Health Yoga Life, Author at Health Yoga Life

Almost to the Finish Line: Discipline During the 30-Day Challenge

April 14, 2021April 13, 2021 by Health Yoga Life

You’re almost at the finish line of your 30-day yoga challenge! Are you finding it difficult to stay motivated to step onto the mat every day? It’s completely normal to have these feelings when it’s time to practice for the day. If you need a little inspiration to improve your discipline and finish your yoga challenge strong, check out these six ways to stay motivated in your yoga practice.

6 Tips for Staying Motivated in Your Yoga Practice

1. Track Your Accomplishments:

All too often, we miss when we have little victories throughout our practice. We become so absorbed in just getting the task done that we don’t see how far we’ve progressed throughout our practice. One of the best ways to find motivation in yoga is to write down your accomplishments in a gratitude journal (find out how to keep one here). Did you attend a yoga class even when you didn’t feel like it after a long, hard day of work? Were you finally able to stretch into a pose that you previously found difficult? Whatever your accomplishment is—big or small—write it down so you can remind yourself why regularly practicing yoga is important.

2. Treat Yourself to a Smoothie:

A small reward every once in a while can make it easier to step onto the mat. A smoothie is a perfect reward—it’s healthy and sweet! Plan ahead of time which smoothie you’ll treat yourself to so that you’ll be motivated to attend and complete a yoga class. If you need inspiration for a smoothie recipe, try our green drink smoothie.

3. Surround Yourself with a Community:

It can be hard to reach your yoga goals without other people supporting you. It’s all too easy to get lost in your negative thoughts or to lose sight of why you committed to a yoga challenge in the first place without someone there to remind you. Surrounding yourself with fellow yogis can help you stay motivated to cross the finish line. When you’re feeling discouraged, call up a yoga friend. Follow and interact with Health Yoga Life and your favorite yogis on social media for daily inspiration. Together, we can reach our yoga goals.

4. Establish a Routine:

Dedicate a specific time of day to practice. By setting time aside for yoga, you’re more likely to stick to this routine. You may find it easiest to roll out of bed in the morning and spend time on the mat before you begin your day. Or you may find that right after work is the best time for you. The time of day you practice may also vary depending on the day of the week. That’s okay! Just make sure that you keep that time dedicated specifically to yoga.

5. Find Joy in Variety:

When you practice regularly, you can start to feel bored with your routine. If this is happening to you as you near the end of your 30-day yoga challenge, mix things up and add a little spice to your practice. Grab your mat and streaming device and head outside. Fresh air can invigorate your mind and excite you over a new experience. Create your own yoga playlist and play it softly in the background during your virtual class. Try different instructors and see how every yogi has something new to offer. Health Yoga Life has certified teachers who can help you feel reinvigorated in your practice. View our instructors’ profiles on our class schedule (found here) to plan your next class.

6. Celebrate Milestones:

Just as you should congratulate yourself over the little victories, you should also celebrate significant milestones in your yoga. A great way to build discipline in your practice is to set goals (such as finishing four full weeks of yoga), track your progress, and then reward yourself for achieving those goals. A fun way to celebrate your accomplishment is buying yourself something special, such as new yoga apparel, props, or a spot in the Health Yoga Life teacher training course.

Finish Strong

If you’re participating in Health Yoga Life’s 30-Day Spring into Yoga Challenge, then you are just a week away from the finish line! You’ve shown incredible discipline this far. Now, finish strong! Use these motivational tips to keep going. For more inspiration, connect with us on social media—Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

How to Keep a Gratitude Journal

April 6, 2021April 5, 2021 by Health Yoga Life

So much happens in a single day (and not to mention an entire week). It’s easy to get swept up in all the busyness and miss the beautiful little moments. Keeping a gratitude journal can help you capture all those moments. This journal is used to write down your accomplishments of the week and is super beneficial for your mind. Today, we want to share a few tips for keeping a gratitude journal.

What is a Gratitude Journal?

Gratitude journaling is the regular practice of writing down the things you are grateful for. This reflection time is meant to help you recognize the positives in your life that you may have missed in the moment. With time, you’ll begin to spot these little joys even when you’re facing a challenging situation.

