yoga has gotten stronger and more enjoyable. Taking a step back seemed like admitting defeat to me, but in this case, I am actually probably doing more yoga over an extended period of time than would be the case if my yoga were my previous longer sessions. From day one, my yoga has always been “super-setting” to borrow a weightlifting expression, which simply means resting one muscle group by moving to another without a pause between so that yoga is nonstop. This means that a lot of yoga can be done in an hour. And, because I am not in a class, I can do the asanas my body needs most, rather than many that my body doesn’t (which is the case in a class where the focus is on the group).

I suppose the old trope “less is more” is as true for yoga as it is for many other things in life.

As far as yoga goes, we must enjoy it for it to work. Our body must be fluid and relaxed and our mind free of stress. A “Middle Way” to borrow a Buddhist term, often is the key to success. It has been working for me, and to my fellow yogis and yoginis, if your consistency is failing perhaps make some compromises to get it back. Balance is after all mental as well as physical.

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