How To Restore Your Yoga Practice After A Long Vacation!
It’s time to get back to reality!
You’ve taken the time off that you need. You’re going back home with a nice tan, feeling like the world is on your side and you can conquer anything it throws at you.The vacation is over and it’s time to get back in front of your laptop, on your office chair, and deal with the boss.Getting back to reality, whatever that reality is — work, family, business, is the main reason why you should get back to your yoga practice.As for me, I feel incomplete without it. Is it the same for you?Yoga is the ceasing of the fluctuations of the mind. When the mind is still, we are in a state of yoga.Feeling anxious to get back to the mat, you’re thinking if you want to attend class the next day, or maybe even postpone if to the following week as you’re trying to get settled into the old schedule.Before you get back into a high-stress mode, go to your favorite yoga class and revisit your mat once again.Here’s a foolproof, 3-step process of getting back to your practice after getting back from a break.
1. Identify the rewards that you get out of yoga. Usually, it’s these, not in any particular order: teacher, finishing a challenging class, sweating, fun with friends, feeling calm afterward, feeling sexy and fit.Every habit has a trigger.If your habit is to practice yoga on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 5 PM, look or come up with a way to get that trigger back. It could be looking at old photos you have with your favorite teacher or the simple act of unrolling and cleaning your mat.
2. Lower expectations of yourself. Don’t pressure yourself to attend 3 classes right away on the first week that you’re back. Depending on how much you want or need it, give yourself time to settle.
3. Schedule your first class within the next 7 days, if possible. Attend 1 class, that’s it. Once you get back to the studio, see how that makes you feel.The ambiance of a studio, the smells, being surrounded by fellow students, hearing a teacher guiding a class are things that can put you back in place. Pretty sure it will make you feel excited to practice again.Also, signing up for a class doesn’t give you much of a choice.So that’s how you bring yourself back to yoga after a break.Your intention of practicing could be for fun, self-care, mental health. Whatever it is, yoga brings you the peace and calm that you need to effectively navigate through life’s crazies.Give it your attention, make it a priority, and in no time, you’ll be back to a stable, consistent practice once again.
Source: https://odyssa.medium.com/how-to-restore-your-yoga-practice-after-a-long-vacation-be8e873aa075