Yoga Goals
2009
My goals for yoga aren’t as quantitative as my running goals. It is more a direction that I am pushing myself in. This year I want to attend class more often and more consistently as well as lengthen the amount of time that I practice at home. I want to get back to the point where I was really reaching and learning something new everyday and that comes through practice. Even when I wasn’t able to go to yoga class as often I still made it a point to practice at home and I’m glad I have, but I still want more. I want to learn to take what I learn in class and on my own and apply it to my mental well-being during the day.
2010
Since I didn’t keep up my blogging so much in 2010 I didn’t update my yoga goals, but I continued to move more toward home practice, but after our move in August, I started to lose some of my yoga strength.
2011
I’m focusing on regaining my strength and flexibility and continuing to grow through yoga. This will primarily be through home practice, but I also plan to keep my eyes open for discounted and free events related to yoga. I’m super excited because a lady I worked with gave me a FREE yoga class coupon the other day.
Home Practice
Lexi had a few question and I thought it would be nice to answer them a post a few tips about home practice in case anyone else was interested.
“Do you ever practice on your own without an instructor/DVD?”
I mostly do yoga on my own, although I try to make it to class once or twice per week. My first year of yoga was done 100% in class, but I started noticing that I wanted to stay in poses for longer and I kept wishing class was longer. At this point I was probably going 3-4 times per week and I decided that since I couldn’t make it to the gym every day and I wanted to do yoga every day, I would practice at home.
“Do you create your own sequences? I’m thinking about taking on this challenge and need some tips! I’ve been reading Yoga Journal a lot and that has helped, but I was just wondering what your thoughts were on this!”
I do create my own sequences, although some I just “stole” from my yoga instructor 
Its great that you read Yoga Journal. That and Runner’s World are my 2 favorite magazines! Yoga Journal usually has a two page spread of a yoga sequence in every issue. I tear these out and glue them to card stock, then I put them in my “Yoga Binder”. Its this huge binder I have filled with yoga sequences, articles, clean eating tips, inspiring pictures, etc.
How to get started
The way I got started practicing at home was first, by finding a comfortable place in my home to do yoga, planning out my “yoga time”, and figuring out what sequences I wanted to work on. One thing you can also do besides collecting sequences from magazine articles is to visit www.YogaDownload.com . All their 20 minutes classes are free and each class comes with a free pose guide. I do have a little routine I do every time I do yoga. I start in Savasana or corpse pose, do some ab work and twists, move on to whatever I’m doing that day, do some gentle stretches,and end in Savasana. I also light a special candle when I do yoga. It isn’t necessary, but it makes it a little more special for me and I also can concentrate better. I also make sure that I put my pets up or they end up rolling on me and/or attacking my feet, hair, etc. Its not very relaxing.
How to keep going
Try planning a 1 or 2 week schedule and writing down some goals. Set a time for you to review your progress. Do you feel stronger? Are you more relaxed? Have you found that you are able to calm down more easily when you feel the panic monster coming on? Are your goals stressing you out? Maybe its time to change them a little. I strongly suggest keeping a yoga journal and looking at it from time to time to see where you started and what direction you’re heading in.
And going…
If you are finding that you’re comfortable where you are you need to be pushed a little more, then maybe it is time to start more challenging variations of poses. My yoga teacher changes poses for us, when he sees we can do more. I also find that keeping things light and fun keeps yoga “new” to me. Maybe its just me, but I just never get bored with yoga. There is always so much more to do and new challenges to face.
Another fun thing might be finding a yoga workshop in your area or even going for a retreat!
