5 Strategies To Build A Daily Yoga Habit

Are you thinking about taking the plunge, and committing to a daily yoga habit?

That's great! Yoga can have so many benefits, and is such a wonderful form of low-impact movement.

But perhaps you're hesitating, concerned that you won't be able to keep it up.

That's also great! It's better to plan for reality than assume life (or we) will suddenly transform into a magical place (or being).

Luckily, there are many things we can do to give ourselves the best chance of success when committing to a new goal or practice.

When I started regularly practicing yoga in March 2020 (with Yoga with Adrienne, of course) I learnt (and heavily leant on) certain tactics that helped me do yoga every day for well over a year.

Below are my top five strategies for developing a daily yoga practice. Of course they could be used for developing any regular habit. And of course they may not be appropriate for everyone, but the are worth a shot.

1. Set a reminder. In the early days this was essential to keep me on track, as it was at least a few months before the yoga habit became engrained. Honestly, without a reminder I would have forgotten one day and then never done yoga again (does anyone else have a brain like this?).

2. Find a buddy. When my sister and I were in a bubble (remember those?) we met every day to do yoga, which made a huge difference (as neither of us wanted to be the one to suggest skipping a day!). If you can’t find a buddy don't worry there are plenty of other options. Booking and paying ahead for a class can also be enough motivation to turn up, or free tools like Focusmate can also create accountability.

3. Set up a tracker. A highly visible tracker was definitely key to keep my new goal top of mind. I already knew this about myself so I had large wall planner printed (see below) and found some fun stickers to track my progress. It was very satisfying to give myself a sticker for every day I completed. As they say, you can’t beat a streak.

4. Don’t be a perfectionist. I'm sure many of us have fallen into the trap of thinking, "If I can't do one hour of exercise every day, I might as well never exercise again!". How self-defeating is?! Doing something is always better than doing nothing. So what has this got to do with yoga? Well, sometimes I did not have the motivation or energy for a longer yoga practice. So I just did a 10 minute session instead. Do the shortest yoga session you can find. It still counts, and sometimes you've done already done a lot that day

5. Pick a personal mantra. Mine was "If I don't do yoga today, I won't do yoga tomorrow". I can't remember exactly when I decided I wanted to do yoga every day for a year but once I had that goal I knew the biggest chance of success would just to focus on doing today's yoga. If I skipped a day, it would be much harder to get back on track the following day. So I used this mantra to get myself off the couch and onto the yoga mat. Another good one is "What I do on average, matters more than what I do on a single day".

Also, as I continued with the daily practice it became a reward in itself as I began notice the benefits

This might seem a silly one, but the feeling you get when you remember you've already done your yoga practice for the day is awesome. Sadly, I tended to do yoga in the evening...

I also noticed how I came to rely on yoga to improve my mood. If I woke up on the wrong side of the bed or wasn't feeling great, I began to learn that I would feel better after yoga. I think this is due to the practice itself as well as honouring the commitment I made to myself.

I noticed that my mental health was the best it has ever been in 2020 - which must be due in some part to the daily yoga

I didn't get any back pain or postural issues despite the very ridiculous positions I often worked in!

If you are interested in developing a daily yoga practice good luck! And why not pickup a our 100 Days to Daily Yoga set for an extra boost of motivation.

5 Strategies To Build A Daily Yoga Habit

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