Bad Habits in Yoga

There are many bad habits which a yogi has which contravene yoga practice. These behaviors keep the yogi (yogini) at a lower stage no matter what. These do not allow him (or her) to consolidate the advancement.

Behind the struggle with bad habits is the yoga guru who accomplished conquest of that bad habit or who never had to deal with it, but who insists that the yogi must eliminate it to become proficient.

This guru and his (her) energy is vital in the ultimate conquest over the bad habit. Without this energy from that teacher the student cannot get rid of the undesirable habit ever. But all the same, even though the energy from that teacher is present, still the student might find that the habit does not go away. Instead the habit may vanished on occasion and then reasserts itself firmly again and again.

What to do?

The student should keep striving to overcome the habit and should know with confidence that one day in the future the habit will disappear, will lose its hold on the psyche and will be no more.

We get some encouragement by the research of modern archeology, where they realize that even a rock as hard as granite will, over time, wear away, even by a soft flowing object like water. It may take millions of here to wear away one centimeter of a granite rock but water can do that over time nevertheless. Hence one should hold on to the confidence that if one keeps trying, eventually even the most persistent undesirable habits will disappear.

What happens?

After striving and striving, one day one will find that the habit just does not assert itself and that it is absent from the psyche. It is just not there. It left silently like a ghost which no longer haunts the premises.