How to fit Yoga into a Busy Schedule
Are you living to work, or working to live? Speaking as an ex-full time school teacher, I can unfortunately claim to have lived by the former as well as the latter. We are busier than ever these days, and when we aren’t running on that hamster wheel, forever trying to reach the end of our to-do lists and empty that inbox, our attention is in such high demand from energy draining sources such as social media and advertising, that it’s no wonder we can’t then bring ourselves to invest time and energy into a hobby or activity after a full-on day’s work.
Before I go into the importance of making time for Yoga, you’re probably wondering why go to all the effort? Yoga has some incredible health benefits, both mentally and physically. It can help to lower your average pulse rate, boost immunity and reduce inflammation in cells across the body, according to the Journal of Behavioural Medicine (2018). It can also help to regulate your metabolic rate (the rate at which your body digests food), which can in turn help with maintaining or losing weight, reducing the risk of obesity and associated risks. Yoga can also make it easier to lose weight; when we are in a state of stress, our bodies trigger the release of the hormone cortisol in the body. Cortisol binds to fat cells – our bodies literally ‘hold on’ to our fat stores in times of high stress. Lower stress levels in the body means that cortisol levels are much lower, so normal fat metabolism rates can happen.
A regular Yoga practice can also improve sleep quality, which in particularly important as we get older, as Mathew Walker explains in his book Why we Sleep that improving sleep quality can reduce the risk of developing dementia-related disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease.
The bottom line is, if you want to live a longer and healthier life, cultivate a regular Yoga practice into your routine.
Yoga can also make it easier to lose weight – low stress means cortisol levels are lower and a normal function of fat metabolism can happen.
Related: Yoga for Runners
So now we understand the importance of why Yoga should be a part of our daily lives, here are some ideas to motivate you to your mat.
Determine the ‘Why’
The first thing you want to ask yourself is why do I want to practice yoga? Having a clear intention of why you want to practice Yoga will mean that you will be more likely to stick to it in the long run. You could use an affirmation or an intention to help you focus your ‘why’, as Erica, author of Spoiled Yogi, suggests. Affirmations are a wonderful way to bring the future wishing into present thinking. Think of it like this; instead of thinking “If I practice Yoga, then I’ll be really flexible”, shift your thinking to “I practice Yoga because it makes me flexible”. In doing this, you are empowering your present state of mind to already reap the benefits of your long-term goals.
If you want to live a longer and healthier life, cultivate a regular Yoga practice into your routine.
Change your Mindset
When we live by our calendars, meetings and endless appointments, adding on a Yoga class can sometimes just feel like another commitment to fulfil. This is especially unhelpful when we have those ‘crunch times’ in our work schedules, (such as end of the financial year or a stock inventory; for me when I was a school teacher, it was usually report-writing and end of term assessments where I’d be burning the candle at both ends) because Yoga then becomes the thing we regularly deprioritise. But you need to ask yourself what that says about you. If you’re always finding an excuse not to give yourself time to enjoy the things that are good for you, then you’re saying to yourself that you don’t deserve happiness.
From discomfort, we learn
When we first go into a yoga pose, it can start to get uncomfortable and we start to want to come out of it. But this is when the pose actually begins. In the same way, when our lives start to get uncomfortable and busy, we want to back out of our commitments to ourselves, to make it easier. But what if we stayed with this discomfort for a little longer, and learned to endure it a while? What could we learn about ourselves? Could we begin to build better resilience?
Related: How to use creative alternatives to props using household objects.
Yoga off the Mat
Yoga doesn’t just happen on the mat! You could find lots of ways to fit physical yoga postures into your life. Try standing in tree pose whilst making a cup of tea. A forward fold if you’re blow-drying your hair upside-down. Or sit in Baddha Konasana (bound angle pose) instead of on the sofa when you get down to your next session of Netflix and chill (other streaming services are available!) or next time you get up from your work desk, try doing some side bend stretches as you get up.
Check out my Self Isolation Yoga Challenge for some inspiration and poses that you can try out in your own home!
Put it in your diary and set a reminder on your phone
The classic but imagine that your yoga time is like a date with your BFF. I would like to think that you would make time to see your friends, so why would you not make time to see ‘yourself’? Take this time to get to know yourself in order to better listen to and take care of you, so that you can be the best possible version of yourself there is. That way, when things start to get hard or tough in life, you will spot the warning signs of stress earlier and know to give yourself a break.