How you write in your gratitude journal is entirely up to you. Some people prefer to create bulleted lists while others delve into their thoughts with long entries. People also commonly think of this exercise as writing down three good things. If you’re new to gratitude journaling, this could be a great goal to have—write down three things about your week that brought you happiness (big or small).

Keeping a gratitude journal lifts your spirits and improves your mental health in several ways. If you’re not sure you should invest your time in gratitude journaling, check out these impressive benefits:

Deeper and longer sleep
Greater happiness
An ability to see the meaning of events in your life
A new perspective on challenging life situations

Tips for Keeping a Gratitude Journal

The benefits of gratitude journaling can only be enjoyed if this exercise is done in a certain way. Don’t panic: there aren’t a lot of rules to follow. There’s still plenty of flexibility to make this practice work for you. Research has shown that you’ll have greater success with keeping a gratitude journal by following these steps.

Write Only Once A Week.
It’s a great practice to point out the good in your life, but you can burn yourself out if you journal too often (such as every day). Plus, studies have shown that people who experienced the most happiness after journaling only wrote once or twice a week. If they did it more than that (such as three times a week or every day), they stopped having the same reaction to the good things. It’s actually best for your mind to reflect back on several events at once and be surprised by the simple things that brought you joy.

Be Detailed.
We mentioned earlier that you can write a bulleted list of things you are grateful for. And this is still true. But if you take this route, make sure you still give plenty of detail. We feel the most grateful when we understand why a particular thing or person made us happy in the moment. It may also be helpful to note where you were or what you were doing when that good thing or person brightened your day.
Write What Your Life Would Be Like Without That Blessing.
Make the little joys even bigger by reflecting on what your life would have been like without that blessing.

Don’t Forget People.
Perhaps one day was exceptionally bright because a specific person in your life made it better. Did your best friend give you a call out of the blue on her lunch break? Did your spouse deliver your favorite meal to your office? Did a stranger at the grocery store let you have the last shopping basket? Sometimes it’s the little things people do for you that put a smile on your face. Be sure to note this in your journal.

How a Gratitude Journal Enhances Your Yoga Practice

Journaling on the things that inspire gratitude not only improves your mental health, but it can also have positive effects on your yoga practice. How? Keeping a gratitude journal on your yoga practice can encourage you to keep going by tracking your progression, stumbles, and triumphs. A gratitude journal is a great place to mark all the times you practiced yoga, even when you didn’t feel like it, and how practicing anyway changed the way you felt.

If you’re participating in a yoga challenge, such as Health Yoga Life’s 30-Day Spring into Yoga Challenge, a gratitude journal can motivate you to complete all 30 days. At the end of the week, you can reflect on your experience practicing yoga every single day. Maybe it was hard, but how did you feel at the end of class? Note that in your journal. You may see some surprising results.

Journaling Gratefulness

All too often, we get caught up in the hustle-and-bustle of life and become focused on the negative. We begin to think that nothing has gone our way in a long time. Keeping a gratitude journal can remind you of all the little moments throughout your week that made it brighter. Focusing on what makes you grateful can significantly impact your mental and emotional health. Follow our tips for keeping a gratitude journal and watch how it transforms your life and maybe even your yoga practice!

Launching Our Reimaged Website

April 14, 2021March 31, 2021 by Health Yoga Life

Welcome to our updated hOMepage! If you’ve been part of our community for a little while now, you may notice things look a little different. Health Yoga Life is evolving, as a business and as a community. We thought our website could use a little transformation as well.

Now you can find articles on living your fullest authentic life in each of our categories: HEALTH, YOGA, and LIFE. For even more tips and techniques, you can visit our Featured Expert Video Corner to learn from your favorite experts at Health Yoga Life. Our reimagined website is meant to be a resource for you to use in your journey towards pursuing a healthy, whole life.

Roots

Our roots as a women-owned family business have helped us create a community of yogis that feel like family. We started as a yoga studio in Boston and then Cambridge, and now, we’re a 100% online community. Every day, our company is growing to include team members and yogis that are nationwide. Together, we transform our bodies and minds in authentic, powerful ways. Grow your own roots in your wellness journey with Health Yoga Life.

