This past week I have not been feeling very motivated to do yoga. One day I even decided to clean my bathroom to avoid going to yoga class. I just felt like watching America’s Next Top Model, and absolutely not do yoga. Why does this happen? What should I do about it?

Turns out, nothing. I just waited it out. Ate some chocolate and read a good book about a journalist that attended the cooking school Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. My theory is that if you do a lot of anything, even if it’s yoga and something you like doing, at some point you’re going to need a break. But it’s scary, and you start asking yourself if you’ll ever get back to it. Most likely you will. In fact, if you keep pushing yourself you might run a higher chance of leaving your yoga practice forever. It’s better to take a three day break and do something else, than take a three year break because you pushed yourself too much.

When you have experienced the physical and mental benefits of a consistent yoga practice, you will come back to it even if you go off track for some time. After a week of not feeling present on the mat and often avoiding yoga all together, I woke up this morning and discovered my motivation had returned. Mysterious. I did absolutely nothing, but maybe that’s exactly what I needed.