A few steps to creating and maintaining a Yoga or Meditation Practice

You feel inspired. You're excited and inspired to integrate something you've learned from a retreat into your life, and 5 days in...you flop.

Firstly, we would all due well to remember more than changing anything in our life is going to happen organically vs. ...We will have steady growth happening during certain phases, flatlining during others, and the occasional complete absence from this new beloved habit from our lives.

Here are our best ideas to help yoga and meditation practitioners integrate these new habits into your life in a healthy, organic way.

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Firstly, choose one teacher or technique to commit to practicing for 30 days. Try one thing at a time.

1. Create a dedicated space (or spaces) in your home that have a place to comfortably practice

2. Make sure the space can get quiet (by closing the door, or getting ear plugs) and is a comfortable temperature for the body to relax in and during a time you know you won’t be interrupted.

3. Gather a few things for that space: A mat/soft rug, a cushion or chair for seated practices, any other props (like a bolster, eye pillow, blanket, blocks, etc.) that can live there permanently or for those 30-days. (Or tucked away in a place you can easily access/keep organized).

4. Add another routine to your Practice Routine to help it stick (aka, if you always make tea in the morning, put your tea-making routine directly before or after your practice.)

5. Add Support and Compassionate Accountability with positive reinforcement: join a group to get to know other practitioners, do a book-club with a friend, create a calendar and give yourself a gold star every day you practice. Positive reinforcement means you celebrate when you’ve done your practice (even if it’s just taking a moment to acknowledge yourself with a smile).

6. Set underwhelming goals: if you are like most of us, you hold yourself to an impossibly high standard when trying to change a habit or create new ones. Set goals that do not overwhelm you so that you don’t shut down with disappointment or apathy, and so you can celebrate your achievements rather than negatively critique what you didn’t do.