A frequent conversation I have with would be students/clients goes something like this: "I think someone is going to attack me, I need to learn self defense!" or, "it's almost summer, and I need to lose 40 lbs before next weekend!" or "Things are really crazy, and I just don't think I can take it anymore. I need to learn to meditate."
So, all these are awesome reasons to start a practice (Martial arts, Diet/exercise, Yoga/Meditaiton respectively). But all these arts (And most arts, probably) require some time before thy become actually useful.
As a species, we tend not be very proactive. We tend to put things off until we NEED to address them. Often that means we have to sort of play catch up, and someti
mes we never get to the point where our practice actually benefits us in the moment. That's bad, primarily because it's not useful to you, and you invested some time, effort and maybe money in the process. But its also bad, because you come away from the experience with the feeling that your chosen art doesn't work. (We can explore arts that work/don't work, and why in a later post....)
So, if that's you, in that crisis state.... Please start your practice, and keep up wi
th it. I promise it will help in the future. But realistically, you're gonna have to be patient. And For sure, starting a long term practice while in a state of crisis is rough.
If you're not in a crisis state, please start your practice and keep up with it. If it's a martial art, practice your Kata once a day. If it's an exercise regimen, Do some kind of exercise every day, maybe even just a walk, or some push ups. If it's mediation/yoga, sit and meditate for five minutes, every day.
Sure, you can do more. But just doing a little bit every day, consistently is enough to see some rewards, and often sooner than you think. The importa
nt thing is to just start. It doesn't have to be perfect, and actually it doesn't really even need to be correct.
By making that start, you lay a foundation. And by consistent practice you start building on that foundation. So when your crisis/emergency occurs, you've already got something to fall back on.
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