Community

Wherever you are, you can join us online for yoga. By attending a live online yoga class, you’ll benefit from a virtual judgment-free community of encouraging yogis and certified instructors. Whether you’re an expert or still pretty green, Health Yoga Life’s virtual classes will meet you where you are with a community cheering you along the way.

Wellness

Our site is your resource for improving your yoga practice and making healthy choices for your mind, body, and spirit. Get advice on which yoga poses to practice after a long day. Enhance your diet with some of our favorite recipes and brands. Learn how to free your spirit. Find all these wellness tips and more on our reimaged website!

Browse around and find all your favorite blog posts, sign up for classes with your favorite instructors, and pursue a healthy, fulfilled life with Health Yoga Life. Connect with us on social media and let us know how your wellness journey started!

Seva: The Art of Selfless Service

March 29, 2021 by Health Yoga Life

Showing up for someone else is the surest way to find real joy. And we could all use a little more joy this spring. Instead of committing to Health Yoga Life’s 30-Day Spring into Yoga Challenge solely for yourself, consider choosing someone else to be your motivation. As you commit to deepening your practice, you will see benefits in your own body, mind, and spirit and experience the joy of doing something for someone else! Let’s take a closer look at what seva is and a few ways you can practice it this spring.

What is Seva?

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” – Mahatma Gandhi

Sanskrit for “selfless service,” seva, is the practice of serving others with gratitude in every area of your life at any time. When practicing seva, you do something kind to benefit your community or your loved ones without expecting a reward or appreciation in return. Seva is the art of giving.

Every selfless act is a gift to those on the receiving end and to your spiritual health. Whenever you feel the inner call to do something nice for someone and you do it without needing a thank you in return, that is seva. The act of kindness does not have to be big. You don’t have to change the world; you just need to touch those around you. The more you act selflessly, the more joy you will experience, and the more you’ll see your purpose in supporting others.

Do the HYL Spring into Yoga Challenge for Someone Else

This spring, Health Yoga Life is hosting a Spring into Yoga Challenge. If you need the motivation to step on the mat every day of this challenge, consider practicing for someone else. Perhaps, you’ll want to try for a chance to win the grand prize of a spot in the Yoga Teacher Training Program so you can gift it to someone else. Or maybe you can partner up with another yogi who’s doing the challenge but wants a buddy to keep them accountable. Or, you can stay motivated to complete the challenge by reminding yourself you’re doing the challenge to improve your physical and mental health so you can live a long, whole life with your loved ones.

By changing your mindset about why you’re participating in the challenge, you’ll be more motivated to make it to the finish line. Your heart will be fulfilled, and you will experience more joy when you commit to your yoga practice for someone specific. Jump-start your seva practice in everyday life by completing the Health Yoga Life Spring into Yoga Challenge for someone else.

Other Ways to Practice Seva this Spring

If you’d like more ideas of selfless acts, here are 5 additional ways to practice seva:

Pay-It-Forward: Pay for the order of the person behind you in the drive-thru or in line.
Send a Gift: Ship a gift or send a virtual gift card to someone that needs extra encouragement. Consider sending a note too – a simple “Thinking of you” or “Love you” or “You got this!” will go a long way in letting that person know they are cared for.
Pick Up Trash: Pick up trash and litter on the street, sidewalks, or grass as you walk by. Whether you’re on your way to work, the grocery store, or the park, take just a few seconds to clean up the earth that has given so much to us.
Donate: If you have a cause you believe in, consider donating money or products to the organization. It doesn’t have to be a large amount. Even if it’s just $5 – one of your Starbucks orders – you’ll be enabling them to make a difference.
Be a Listening Ear. One of the greatest sacrifices we can make for others is simply being there as a listening ear. Don’t show judgment, and refrain from offering advice. Let the other person vent and acknowledge you understand why they feel the way they do. Often, people just need to feel that they are heard. You can selflessly provide this for them.

The Joy of Selfless Service

When you live in selfless service, putting others first will become instinctual. Your insecurities and selfish patterns will begin to lessen. You’ll be able to live an authentic life, creating harmony and balance with others. Experience joy this spring while you commit to a full 30 days of yoga for someone else.

