Yoga is more than just the poses, but how do you practice yoga every day when you’re not performing postures?
Beyond formal practices, there are many ways to practice yoga every day. Doing so is a great way to keep practicing yoga when you’re a busy mom who doesn’t have time for long practices.
Here are some ideas for making yoga a part of your everyday routine.
Meditate
Meditation is flexible—you can do it anywhere for any amount of time. Even if you only have one minute, spending that time in meditation is a great way to refocus and find your center. There are many different techniques you can use and you don’t even have to plan ahead. If you find yourself with a couple extra moments of silence, be intentional and fit in a quick meditation to help you clear your head. You don’t need any special props, you don’t need to change into workout clothes, and nobody even needs to know that you’re doing it! It doesn’t even have to be quiet for you to meditate.
Breathe
Similar to meditation, taking time to do intentional breathing practices throughout your day is a great way to calm your nervous system. There are many different yogic breathing techniques but you don’t need to get fancy. Slow, smooth, even breathing is a perfect and quick calm-down practice. You can do it in the car, while you’re watching your kids, in the middle of a walk, on a park bench—anywhere! You don’t need to be sitting, though it will feel more relaxing if you are (and even more relaxing if you lie down). You don’t need any special equipment or props and you can take as few or as many breaths as you like. Ten breaths is normally a good place to start and it will only take you a minute or two depending on how fast you breathe.
Choose compassion
Throughout your day, especially in those moments when your nerves are fried, pause, take a breath, and intentionally choose the compassionate response to put the Yamas into practice. The Yamas and Niyamas are the yogi codes of conduct outlined in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra, and they are similar to the 10 Commandments. These principles serve as constant reminders to live your life with more intention. The very first Yama is often translated to non-violence, but I prefer to look at it as compassion. How can you choose the compassionate response in your day-to-day dealings with your kids, spouse, family members, friends, co-workers, and most importantly with yourself? When you’re at your wits end or feeling really stressed, this can be really hard to do, which is why it’s so important to have those breathing practices in your back-pocket to access emergency calm-down mode. It’s much easier to respond to tricky situations with intention and compassion when you’re in a calm state of mind. How your responses look will vary but compassionate responses allow you to understand the other person, refrain from yelling, shouting, blaming, or threatening, and work with the other person to find win-win-win resolutions for all.
Set and stick to routines
Discipline is a huge part of the yoga practice and setting and sticking to routines throughout your day is one way for you to practice discipline. It takes discipline to show up for your yoga practice every morning, but if that’s not part of your current stage-of-life routine, show up for the other aspects of your daily routine that will keep you balanced, healthy, and sane. Maybe it’s important that you always do your family’s meal planning and grocery shopping on Sundays so that the rest of your week is smooth. Make sure you set aside time on Sundays to do that even though you might not want to. Maybe you need a certain amount of sleep to function well. Make sure you go to bed on time so you get the amount of sleep you need even though you’d rather watch another episode of the Great British Baking Show.
Be present
Find moments throughout your day to full disconnect and be present with what’s in front of you. Instead of constantly reaching for your phone to distract yourself with endless scrolling, set it aside for a little bit and really be with your kids. Rather than listening to music or podcasts while you cook, really be with your task at hand. While on a walk or run, notice nature. Being present in the moment is a way to connect deeply with the world around you and with your truest sense of Self. Presence allows you to move your attention inward away from the distractions of the senses. This is the practice of pratyahara, another tenet in Patanjali’s eight limb path of yoga.
Focus (on you)
It can be easy to get lost in constant multi-tasking as a mom; in fact, it sometimes feels like that’s Mom’s only job description. Give yourself the opportunity to truly focus on one thing every day and get it done. Not half-done or just started, but fully done. It doesn’t have to be huge but the accomplishment you’ll feel working on one task and bringing it to completion will bring you immense satisfaction. It can be as simple as making your bed in the morning or sitting down to eat an entire meal. Set the boundaries you need to get one thing done a day, communicate clearly with your people about why this is so important to you, and ask for help when you need it so that you can focus on your own needs and not become depleted by serving everyone else.
Let go
As much as you want the day to always go according to plan, the sad fact is that it never does. Something always comes up. Instead of reacting negatively when plans fall by the wayside, consider letting go of the small stuff that’s not worth worrying about. Go with the flow and let go of the way things should be, the way you want them to be, the way you envisioned them to be, or the way they were planned to be. See what happens when you simply let go of the need to control every outcome and give over your control to the universe. You might discover some hidden fun and at the very least you’ll save yourself a lot of disappointment and frustration.
What are some of your favorite ways to practice yoga throughout your day without doing any poses?
If you do love practicing poses, check out my online yoga studio where you get access to three new classes a week, all under 30 minutes! Your first week is free 🙂
