Learning to Practice Alone

As we gain experience in our exercise disciplines, the advanced practitioner learns to practice alone, in a small space, and get exactly what they need. That doesn't mean they never return to the classroom. From time to time, they go back to a teacher and to learning in a group as a student, for the sake of humility. But ultimately, we have to be completely self reliant.

We have to roll out a mat and do our movements every day, and each day should be different. That includes warmups, gentle stretches, and progressively harder muscular work, as much as you can handle given everything else life asks of your body, like walking, carrying, and simply being upright all day. The more sedentary your job, the more exercise you need. If you can, you must, in order to maintain balance, strength, flexibility, endurance, speed, and technique.