Restorative Yoga to Support Your Practice

April 6, 2021March 25, 2021 by Health Yoga Life

Ever been in the middle of your yoga practice and just needed to stay in child’s pose for the rest of the session? It’s okay to give in to this impulse. We need to listen to our bodies and honor how we feel each day of our practice. Some days we may be called to rest and go easy.

Restorative yoga brings peace and rest to your mind and body. Today, we’ll be exploring restorative yoga’s benefits and how it can help you stick to your yoga goals, such as completing the HYL Spring into Yoga Challenge.

Benefits of Restorative Yoga

Restorative yoga has so many powerful benefits for our mental and physical health. When life is stressful and busy, our minds and bodies speed up, and our nervous systems end up taking a beating. We can unwind from a busy week with restorative yoga. Using props such as bolsters, blankets, and blocks, you relax into each pose, releasing tension from your muscles. Restorative yoga benefits include:

A quieted mind
A relaxed body
A balanced nervous system
An ability to recognize where we’re holding tension
A strength to face what we’re avoiding
An increased compassion and understanding for self and others
A boosted immune system
An improved capacity for self-healing

Be Where You Are

As you’ve seen, you can still receive tremendous benefits from a slow practice. Some days you may want to skip your Chatturanga and just rest in child’s pose…and that’s okay! Listen to your body and be where you are! You don’t have to constantly put strain on your muscles to see health benefits. Staying tuned to your body’s needs can help you find inner healing.

Resting with Yoga

Whether you step onto the mat every day or multiple times a week, your mental and physical health will be stronger from participating in a restorative yoga session. One of our certified yoga instructors, Purvi Patel, offers Restorative Yoga Classes on Sundays from 5:45 – 6:45 PM EDT. Grab your blankets, bolsters (or pillows), and your mat, and join us for deep relaxation to start the week right. Are you participating in our 30-day yoga challenge? These restorative yoga classes count towards your 30 days of yoga! What are you waiting for?

5 Ways to Activate Self-Healing

March 29, 2021March 22, 2021 by Health Yoga Life

According to Ayurveda, the transition from winter to spring is when we are most vulnerable. It’s easy for us to catch a cold during this time, and we could be at risk of becoming stagnant in our daily routines. Spring is the time to take care of yourself and is full of new self-healing opportunities. Let’s look at a few different ways you can heal your mind and spirit this spring.

Mantra for Spring

To encourage self-care this spring, we want to inspire you with a mantra from Maya Tiwari. You can use this in your yoga practice, during your self-care routines, or as you go about your everyday tasks. This mantra is “Regenerate and Transform.”

If you haven’t heard of Maya Tiwari, she is a spiritual pioneer who has helped nourish and heal people with her message of Ahimsa (or harmony). She teaches Ayurvedic principles and even established the Wise Earth School of Ayurveda. With her vision of helping people recognize their inner power to heal and transform themselves, Maya has impacted individuals and communities worldwide.

As you work on activating self-healing this spring, remember Maya’s mantra, “Regenerate and Transform.” By focusing on caring for your mental, physical, and emotional health, you will reawaken your inner spirit and plant seeds of new beginnings and new behaviors. Transformation and healing begin with one step. Take a step today with one of the following self-care practices.

Practices for Self-Care

Spring is the perfect opportunity to adopt new self-healing practices. Invigorate your mind, strengthen your immunity, and cleanse your spirit with these five self-care techniques.

Dry Brushing

Started as an ayurvedic ritual, dry brushing is the practice of rubbing a bristled tool over your skin. This ritual boasts more benefits than just exfoliating your skin; it also stimulates your circulatory system to remove waste and helps you feel better about your body. Dry brushing is a detoxifying experience that leaves your skin smooth and glowing!

