How to Get & STAY Inspired in Your Yoga Practice

Truth: I was a couch potato throughout my early twenties.

But that did {{eventually}} change and once I decided to join a gym to get in shape, I tried and adopted every fitness trend EVER, from body pump to barre (with some awesome Jane Fonda-esque work mixed in between).  

It was A LOT…and eventually I tired of all of it, except for Yoga and Pilates.

Just over a decade ago, I settled into a regular yoga practice, with Pilates sessions sprinkled in each week.  It wasn’t a conscious decision, but it seemed to be what my body called for – slow, methodical, coordinated and challenging movements that built strength and flexibility and improved my stamina, all while challenging my mind.

How do I keep up an almost daily practice?  Truth be told, there are days that it seems to be a monumental task to drag myself to a yoga class.

But I go because I KNOW I’ll feel better after the practice. 

Here are a few things that have kept me on track:

1. Try a new instructor or new studio.  Changing things up just slightly can give you a new perspective on your practice.  I can be a creature of habit and I have a handful of favorite teachers that I keep returning to, but once in a while, I’ll take a class with someone new just to see if there’s something to be learned.  Even when the class may not be completely to my taste, I usually walk away from some small nugget of information that helps inform my practice and often I meet some new like-minded people.  Just keep your mind open and talk to other yogis to find out whose classes they like to attend.
2. Try a new style of yoga.  I started my yoga life with Hatha yoga, gravitated to vinyasa and now alternate between vinyasa, alignment-based flow and yin yoga, with some restorative thrown in.  While the poses are pretty consistently the same across most yoga disciplines, the transitions and the sequencing can be very different, and the vibe and energy are definitely different.  Practicing consistently in the same style obviously is important to advancing your practice, but sometimes, approaching the practice from a completely different angle can help you explore your boundaries and move you forward in a different way.
3. Take a workshop, or an immersion or training, even if you have no intention of ever teaching yoga.  Full disclosure – I am a workshop junkie and frequently scour the net to find yoga events (hence my involvement with the Events page on NJ Yoga Collective), but even if you rarely take special classes, it may be of benefit to take a workshop that focuses on something you’ve been wanting to work on.  Workshops are very different from regular classes.  The instructor usually does a lot of instructing, breaking down poses, and often offering more hands on assistance to help you understand your personal anatomy. It also affords you the opportunity to take a class with an instructor who may not be from your local area and is not readily accessible to you.  While it’s been very rare when I’ve been able to nail a pose that eludes me during a workshop, I do pick up a lot of tips and new approaches that ultimately help me progress in the pose.
4. Take advantage of technology – listen to podcasts and webcasts or take on-line classes.  My favorite podcast is Yogaland, hosted by Andrea Ferretti, partly because her guest is often her husband, Jason Crandell, a genius on alignment-based yoga.  I also subscribe to Yoga International, a site that offers online classes, articles and seminars, and listen to the YogaUOnline broadcasts that are available for free for Yoga Alliance members.  These are opportunities to be exposed to nationally known teachers and hear their perspective first-hand.  You can pause and replay and work at your own speed, or even put the class or webcast aside for a while if time is limited.  While I don’t often take online classes, I’ve gotten a lot of “aha!” moments from listening to webcasts.
5. Cross-train in a complimentary discipline.  Pilates on the reformer, the tower, or the Wunda Chair is my poison of choice when I am not doing yoga.  It’s similar in many ways to yoga in that body awareness and intelligent use of the muscles are critical to both disciplines.  Also, both practices rely heavily on movements initiated from the core.  It wasn’t until I started taking Pilates on the equipment that I understood how to access my core muscles and the effect on my yoga practice was transformational.  Noticing how the two disciplines contrast and complement each other also keeps my brain working to understand my body better.
6. Take a beginners’ class.  No matter how advanced you are in your practice, the most basic poses are the foundation and stepping-off point for all other poses.  Re-exploring the basic poses can be the best way to take a new viewpoint on your practice.  I find I often work harder in a basic class because I’m more focused on my alignment when the practice is simple. I’ve done some of my best down-dogs in a beginner’s class.
7. Take a break if your body calls for it.  Sometimes your body is achy and your mind fuzzy and you just don’t feel like getting on the mat.  Taking a respite from the practice may be just what you need that day.  If you do skip your practice, take some time to do a little stretching or deep breathing to refresh your body – focusing on one or two stretches that call to you most in the moment.  Doing what you enjoy can easily re-inspire you.  Or, take a walk outside and take inspiration from the landscape around you.

Like anything else in your life, your love for yoga can sometimes seem elusive, but try a few of these things if you feel stuck, and remember B.K.S. Iyengar’s most famous quote:  “Practice, and all is coming!”

May Louie first took yoga in college to fulfill a Phys-Ed requirement and immediately fell in love. She unfortunately did not continue with her practice but reconnected with it when she retired from her corporate job in 2002 and has since become a serious yoga enthusiast. After her second retirement last year, she completed her 200 hour RYT certification, studying with Dina Crosta, Ellen Mosko and Jamie Segal Hanley, with a focus on alignment based flow.