Would like to learn and practice yoga, but ...

If the mind has no interest at all towards yoga and the yoga practice, for any reason or no reason, then there's nothing wrong with that. The mind doesn't have to be 'persuaded' or 'forced' into learning and practicing yoga.

Whether the mind has been learning and practicing yoga, or not, or how long the mind has been practicing yoga, is nothing to do with whether the mind is wise, free, and peaceful, or not.

There are some minds might have interest towards learning and practicing yoga for their own particular reasons, however, there are some hesitations that stop them from learning and practicing yoga, or they think and believe that 'yoga' is not for them, or too 'challenging' and 'impossible' for them, or too 'pure' and 'moral high ground' for them, because the 'yoga' that they think they know, has certain conditions that they think they cannot comply with.

Many minds relate yoga with 'purity', 'spirituality', 'religion', 'health and fitness', 'clean eating', 'positive thinking', 'pure living', 'vegetarianism', 'strength and flexibility', 'challenging yoga poses or sequence', 'goodness and kindness', 'unselfishness', 'untouchable', 'superhuman', 'rules and regulations', 'extreme discipline', and so on.

I would like to learn and practice yoga, but I don't think I can practice yoga, because ...

"I smoke a lot, and I am not interested to quit smoking anytime soon, or at all."

"I enjoy drinking, and I don't want to quit drinking."

"I am not a vegetarian, I enjoy eating meat and seafood, and I am not interested to become a vegetarian."

"My body is not flexible."

"I like to eat junk food, and I am not ready to give up junk food."

"I don't believe in spirituality."

"I am not a very good person."

"I have some bad habits."

"I don't like discipline, especially I don't like other people to tell me to do this and don't do that."

"I don't have and don't like self-control. I want to be free to be what I am."

"I am not a pure person."

"I don't want to have anything to do with religion or spirituality."

"I am not good at anything."

"I am a slow learner."

"I am impatient." 

"I cannot concentrate or meditate."

"I don't like exercise that are either too slow and gentle or too intense and difficult."

"I am already too tired physically and mentally from my work and looking after my family and doing the house work."

"I have some serious physical condition/illness/injury that is not suitable for practicing yoga."

"I don't have extra energy for the yoga practice."

"I don't have any free time for the yoga practice."

"I don't have yoga mat and yoga attire."

"I feel intimidated by all these yoga poses."

"I feel intimidated by all these teachings of yoga."

"Yoga is too moral high ground for me."

"I don't know what is non-attachment."

"The teachings are too hard for me to comprehend."

"I like to keep myself busy all the time, and I don't like quietness. Yoga and meditation might be too boring for me."

"I don't think I am fit or qualified enough to be a yoga practitioner."

And so on.

Yoga, or the realization of selflessness and impermanence, or unconditional peace, or the liberation from ignorance and the consequences of ignorance, is nothing to do with the presence and absence of all those names and forms, backgrounds, experiences, food choices, conditions, way of living, abilities, limitations, or activities.

One doesn't need to quit smoking or drinking, or believe in spirituality, or be a vegetarian, or have a yoga mat and yoga attire, or be health conscious, or be able to do any yoga asana poses or sitting positions for meditation, and so on, to learn and practice yoga, but having an open mind and the will or desire to learn, to practice, to inquire, and to understand oneself, or the modification of the mind, or what is going on in this mind, by putting aside all kinds of hesitations that stop the mind from learning and practicing yoga.

It's about all and everyone take responsibility for all their action and inaction out of their own desire and don't desire, as well as be responsible for the consequences of their own action/inaction and desire/don't desire.

The realization of selflessness and impermanence that leads to unconditional peace, is nothing to do with whether the body can perform the yoga poses, or not, or whether the body can sit for meditation, or not, or whether the body can hold the breath or the yoga poses for a very long time, or not, or whether the mind is complying to the so called guidelines or standards for 'morality' or 'appropriate conduct' based on certain worldly egoistic family/cultural/social/spiritual/religious/national thinking, belief, values, and practice, or not.

All and everyone can practice yoga of non-attachment, non-identification, non-craving, non-aversion, non-comparison, non-judgment, and non-expectation, and to attain self-realization or liberation from ignorance, even if the mind thinks and believes that itself is the most evil impure being in the world, if they want, regardless of what the mind think, believe, and understand, or not. It's because the mind doesn't know and doesn't understand what are all these teachings and practice, that's why there is the teachings and practice available for this mind to learn and practice, to inquire and understand all that, if there is a will and determination to know and understand all that.

The mind that is peaceful as it is, that is free from ignorance and the consequences of ignorance, it doesn't need to practice yoga or anything.

Those who don't want to practice yoga, or are not interested in yoga, they don't need to practice yoga. It doesn't mean that people are bad if they are not interested in yoga, or if they don't practice yoga. Practicing yoga doesn't mean that one is a better being than the others that don't practice yoga.

Some minds might have been practicing/teaching yoga and meditation for a long time, being pure vegetarian, promoting loving kindness, and are highly health conscious, but still, they might not be free from passionate egoism of attachment, identification, and the desire of craving and aversion, and might be behaving in the way that hurt themselves and others, either wittingly or unwittingly. It doesn't mean that they are bad people or bad yogis. There's neither good nor bad, neither right nor wrong, but everyone need to take their own pace and causation for undergoing the mind purification process for as long as they need, on the path of yoga towards self-realization or liberation from ignorance and the consequences of ignorance.

It's about what the mind wants and doesn't want for itself in this selfless impermanent limited conditional momentary life existence of the limited adjuncts of the body and mind.

If the mind doesn't want to know and understand about all that, or doesn't want to be free from ignorance and the consequences of ignorance, that enjoys being restless, that doesn't like calmness and quietness, that is its own freedom of thinking, desire and doesn't desire, or action and inaction.

Learning and practicing yoga is not about trying to become a 'perfectly high quality good and righteous' human being with 'appropriate and agreeable good and righteous behavior' in accordance to the worldly passionate egoistic family/cultural/social/spiritual/religious/national/commercial/political thinking and belief, values and practice. Many human beings that identifying themselves as righteous and good human beings that are highly civilized and cultured are not necessarily be free from ignorance and egoism, and would be thinking, believing, reasoning, understanding, desiring, behaving, acting, and reacting in the way that hurt oneself and others and the surrounding living environment, either wittingly or unwittingly.

Inquire the truth of everything.