Kapha Balancing Recipe

Whenever you feel a dip in energy, have a cold, struggle with poor bowel movements, or have sudden weight gain, you may be experiencing a kapha imbalance. As Ayurveda teaches, each of us is made up of three doshas – vata, pitta, and kapha. When these doshas aren’t balanced, we can feel off. If you’re experiencing an imbalance in your kapha, try a light, healthy kapha balancing recipe. Find recipes online or make this kapha salad:

Ingredients

¼ cup mung bean sprouts
2 carrots, grated
Lettuce of your choice
¼ cup roughly chopped raw broccoli
¼ cup cabbage
Fresh green beans
Lemon
Oil
Salt and black pepper, to taste

Steps

Mix the sprouts with your vegetables.
Drizzle lemon and oil over the veggies, then sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Toss gently and enjoy.

Yoga Poses to Cleanse the Lungs

With the beginning of spring comes seasonal allergies and colds for many of us. Our lungs require a little extra attention during these times, especially since our breath (or “prana”) is our life force. Yoga can be a great way to activate self-healing in any area of your life, such as your breathing. While incorporating self-care practices into your daily routine, try these heart and chest openers to cleanse your lungs.

Triangle Pose: This pose opens the chest cavity by spreading your arms. One hand is placed on the ground, and one stretches into the sky.
Fish Pose: This pose boosts blood circulation and stretches your lungs. It encourages deep breathing and can relieve respiratory issues, such as allergy-related asthma.
Wild Thing: We love having a little fun here at Health Yoga Life because you can’t (and shouldn’t) always take life so seriously, not even your self-care practice. Shake things up with this chest opener. Not only does it free the spirit, open the heart, and increase lung capacity, but it also strengthens your shoulders and upper back, which is great for improving your posture (and good posture means easier breathing).

Epsom Salt Baths

Boasted for its soothing powers, Epsom salt is a popular addition to any self-care practice. Soaking in an Epsom salt bath can heal your mind from the stresses of the day (or year). To get a bath started, fill your bathtub with warm water and add no more than 2 cups of Epsom salt per gallon of water. Soak for 15 minutes or more.

Why Epsom salts? Great question! The amount of magnesium in Epsom salt is believed to reduce swelling and relieve aches. It may also soothe skin irritations and itching. These benefits make an Epsom salt bath the perfect way to wind down from a tension-filled day. Step into the warm water, ease your muscles, and let your mind drift.

Drink Water with Lemon

Let’s face it: plain water is boring. It doesn’t matter how much our bodies crave it; it will never not be flat and unexciting. For this reason, it can be hard to stay motivated to consume the recommended daily amount. Thankfully, there’s a solution: lemon water!

Drinking water infused with lemons can promote hydration by improving the flavor, encouraging you to drink more. Additionally, lemons are chock-full of Vitamin C, which can help boost your immune system and reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease. Lemon water can also support weight loss, improve your skin, and aid in digestion. You can drink it cold, but warm lemon water has a soothing quality that’s perfect for relaxing at the end of the day or after a long yoga practice. One of the best ways to activate self-healing is through hydration, and what better way to improve your intake of water than with lemon water? Mix up a cup (or mug) of lemon water today.

Transform Your Life with Self-Healing

Now that the cold weather is moving on and the flowers and trees are breathing life back into the earth, it’s time to shake off the winter blues and focus on your wellbeing. Activate self-healing this spring by keeping Maya Tiwari’s mantra at heart and starting a new self-care practice. Remember to listen to your body; it’ll tell you what you need to be whole again. If you’re ready to transform your life, join Health Yoga Life in one of our yoga classes. Review the classes and instructors then sign up here.

Using Yoga Tools in Everyday Life

March 29, 2021March 19, 2021 by Health Yoga Life

Yoga does not have to end once you step off the mat after a 60-minute class. The tools you gain in a yoga class, such as breathing techniques, good posture, balance, and patience are meant to be integrated into your being so you can use them when you need them most. You can carry these four yoga tools into your everyday life for peace, mindfulness, and strength.

Breathing

“For breath is life, and if you breathe well you will live long on earth.” – Sanskrit proverb

One of the greatest tools yoga equips you with is a focused, controlled breath. Whenever you’re feeling stressed, anxious, angry, or sad, you can pause and breathe. Count your inhales and exhales, seeing how long you can extend each. For even more soothing effects, incorporate a mantra into your breath work. Positive affirmations can do wonders in replacing negative, doubtful self-talk. With simple breathing techniques, your mood will be transformed, allowing you to live your best life.

