Guest Post: Staying Motivated with an At-Home Yoga Practice

It can be difficult staying motivated while practicing yoga at home. With work, stress, and fatigue, it can be all too easy to neglect yoga and fall behind on your yoga practice. With these simple tips, you will find and maintain the motivation needed to continue practicing yoga in your home.

Understanding Your Goals

Many people embarking on yoga have specific goals in mind: gain flexibility, strength, peace of mind, lose weight, etc. Indeed, yoga can help you achieve any one of these goals, but it is important to realize that, like with any other exercise regime, you won’t hit your goal by your second practice. That’s the beauty with yoga--as you practice moving your body to each breath, you learn to be patient. Understanding this aspect of yoga will help you keep motivated as you begin and maintain your yoga practice at home.

Create a Routine

The best way to maintain your at-home yoga practice is to commit to a routine. With streaming technology it’s extremely easy to have a plethora of yoga videos at your disposal so there’s little chance of you getting bored with the routine and thus calling it quits. Another way to help you maintain your practice is by setting up all your yoga gear in a small section of your house. This requires perhaps a corner in your bedroom or spare room. This way, you’ll have everything you need in one spot--yoga mat, blocks, towel, etc. You’ll also will want to try to do you practice the same time every day. That will help make your yoga practice become a habit. Of course, many of us don’t have the luxury of being able to commit to something the same time every day. If this is what your schedule calls for, at the very least, allow yourself 30-60 minutes every day for your yoga practice, even if it will be during the lunch hour some days and before bed on others.

Always Push Ahead

Once you become increasingly comfortable with your routine, in order to keep advancing with your practice, you’ll want to enhance your routine somehow. This can involve either going from a 30 minute session to 60 minutes, for example. Or it can involve attempting some more difficult poses like the supported headstand, the crane, or the king pigeon. Setting yourself new goals will help you remain excited about your yoga practice and will also keep your motivated to continue your practice with yoga at home.

Have Fun!

As you become more familiar with your yoga routine, it can become easy to get frustrated when you’re unable to perfect a yoga pose you’ve been trying for the past couple of weeks. Certainly, it’s easy to get too serious about your practice. But don’t fret! Many people practice for years and still don’t have every pose perfected. Remember, yoga takes patience and practice, and getting frustrated about perfecting a pose sacrifices the overall effects that yoga can being into your life. Enjoy your progress and the benefits your practice is having on your life on and off the mat. Progress will come with continued practice.

By following these tips, you can begin and maintain a therapeutic yoga practice at home. With numerous health benefits, keep setting time aside and continue benefitting from your at-home yoga practice.

Katie Morris is a freelance writer with experience writing for the health, wellness and lifestyle fields for several years. She has set aside a little corner of her basement to devote to practicing yoga at home.