By Sheila Johnson
Are you getting discouraged with your yoga practice because you seem to have hit a wall? It might be time to refresh your workouts with new techniques, equipment, technology, and maybe even a new teacher. A well-trained yoga teacher should know how to get you out of your slump by making yoga interesting and exciting again. Here are other ways to enhance your yoga practice:
Putting the Enjoyment Back Into Your Yoga Routines
The first step towards enjoying yoga again is to stop comparing yourself to others. So what if a fellow student is limber enough to twist herself into a pretzel? Focus on what you’re good at and try to get a little bit better every day.
When you’re ready to try a challenging new pose, accept that failure is a definite possibility at first. It’s okay to give yourself permission to fail. Just don’t give yourself permission to quit! Keep trying and you’ll get it eventually.
Sometimes the things we struggle with the most turn out to be our favorites once we’ve mastered them. You’ll never know that joy if you give up instead of pushing through.
Try Something New
A new teacher, new studio, new equipment, new app… Sometimes something new is the very thing you need to jump start your enthusiasm for yoga practice. If you think something new will help, go for it!
How about treating yourself to a new piece of equipment? Here are a few suggestions:
- A great yoga towel is handy during and even after class. It’s also a subtle reminder to yourself that you’re going to work harder.
- Use essential oil mists to help get yourself into the mood for training. It’s even easy and relatively inexpensive to create homemade yoga sprays. That way, you’ll always have your favorites on hand.
- It’s hard to stay motivated when yoga is causing you pain! Get some Yoga Jellies to help reduce that pain-inducing pressure.
You might want to begin with something simple before you start over completely from scratch with a new teacher and studio. A great yoga app like Daily Yoga could be the only thing you need to change in order to renew your enthusiasm for yoga. This app lets you track your progress and even share it with an amazing worldwide yoga community. Talk about inspiration to keep going!
Stay on Track With Your Training
Consistency is the key to getting the full range of benefits from your yoga training. We don’t mean you need to devote an hour every day to your yoga workouts. As little as five minutes a day is enough to benefit from yoga. Just be consistent about practicing for those five minutes every day. It’s those daily workouts that will have you reaping yoga’s many benefits.
This is where that great yoga app can really help! Set a daily, weekly, or monthly goal to keep you on track with your yoga practice. An app that includes badges or other rewards for meeting your goals can provide that little bit of extra incentive you might need to keep working.
Are You Working Up a Sweat Yet?
Now that you’ve taken your yoga up a step, you’re probably sweating your way through the challenges of those new workouts. Or maybe you’ve decided to give hot yoga a try. In either case, why not kick your yoga routine up another notch with a new device? Wearable fitness trackers analyze your workouts while operating on a long battery life, while a smartwatch displays the results of those workouts on a larger screen. Whichever device you choose, you’re sure to get the information you need to fine-tune your yoga practice to suit your needs and goals.
So, what are you waiting for? Get out there and start enjoying your yoga practice again. With the right teacher, tools, technology, and attitude, you’re apt to fall in love with yoga all over again!
Photo via Pixabay
