Your practice buddy needs to be denpendable, punctual and supportive.
Sam needs a partner that she can depend on. It is critical that her partner be punctual as well. Every night they have a date to go out for a walk to the park. If Sam’s partner is late Sam’s stress level increases rapidly. It is very important that Sam’s partner makes it on time. Finally he shows up and they are ready to go. Sam leaps out the door with a happy wag of her tail confident that there will be no accident at home tonight.
It is also critical that your yoga partner be dependable and punctual as well just like Sam’s partner. Dependable and punctual are two of the three important habits of a yoga practice buddy. The third one is being positive and uplifting for your partner.
We are going to look at these three habits more closely starting with being dependable.
Habit #1 – Dependable
To be a dependable you need to show up every time. There is no making an excuse or just not showing up allowed.
Your practice buddy needs to have no doubt that you will be there. They need to know from experience that you always show up. They need to feel that if they do not show up that they will be letting you down.
Occasionally life will get in the way and you will have to cancel. Two things need to happen when this happens.
- Let your practice buddy know that you have to cancel. You should never leave your practice buddy wondering if you are coming or not.
- The event that is causing you to cancel has to be seen by both of you as very critical and worthy of you canceling.
Canceling needs to be a very rare event.
If experience shows that you miss a few of the practice dates then they may decide to start skipping one or two as well.
“My practice buddy won’t mind if I miss this one class. They have missed a few themselves, I can miss this one.”
Once you destroy this habit the frequency of missed classes will build slowly over time. However if they know that you always, always, always show up then they will make the extra effort to always show up as well.
Being dependable increases the likelihood that you will both make it to yoga class all the time.
Sam really depends on her partner to take her out every night. If a night gets missed than a disaster could happen.
While it is important to be dependable, it is also critical that you be on time.
Habit #2 – Punctual
As part of being a practice buddy pair, you make arrangements to either pick each other up or to meet at the studio. Either of these will work, but the best arrangement is to alternate picking each other up.
Building a reputation for being punctual is not something that you can say, it is something that you acquire over time by always arriving at the right time or a bit early.
The benefit of being punctual is that your partner will be able to relax and not wonder if you are actually coming.
You can generate a lot of stress in your practice buddy if you have erratic pickup times. One time you are early, another time you are late and yet another time you are very late. These erratic times can generate a lot of stress in your practice buddy. If you are late, they may be wondering if you have stood them up and you are not coming at all. If you are early, this can generate a lot of stress as well. They are not ready, they are holding you up.
Sam is expecting to get out for a walk in the park every night at about the same time. Too early and they will have to make the trip again later on. Too late and Sam’s anxiety and stress levels will increase until her partner finally shows up to take her to the park.
Being punctual is an important habit to have. The next and last habit of great yoga practice buddies is being positive.
Habit #3 – Positive
The first two habits, always showing up and always showing up on time are important habits to have. These two habits will make for a strong practice buddy partnership.
This habit of being positive and uplifting is the habit that will put you over the time as a practice buddy.
Alway being supportive of your practice buddy, encouraging them to come to class especially if they are feeling down about going tonight. This the important part of being a practice buddy.
You job is to get them out of the down state and get them to the happy, glad and enthusiastic state where they want to go to yoga class.
If your practice buddy knows that you will help to get them out of this discouraged state that has suddenly come on they will look forward to you coming to pick them up in both senses of the word.
Sam’s partner always praises her when their trip to the park is a success. Sam always praises her partner with tail wags, licks and barks when the head out the door at the right time. This positive feedback by both partners will encourage each of them to continue to go to the park each night on time.
Celebrate their successes
You need to celebrate the successes that you each have in your yoga practice.
- Praise your practice buddy on how well their practice went tonight.
- Be glad for them when they have managed to do a particular pose, that they have been struggling with, a little better.
Once the practice is over your practice buddy will be glad that they came. They will be feeling great and the down state that they had before class will be gone.
Summary
Much like Sam’s partner demonstrates over time that he is dependable, punctual and positive so do you need to demonstrate to your practice buddy over time that you have these habits as well. These three habits will keep your relationship vibrant and strong.
If you already have these habits that is great, however your practice buddy does not know this. They will come to trust you more as a practice buddy the more that you demonstrate that you have these three habits.
Next Steps
Start developing and demonstrating these habits with your practice buddy. The benefits to you and your practice buddy will be tremendous.
