Regular Practice of Yoga

Several years ago I was in Dallas taking training from Judith Hanson Lasater who has been a yoga teacher and physical therapist for over 50 years. One of the participants asked her, “Judith, how often should we practice yoga?” She replied simply, “Only practice on the days you want to feel good.” Sneaky teacher, that Judith, because she knew what we were all thinking: “I want to feel good every day!”

This brings us to our next installment of “Rules of Yoga, Rules for Life.” Let’s look at “Practice regularly,” by which we mean practice daily. I know, that seems to be a lot of ask, that we would practice yoga every day. But that’s only because we think that yoga requires us to leave our house or office and go to a studio for a 75-90 minute class. Most of us don’t have time for that every day, and fortunately this is not required of us.

Of course, spending time in the presence of a well-trained yoga teacher is important because we each need someone to watch our form and answer our questions. I still haven’t found an internet teacher who can do that! And this is what we receive in those longer in-person sessions: movement of the body in multiple directions while recruiting many different muscle groups, intentional and revitalizing breathwork, quiet meditation and reflection, and deep relaxation. While we may not be able to remember the sequence or exact cues, our body remembers how we moved, our energy systems remember the balance we achieved, and our nervous system remembers how to power down.

Now all we need is 15 minutes or so on the other days to reconnect with those feelings. Would you be able to find 15 minutes? You could

-Pick a pose or two to explore, such as Cat/Cow and Down Dog
-Recreate the breathing exercise your teacher taught this week
-Meditate on the breath for 5 minutes and write about it for 10 minutes
-Set your timer for 15 minutes and lie down in savasana

After all, yoga is not a class or a pose, but a way to approach life with presence, focus and balance. Whenever we can approach life in that way, it becomes much easier to say “I feel good."