3 Habit Tips to maintain your Yoga Practice

With New Years just around the corner, it’s a great time to reflect on your milestones of 2022 and set intentions for the new year ahead. A common mistake people make when setting intentions is to focus too much on the WHY rather than the HOW. If you’ve ever tried to keep up a consistent yoga practice, you might have fallen into this trap if you simply tried to stay motivated by reminding yourself how good your practice makes you feel. It’s important to get clear on WHY you practice, but it’s often not enough. Knowing HOW to stick to a consistent practice is equally (if not more!) important.

It turns out there’s a whole field of psychology dedicated to HOW to stick to our health intentions, also known as Health Behavior Change. Yoga isn’t the only healthy habit that people struggle to stick to. Research shows that people struggle to maintain all kinds of health behaviors, whether it’s sticking to a healthy diet, keeping up an exercise routine, or simply flossing their teeth 1. Good habits are easy to start but hard to maintain.

The good news? With a whole world of research done on how to make healthy changes that last, there are proven steps for HOW to make healthy changes that last. Try out these three simple research-backed tools to maintain your yoga practice and your other health goals in the new year.

1.  Get Specific

Research shows that specifying the when, where and how of an intention can make it twice as likely you’ll stick to it. Studies show this works for a wide variety of healthy habits including exercising, increasing vegetable and fruit intake, and doing regular breast self-examinations 2.

Focus on the HOW: Get specific by copying and filling out the following sentence: I will practice at ___________ (time and day) at ___________ (specific location) using ___________ (the practice you will use, for example: a specific yoga class recording or your own flow).

2. Find your Community

You might have heard that you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. Our social environment hugely impacts our habits, with studies showing that we’re far more likely to exercise and eat healthier if our partner and friends have those healthy habits too 3,4.

Focus on the HOW: Find your community of people with your desired habit. Join an existing (virtual) group of people striving to maintain their yoga practice or form your own. Not only can this make your habit more enjoyable, but it’s also an extra resource for support and inspiration.

3. Have a mini practice

People often say they feel resistance to getting on their yoga mat when they try to keep up a regular home practice. Research shows the best trick to get through these moments is to downsize the goal and simply aim to do a shorter practice. Instead of telling yourself you have to do a vigorous, 90-minute yoga practice when you’re busy, tired or generally in a bit of a funk, aim instead to do a mini 5-minute practice.

Downsizing the habit goal helps you take the first (and hardest!) step to get started. And once you take the first step of a hard action, you’re much more likely to actually do more5. It also means you can keep up your streak when you have a tough day and trust us, these days happen to all of us – even as yoga teachers! Ironically, aiming to do less often means you end up doing more because doing so makes you feel successful and helps you overcome the biggest hurdle of getting started. Try it out the next time you’re feeling unmotivated to get on your mat and see for yourself!

Focus on the HOW: Make a mini 5-minute yoga practice or use an existing mini practice to do on days that you’re low on time, energy or motivation.

Found this useful?

Access 30+ science-backed tools to maintain your practice in the 30-Day Yoga Habit program created by a habit expert. You can also fill out this short survey about your yoga habit and earn 7-day FREE access to the Yoga Habit course.

Works Cited

1 Johnson, B. T., Scott-Sheldon, L. A., & Carey, M. P. (2010). Meta-synthesis of health behavior change meta-analyses. American journal of public health, 100(11), 2193-2198.
2 Gollwitzer, P. M., & Oettingen, G. (1998). The emergence and implementation of health goals. Psychology and Health, 13(4), 687-715.
3 Smith, K. P., & Christakis, N. A. (2008). Social networks and health. Annual review of sociology, 34(1), 405-429.
4 Simpkins, S. D., Schaefer, D. R., Price, C. D., & Vest, A. E. (2013). Adolescent friendships, BMI, and physical activity: untangling selection and influence through longitudinal social network analysis. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 23(3), 537-549.
5 Kaushal, N., Rhodes, R. E., Spence, J. C., & Meldrum, J. T. (2017). Increasing physical activity through principles of habit formation in new gym members: a randomized controlled trial. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 51(4), 578-586.

