How do you cultivate consistency? You build it.

The nature of consistency is to cultivate grit. That means to build courage, determination, and your strength of character. Consistency is making a commitment not just to the daily actions you take everyday but in dedicating yourself to creating a palpable sense of inner stability. To be stable, is to be firm, solid, and not likely to give way. To create a palpable sense means to work through weak or challenging areas by strengthening them over time. Therefore, the true nature of consistency is stability.

In my beginning years of yoga practice, I did many repetitions of an isolated exercises. Imagine, trying to hold your arms out in a T position for 4-6 minutes straight! It’s extremely difficult and in the first minute I shook, my mind screamed, I couldn’t find my breath, I was uncomfortable seated, my muscles burned and I just wanted to put my arms down… So, I did. In that moment, I felt defeated because others around me kept going, then my teacher said, “If you need to stop, you stop but you start again…” When I heard that, I realized, my journey doesn’t stop here because I put my arms down. This is where I begin because I can go back to where I started an build from there. That is the role of consistency, to build on little increments of actions as you allow yourself to go a little further, each time your ready to start again. All the work you put in remains inside you. It doesn’t disappear and it’s not forgotten no matter how much time goes by. This is the preparation of endurance and development of the peak quality in stability through consistency.

– Even if you stop. You keep going, you keep building.

J. Circosta, 5/6/2020