Posture

We spend the majority of our days hunched over a desk, slouched in chairs that don’t support our spines. Yoga can help combat the pain from poor postures and brings awareness to your body. When you make the effort to improve your posture, you increase your confidence, and evoke an image of power.

Balance

When you’re balanced, you feel calm, grounded, and clear-headed. How can you find balance in your everyday life? Achieving balance will look different depending on each individual person, but yoga can help anyone restore balance. Yoga teaches you to acknowledge how you feel, examine why you feel that way, and set plans for different behavior in the future. Yoga ultimately attunes you to your body, mind, and spirit so you can determine what you need to find balance.

Patience

Life can be frustrating – from the people who don’t behave how you thought they would to circumstances that prevent you from achieving your goals. Yoga teaches you that you’ll have feelings but that you don’t have to act on them. You can breathe, then transform that energy into something positive – go for a hike in the woods, cook a meal for a friend, or practice yoga. In yoga, you continually pull your focus back to the present – on your posture, your movement, and your breath. This practice encourages you to accept the moment, being patient while you wait for the next moment to come, no matter how difficult.

Yoga: Equipping You with Tools for Life

Life can often make you feel like crawling back into bed to hide under the covers. But we don’t have to avoid the struggles of everyday life; we can, instead, feel empowered by the tools we gain from yoga. We have everything we need inside of us to make it through any and all ups and downs. Join Health Yoga Life’s community of yogis in weekly classes and add yoga tools into your arsenal for conquering everyday life.

A Quick Guide to Ujjayi Breath (Victorious Breath)

March 29, 2021March 17, 2021 by Health Yoga Life

The most common form of pranayama is Ujjayi. Also known as “Victorious Breath,” this breathing technique empowers you by being both calming and energizing. It involves breath that rolls in and out of the back of your throat like ocean waves. Let’s look at exactly what Ujjayi breathing is and how it can be practiced anywhere to soothe your nerves.

What is Ujjayi?

Ujjayi is a pranayama breathing technique that uses the diaphragm and requires a gentle restriction of the flow of air at the back of your throat. To practice Ujjayi, start in a seated, relaxed position. When you’re first starting out, you can breathe in through your nose then out through your mouth with a gentle “huh” sound (like you’re fogging up a mirror). Once you have a hang of this, you can begin to do this same thing with your lips closed.

The more you practice pulling in and pushing air out of the back of your throat, the more you’ll be able to lengthen and smoothen your breath. Once you have a hang of Ujjayi breathing in a seated position, you can incorporate it into your asana practice for an even more soothing experience during high-stress moments.

Deep Breaths for Soothed Nerves

Whenever we get stressed, fight or flight mode kicks in, causing our heart rate to increase, our muscles to tense, and our breathing to shallow out. These physical reactions create racing thoughts and extreme emotions. Ujjayi breathing forces your breathing to even out so every part of your nervous system slows down. Studies have shown that this breathing technique can release tension from your body, reduce your stress, and improve your sleep. Once you have this pranayama practice down pat, it’ll be a practice you use whenever your stress response is triggered. Instant calm, when you need it most.

Practice It Anytime, Anywhere

The beauty of Ujjayi breaths is that they can be taken anywhere, anytime. When you begin to feel overwhelmed or stressed, you can pause what you’re doing wherever you are – whether that’s at your desk or in the middle of the grocery store – and breathe. The soft roar of your breath and the flow of oxygen will ease your mind and provide clarity.

Victorious Breaths to Conquer Any Moment

An important pranayama technique to have in your back pocket, Ujjayi breathing soothes your nerves so you can be at your best in any situation. When you begin to feel your stress response kicking in, use this breathing technique to anchor your mind. For even more stress relief, combine Ujjayi breaths with Health Yoga Life’s yoga classes, which are taught by certified instructors. Sign up here!

