No Time For Yoga
We’ve all said it a time, or two (or twenty) in our lives: “I don’t have time for yoga.” Or, maybe you’re not a yoga person, but this is something that you’ve said about your own personal practice. Perhaps it’s a physical activity, or a hobby, or moving meditation (like art, dance, so on and so forth). Whatever it is, we can universally relate to the idea of “not having time” for the things that we love, and (arguably) the practices that we need MOST….especially when we “don’t have time” for them.
I’ve been holding a weekly yoga Q & A on my Instagram stories for the last few months now, and one topic that comes in A LOT is about timing.
How to make time to practice?
How long should a practice be?
What counts as a full practice?
How too yoga regularly if they only have short breaks in their work day?
How to find time for yoga as a new mom?
Good news! I got you covered. All of you. Not only do I cover these topics and MORE in my limited series yoga podcast, but I also created an entire series of classes for all of my fellow busy humans out there. So what’s left to talk about here? Well, I think it’s worth addressing the validity of our busy lives, and how we can merge our modern needs with an ancient practice like yoga.
Yoga is More Than Just Asana
Modern yoga looks like getting super caught up in asana (the physical postures), which makes sense- we’re a society that loves the aesthetic, the visual, the BEAUTY in the world. And yoga is just that. It’s beautiful.
However, asana (the postures) are only one of eight limbs according to yoga philosophy. That means that when we practice yoga, there are options BEYOND the physical that we can practice, as well.
This is important because our bodies ebb and flow with energy depending on SO MANY factors (aka…life), and expecting them to move in the same physical way day in and day out isn’t realistic. My No Time for Yoga series includes an open-level, guided meditation every week for you to start expanding your yoga practice beyond just the physical shapes.
Stop “Shoulding” on Yourself
This is important in SO MANY areas of our life, which is why it’s worth mentioning here. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had teachers and students, alike, tell me they feel like they “should” practice every day. Or their practice “should” look a certain way.
When we notice “should” language pop up, it’s important to notice it. Most of the time, this means we’ve been conditioned into believing something. Dig into that to understand where these beliefs come from, and if they’re actually what you agree with, or just think that you “should” agree with in order to do it…right, wrong, better, worse, you get the idea.
The purpose of showing up for your practice is to CELEBRATE, rather than to punish or restrict. Try to work on showing up as joyfully as possible so the experience is actually FUN.
Define Your Own Practice
I was definitely one of those people who thought a “real yoga class” had to be AT LEAST 60 minutes, or longer. Truthfully, I was at a place for YEARS where I didn’t think a class was “worth it” unless it was at least TWO HOURS.
The funny thing about this is that OF COURSE I didn’t have two hours a day to dedicate to yoga, which meant there were many days I wouldn’t do it at all (asana, I mean). I hope you see why this is funny, because I sure didn’t at the time.
Isn’t it better to show up for 5 minutes than not at all? Hell, isn’t it better to show up for one long, Rag Doll a day than not at all? I know my body feels better with even just ONE mindful movement in my day, as opposed to ZERO.
So why did I think my two hour or bust mentality made sense? Conditioning! There’s a lot of language around what it means to be “real yoga” or a “full practice” or “worth it,” when the truth is that YOU and your life can define that.
Don’t Underestimate the Power of 15 Minutes
When people find out that the classes I created in my No Time for Yoga Series are 15 minutes or less, they seriously doubt that they’ll have a memorable experience. I get it, I was in that camp for a long time.
But then when people TRY the classes, their mind is blown- because there’s actually SO MUCH you can pack into 15 minutes. And even if it’s not packed in, the way you feel mentally, emotionally and physically can DRASTICALLY change in 15 minutes.
Look, I can sit here and try to convince you, but the truth is this is something that is best figured out through your own experience. Whether you try out my classes (there’s 24 in the bundle, that’s enough for 6 classes over 4 weeks), or do your own 15 minute flow- just go into it open, and ready to receive all that juicy goodness available to you in those quick, 15 minutes.
Consistency
I created this series as a 4 week series with 6 classes every week with the sole purpose of cultivating more consistency for people. These are small attainable goals that are available to so many of us, in the sense that most of us can afford to carve out 15 minutes of our day (especially opposed to an hour or more).
I believe consistency builds confidence. Confidence comes from making promises to yourself, and keeping them. However, we can only keep the promises if they’re realistic, right?
I think 15 minutes a day is realistic for most of us. And most of all, you DESERVE 15 minutes for YOU every day. Whether you give yourself that gift through yoga, meditation, or something else altogether, just know that you deserve the consistency of 15 minutes a day.
My goal with this series is to cultivate consistency on the mat first, by getting people to show up for themselves regularly. In turn, this consistency will trickle down to your daily life as well, creating a more confident, sparkly version of YOU.
So, the moral of the story is: we all have time. It’s just how we choose to make it that really matters.
Give yourself the gift of 15 minutes a day. However that looks for you. You deserve it. Promise.
xx,
K
