Adventures of a Shivanaut

My sticky patch

I kept getting stuck, and I mean like completely and totally, my brain has frozen, why am I stood here with my arms both in horizontal 1 stuck.  I was trying to work through the Level 3 arms – without the DVD, because that just annoys me by going either too slow or too fast depending on whether I’m in the flow or having to work out each step in turn.

My practice habits

I have a habit about how I practice! Yes, it’s a brand new habit, developed whilst I was practicing Shiva Nata – can you believe it!

I don’t say the numbers out loud, they tend to distract me because my arms can work out what they’re doing at Level 1 and 2 without my mouth getting involved.  It’s actually easier for me to do the arms (with or without legs) without saying anything for these.  But at Level 3 this habit failed me!

Trying something new

So, without realising about the habit thing at first, I started talking myself through it (that being another habit of mine – I think best out loud).  One-one, two-two, two-two, three-one, one-three, two-four, four-two, one-one, three-three, ….  Suddenly, the little mini-patterns appear in what I’m saying (even though my arms are convinced that the whole thing is just one great big long random jumble).  Sometimes I say one thing but my arms do another and I’m able to see where I’ve gone wrong because my arms don’t feel like two-four but my mouth knows that two-four is next.  Quick check and ah-yes, I’ve made a mistake, but I’ve spotted it!  I’m aware, I’m conscious of it – this is most excellent, because now I can choose what to do next instead.  (Oh the symmetry!)

The idea for when you’re in a sticky patch

If you find yourself getting stuck and not getting past where you are try changing around whether you do one or both of the moving and the talking.  So if you tend to do one of the following, try another:

• Just do the arms in silence (or with music)
• Talk your way through the sequence moving your arms at the same time
• Just talk through the sequence without moving

What have you tried when you’ve got stuck, and did it help?  Are you stuck now – can you give this a try and let us know how it went for you?

Want to see more? Try one of these posts:

• How to respond to getting it wrong?
• Intentions, visions and epiphanies
• You know you’ve had an epiphany when…