Secrets to Maintaining a Successful Yoga Practice
December 1st, 2009Doing yoga builds muscles, eases stress, and it also feels terrific - once you get into it. Then why doesn’t everyone do yoga? Because yoga takes effort before you start to feel the benefits from practicing it. Getting your practice started is the hardest part. Here are 5 simple tips to help you make your yoga practice more regular and more interesting:
- Choose the right kind of yoga. Some kinds of yoga, like Bikram or Iyengar yoga, are too intense for some people. Other kinds of yoga, like beginner’s hatha yoga, maybe be too gentle or under stimulating for some people. Choose a school of yoga that fits your personality, fitness level and style.
- Join a yoga class. “When I lived near an excellent yoga studio in Oregon, and I took 5 professionally-taught classes a week, I never felt better,” says Brett Borders. Showing up at a class can easily help you overcome your inertia, and the feedback from a human instructor can make a huge difference in your practice.
- Supplement your practice with Yoga DVDs. Now there is an abundance of high-quality instruction available on digital video disc (DVD). You don’t even have to order it from a spectiality shop, these days Yoga DVDs are available in many supermarkets and discount stores like Target or Walmart.
- Don’t take your yoga practice too seriously. Yoga is supposed to be fun! So don’t be afraid to play some music, burn some incense, and take your time. Enjoy the stretches, enjoy taking the time out of your normal routine to reconnect with your body.
- Be gentle on yourself. There are going to be days, and even weeks, where your yoga practice falls out of rhythm. You might go on vacation, or you might have a busy week of overtime at work - and your yoga practice might slow down or stop. Don’t be hard on yourself! Just pick up where you left off and gently get started again.
If you pick the right style of yoga and you approach it with the right attitude, you are much more likely to have a successful practice. The main trick is to just keep going, even when it feels difficult, and you will likely soon be rewarded with a profound new level of inner peace and physical fitness.
