You feel awesome after yoga class – calm, peaceful, and aglow with positive vibes. You try to keep that feeling just a little longer until it fades away.
Then, your body signals that it’s time to practice again. You know you should keep repeating this process, but taking time to practice yoga isn’t always easy.
There are work emergencies, familial obligations, can’t miss events, or your comfy bed when you’re dead tired; time and time again, something seemingly urgent pulls you away from your yoga mat, even though practising yoga is exactly what you need. Here are a few ways to help:
Bathe in Positive Energy
Ever notice how practising at a yoga studio is so much easier than rolling out the mat at home? That’s because each person practicing in that room contributes energy that is uplifting, positive, and motivating. The negativity and stress melts away naturally. The room itself absorbs positive energy as well, adding to that feeling.
Next time you’re not motivated to practice, head to your favourite yoga studio for a nice relaxing session. To make sure there’s no excuse not to go, stash any gear you might need at your workplace or in the car so there’s never an excuse!
Write it down!
You think that you practice yoga regularly. But do you practice as often as you think you do? The last time you practiced was not as recent as you think it was. The only way to really know is to write it down.
Use the old fashioned pen and paper, an electronic calendar, or a snazzy app to keep track of your activities. By recording it, you can look back and motivate yourself to get back at it if you’ve fallen off. Crossing yoga off your “to-do” list is simple yet so satisfying. You might even end up practicing just to be able to tick it off!
Set SMART Goals
You might talk to your manager or supervisor about your goals and performance at work each year. Doing your evaluation is neither quick nor fun, but it’s an important way to focus on how much you’ve achieved (or haven’t achieved) over the past year.
What about setting periodic goals in your personal life? A regular evaluation of those goals can have a huge impact on your personal growth. A few minutes is all you need. Try making SMART goals. The acronym SMART stands for Specific, Measureable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time Bound.
Maybe your new short term goal is to increase your yoga practice from once a week to twice a week for the next 30 days to help improve your health. This is a specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound goal — how SMART of you!
Life gets busy, but taking time to nurture your own mental, emotional and physical health through yoga is one of the most important things you can do. Time usually isn’t a real factor; we can all make time by reworking our priorities.
Set your intentions by creating and working towards SMART goals in your personal life. Track your activities so you can see progress and course correct if necessary. And take baby steps, like creating a yoga practice habit with a group before trying to do it on your own. You can do it!