If you’re always finding an excuse not to give yourself time to enjoy the things that are good for you, then you’re saying to yourself that you don’t deserve happiness.
Rinse and Repeat
Stick to the same set of poses – at first. Don’t make it hard for yourself by trying to make it different each time. In fact, building up a regular routine can help you to see the progress you’re making each time you step on the mat. If you find it hard to motivate yourself, try finding a yoga class that runs at a time which suits you. There is plenty of online yoga available for free on YouTube, or you could even do your own research and write down a few poses to practice. You can always change it up whenever you feel like it. Remember, there is no right or wrong way* to practice yoga so get creative.
Why not try this short 15 minute Yoga practice every day and start to feel the difference?
Prioritise your Time
Make a list of what you do in a day and how long you spend on it. Be honest, were you really watching that latest boxset series or just scrolling on social media? Once your list is finished, decide where you can free up some time. I have a timer set for 20 minutes on my Instagram app, so I can monitor how long I am spending on the app each day. How about cooking a meal that had enough to last for the next day’s evening meal, too? That way you don’t need to cook every day and can use the time gained to practice your yoga moves on the mat. Organisation at first can seem quite daunting but it is well worth doing to give yourself more time and energy to do the things you love.
Practice first thing in the morning
This is the best time to practice, as your head is clear and free of thoughts and tasks form the day. It shouldn’t take much to get up earlier, even if it’s just 5 minutes earlier. Place your yoga mat by the side of your bed so it is the first thing that you step on. The feel of the mat beneath your feet will help to reinforce the positive connection between yourself and your yoga practice, encouraging you to move and stretch first thing in the morning in a way that makes you feel great and ready to take on the day.
Try a Yin Yoga class
If it’s impossible to fit yoga in the morning, but you’re exhausted at the end of the day when you roll in from work, try Yin Yoga! Yin yoga is a slower paced style of yoga, which can be combined with restorative yoga poses to create a wonderful calming, and soothing practice. Yin practices tend to focus on the internal changes, whereas more Yang-style classes (for example, vinyasa) tend to focus more on the external physical elements of the practice.
Did you know that I run a Yin Restorative Yoga class on Thursdays at 8pm (GMT) Online. Click here for more information.
Yoga of Breathing
Yoga isn’t just about moving your body, but also your breath, too. You can try this on your lunch break – slow down your breathing consciously. Inhale for a count of 4, then exhale for a count of 4. Continue with this or you can play around with extending the count. You’ll feel a lot calmer and better for it later on!
Building up a regular routine can help you to see the progress you’re making each time you step on the mat.
Try this 15 minute guided Yoga for anxiety practice for conscious breathing.
It doesn’t need to be perfect!
Each day is different – that’s the point of living, right? One day you’ll make it to that class you’ve been meaning to try, the next day you might spend five minutes on the mat first thing in the morning or it might be a meditative walk with the dog in the late afternoon or evening. It doesn’t matter when you practice and for how long, just as long as you do practice. And regularly. Have an attitude of gratitude for when you do practice and be kind to yourself when you don’t manage to meet your intentions – we are only human, and things happen. Just redouble your efforts to practice the following day.
Have an attitude of gratitude for when you do practice and be kind to yourself when you don’t manage.
At the end of the day, what are you going to regret more, spending more time on your mat, or spending less time on your phone? If you’re the type of person that needs to held accountable, get a friend or family member on board, so that you can hold each other to account if one of you starts to slip. Find a format of yoga that works for you best – do you learn best from an app, your own notes, an online video or a live class where the teacher can see you and guide you in your practice? As Sheri Bestor, a writer for Yoga International quite rightly says, “Yoga is a part of you and it can be expressed with very breath. Adopt this way of thinking and being, and you’ll soon find out that your practice is as sure and solid as your living, breathing, shining truth”.
Interested in personal, 1 to 1 guided yoga teaching, bespoke to you, to fit in with your lifestyle? You can contact me on yogawfran@gmail.com for more information or click here.
*I would always recommend that you seek the advice of a yoga professional if you wish to practice more challenging postures such as sirsasnana, (headstand), urdhva dhanurasana (wheel) or pincha mayurarasana (forearm stand), to name a few.
Thanks for your blog, nice to read. Do not stop.