The fact is, most of us have busy lives and our schedules are ready to burst. At the back of our minds we usually know that making time for our yoga practice, even if it’s tiny one, makes us feel better and more grounded. The question is how to fit it all in? It is hard! If you are travelling for work, have a busy social schedule or family commitments, often self care practices like yoga fall to the bottom of your list.
Here are Movement for Modern Life’s top tips on how to build up a sustainable home yoga practice and how just 10 minutes can change your day.
How to fit yoga into a busy day?
10 Minutes Magic
First up and most important is setting a small and achievable goal - for example 10 minutes a day. It’s been tried and tested, and asking yourself to do 10 minutes of yoga a day works. It is much more sustainable than having expectations you will always have the time to schedule a long practice once a week.
FInd inspiration with MFML’s classes ‘under 10 Minutes’
But why is 10 minutes a day more beneficial than one class a week?
- It is more achievable and this is great for building and maintaining a positive mentality and a sense of achievement! This is encouraging, great for your own personal morale and totally increases the chance that you will do it again tomorrow.
- Creating a small pocket of time and space sometimes gives permission for more space to open up.
- 10 minutes can be done anywhere, you don’t need to be in a designated yoga space with equipment, mats, or even yoga clothes.
- Yoga becomes less of a task to do. Instead it becomes part of a daily routine.
Ease the pressure and make space for joy
Stop putting so much pressure on yourself. Having the goal of only 10 minutes a day takes the pressure off your yoga practice. There’s enough pressure in life with work, family, relationships… you don’t need to make yoga another one! It can be a real relief if you just say to yourself “ok today I will do 10 minutes of moving in a way that feels good”.
If you are able to take some of the pressure away, there is a chance you invite in more joy, more fun, and more curiosity to yoga and movement. This joy, will in turn, inspire you to move more frequently or even for longer. With less pressure you are more able to listen to what you need, moment to moment. When you move in a way that you need each day it feels good and your body will want more!
Sneaky Stretches and Micro Moves
Reimagine your daily activities and find within them some creative ways to sneak in youryoga practice!
You don’t need to do a whole yoga class, you can just do some sneaky stretches while the kettle boils, or micro moves and squats while you brush your teeth. Be as creative as you like, but if you are stuck for ideas you can see some suggestions from MFML founder, Kat, here.
Make yoga a part of your life
If you are only able to do your yoga practice with all the right conditions then you are missing a trick! Yoga isn’t about a perfectly quiet sacred space, with ambient music, and yoga clothes, it is about how to deal with life when the conditions are not perfect. When life challenges and distracts you, puts hurdles in your way, how do you respond? This is also yoga!
Yoga practices can be part of the way you live, a part of your daily routine like brushing your teeth. Then yoga isn’t something to make time for or to fit into your day. MFML teacher Andrea Kwiatkowski says ‘how do we find time for yoga in our life? Well, we realise that yoga is life, how we can ease our way through it is the practice, with ease and joy’.
Discover yoga class under 10 minutes on MFML
Movement for Modern Life is the UK’s number one on-demand yoga platform offering over 1400 yoga, meditation, pilates, barre and mindful movement classes with world class teachers. They’re all about sustainability, not only in a movement or meditation practice, but also for the planet too. Get unlimited access to all classes and courses with a free 14 day trial and 30% off forever with the code TEENYGREENY. Try here.