SOME NICE WORDS FROM SOME OF OUR TEACHER TRAINING GRADUATES

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Graduates Testimonials 2022 In-Person Yoga Teacher Training

leticia

Leticia Debas

United States & Brazil
200HR Yoga Teacher Training
January 2020

“It has been a journey that I will be forever grateful for!”

It forced me dive into myself & is helping me to begin to establish a relationship between my physical body, my mind and my soul.

Some days I thought were “rock bottom” … but it only made me realize that was part of the journey, the journey of trusting myself of becoming my own “hero” the person who I’ve always been but have never really trusted! All these “things” I see as signs from the universe telling myself to trust ME to believe in ME and to hear ME … to L O V E me as I am and accept all the little “flaws” that comes with being a human and all.

But I couldn’t have done it without all these beautiful souls, these magical humans who were always there to listen to just “one more story” of why “I’m crying right now” or to give me some ibuprofen when my muscles ached or to pay for a cab ride back to the hotel when I didn’t have any more cash on me and didn’t sweat it cause “it happens to all of us” or that person who believed in me more than I did when I finally landed that “tri-pod headstand” and says “I told you, you could do it!” Or that person who held my hand while I got stitches for the first time & for that I’m so thankful to you all ♥︎ .

if that weren’t enough the universe blessed me with some great teachers. So knowledgeable while being so understanding when we were faced with feeling frustrated. Teachers Who would stay 15 (or more) minutes after a two hour lecture or practice making sure they answered all our questions … & to our yoga philosophy teachers who knew some subjects were hard & uncomfortable and gave us time to absorve it all and were understanding if we (me) shed a tear and needed a moment to ourselves. Thank you @thepeacefulwarriorsyoga for this journey I couldn’t be more grateful!

Leticia Debas

claire-falconer

Claire Falconer

Australian living in Dubai
200HR Yoga Teacher Training
August 2019

“…most incredible group of students”

To put the last month into words is impossible, to put into feelings is impossible and to put into emotions is even more impossible.

When I signed up for my yoga teaching course I genuinely didn’t expect so learn so much about myself, I didn’t expect to open my heart and open my mind as much and sure as hell didn’t expect to open my tear ducts as much.

I think I’m still trying to process, or even being to process the learnings and new ways of thinking. So from here, the learnings & new practices have only began. From here, I’m nervous for a new future and from here all I can say is fuk yes.

Thank you  @thepeacefulwarriorsyoga for this journey. Thank you to the most incredible group of students I got to share this with, and thank you to all my incredible teachers legit you’ve changed my life. 😭
Analu, Sean, Jono, Maria, Bente, Magdalena & Rachel Fearnley.

From Instragram @clairefalconer__

Claire Falconer

ryan-lyons

Ryan Lyons

Unites States
200HR Yoga Teacher Training
August 2019

“…thank you for sharing this journey with me”

It’s official, completed my 200 hour yoga teacher training with  @thepeacefulwarriorsyoga. Without sounding cliché, this journey was life changing. When we think of yoga we often only think of the physical practice, poses, turning oneself into a pretzel! It’s the western way of thinking, and we forget about the connection to the mind and soul. We forget that yoga is also about the breath, meditation, energy systems and the power of what this connection can bring to our lives. I am full of gratitude! I have found a deeper purpose from this journey and I look forward to what lies ahead to help others live a more healthy, and meaningful life.

To all my teachers Bente, Maria, Sean, Rachel, Analu, Magdalena thank you for inspiring me, I have a light inside that is shining brighter then ever!
And to my fellow classmates, thank you for sharing this journey with me, for being vulnerable, and for being courageous! I do not believe we came together by chance, but more so to each learn and grow from one another.

From Instragram @ryflips

Ryan Lyons

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