“Do your practice and all is coming.” -Sri Pattabhi Jois

What does it mean to have a daily practice?

Creating a daily practice for yourself can be anything! As long as you are clear, committed, and honest with yourself. Having the strength of character to keep up a daily practice in life requires that we are in touch with our bodies and emotions. We have to know why we are choosing into this in the first place. It could be simply that we feel we need more stability, our lives need more balance, we wish to become a higher version of ourselves…

Practicing something every single day whether its yoga, a new language, an instrument, compassion… leads to the greatest results because we are ingraining a new set of habits into our bodies and minds and turning them into our lifestyle.

Personally, I strive to have a daily yoga practice. I have come to realize a few things on my daily journey.

1. Practicing yoga every day does not have to mean I get on my mat and do some down dogs.

Yoga is more than just the asanas (postures). My daily practice can consist of breathing consciously for a few minutes, turning my thoughts inward and meditating on the deeper meanings of my thoughts and actions, using the yamas and niyamas as guidelines – truthfulness, non-stealing, non-coveting, contentment, surrender… There are so many ways in which yoga can be taken off your mat and into your daily life. That being said – I do try to physically practice every day as well even if its just ten minutes.

2. Practicing every day is HARD.

I was in Mexico for an extended amount of time recently and had every intention of learning Spanish before I went. This has been a goal of mine for years. This time I was successful in a daily Spanish practice for about two weeks. It felt great! I learned so quickly and realized how easy it is to just do it. However, once i stopped practicing, I stopped completely and most of what I learned I lost. Making excuses is easy. Seeing the results is real. Stick with it!

3. I notice when I skip a day.

As with my language practice, my physical yoga practice declines quickly when I skip a day. I lose my routine and my flow. I can feel my body and mind begin to get creaky and tight, less open and vibrant.

4. It helps to be part of a community.

Having the support of others is invaluable! It is truly amazing the inspiration you can get from other people going through the same steps as you. They are there to push you to your limits just as you are there to push them. I recently began one of those instagram challenges #inversionsmakeyouhot where a few well known instagrammers post daily yoga poses and those who wish to partake post a photo of themselves in that pose every day. Seeing the community that arises in this challenge is awe inspiring. Yogis of all levels participate and support each other through the daily practice. When you are a part of a community, you are choosing in to something bigger than yourself. You are joining forces and making a bigger change.

Join me and practice daily! I promise you will see a shift in your life. How can we expect to improve if we do not give ourselves the luxury of practice?

Love and positive energy to you all.

Namaste.