Purifying Rituals for the 2021 Spring Equinox

March 29, 2021March 15, 2021 by Health Yoga Life

It’s that beautiful, fresh, bright time of year again. The Spring Equinox is upon us, and that means we can look forward to enjoying more daylight hours, warmer temperatures, blooming flowers, May showers, chirping birds, and buzzing bees. With these sunnier days comes a sense of hope and new beginnings. We have the opportunity to plant new seeds in our lives – clearing out what doesn’t serve us and beginning what helps us become our true, authentic selves. For the 2021 Spring Equinox, commit to growth and rebirth, shed old habits, and become more disciplined.

Commit to Self-Care

We live in a world that demands us to do more, to be more, to keep going and to never stop. In reality, we can only be our best selves if slow down. Making time for yourself can relieve pressures and help you avoid burnout. Yoga can be a great way to make self-care a priority. You can establish a time of day (or week) that you step onto the mat, then that will become your dedicated time to focus on renewing your mind and restoring your energy. Whether you take just 10 to 15 minutes a day or a whole hour, holding a specific time as sacred will establish that your health is important and deserves to be taken care of.

In addition to a self-care yoga practice, you can also take steps to care for yourself emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually. Below are some of our favorite ways to do so.

To care for yourself emotionally, you can:

- Take a nature hike
- Journal about ways you can plant seeds of intention for the new year (how you can improve yourself, your relationships, and your community)
- Talk with someone (a friend, family member, or professional)
- Listen to music

To care for yourself physically, you can:

- Exercise
- Eat healthy
- Take vitamins
- Drink water, coconut water, herbal tea, and mocktails
- Get plenty of sleep

To care for yourself mentally, you can:

- Do reading challenges
- Listen to audiobooks
- Take a class to learn something new
- Plant seeds, such as lavender for calmness and rosemary for alertness, in your garden
- Clean your space, open your windows, and light some sage

To care for yourself spiritually, you can:

- Meditate
- Practice mindfulness
- Love others
- Help those in need

Set New Habits

If the spring makes us think of anything (besides flowers and rain showers, of course), it’s the idea that we can start fresh. 2020 was full of challenges and often stressful. We had to quickly pivot and abandon plans for the year. Perhaps, some of us even lost track of goals we had set for ourselves at the beginning of 2020. We now have a whole new year ahead of us. Kick your old habits to the curb, and plant seeds of opportunity for new health, work, and life routines. To ensure success in your new habits in 2021, follow these tips:

- Define Your Goals. Before you even start, make sure you clearly define your goals. Make them qualitative, such as practicing yoga three times a week. Write your goals out so you can remember exactly what you’re trying to achieve each week.
- Work with Others. There’s no better way to start new habits than with someone else. By committing to a habit with a friend or family member, you’ll feel more motivated. You can cheer each other on, and you’ll have a support system whenever things get hard.
- Make It Easy to Implement. In order to stick to your goals, take steps ahead of time that will enable you to be successful. If your goal is to practice yoga in the mornings, set out your clothes the night before (and don’t forget a full water bottle!). If you want to remember to meditate every evening, set an alarm to remind yourself to shut off your devices and sit down on your mat or cushion.

Enhance Discipline

The beginning of spring is the perfect time to work on your self-discipline. By focusing on a new goal or habit this spring, you’ll develop your self-control, responsibility, focus, and diligence. Don’t be afraid to let people know you’re not available at a certain time or a particular day because you’re committed to your self-care ritual (whether that’s yoga, meditation, reading, or simply listening to music). Keep that time sacred. Carrying out this goal or habit can energize you, uplift your spirit, and bring peace to your mind – all of which will help you be a better friend, sister, daughter, mom, dad, son, brother, and spouse. For more self-discipline tips, check out our blog post here.

30 Day Yoga Challenge

Spring is the time to recommit to yourself. What better way to bring balance to your life than with a yoga challenge? Yoga has the power to soothe the body and soul, create self-clarity, and enhance concentration. Summon your strength and detoxify with Health Yoga Life’s Spring into Yoga 30 Day Challenge!

This 100% online challenge runs from March 20^th to April 19^th. Renew your practice by joining yogis from across the country in this challenge. The grand prize winner will receive a FREE spot in our virtual Yoga Alliance Approved Yoga Teacher Training Program. The runner-up prizes are pretty cool, too! If you’re ready to spring into an enriched life where you focus on healing your mind, sign up for the yoga challenge HERE.

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