Happy (Gregorian) New Year, friends! For many of us, January signifies a new year, but for some, the new year truly doesn’t begin in earnest until the Spring Equinox on March 19. If you’re in the “New Year, New Me” camp - then welcome! Grab a warm mug of tea, coffee, or hot cocoa, and let’s chat.
Hot take, but I truly *love* this time of year. I get a chance to stay indoors, to “winter” and rest, and to make plans for the warmer season. I love to set goals, to adjust my routine, and work at getting 1% better everyday.
Maybe you’ve set a goal or resolution for yourself this year. And maybe, *just maybe*, that goal is to start or rebuild a yoga practice this year. How exciting!
Whether you’re new to the practice or rebuilding, below are our top 3 tips for starting or rebuilding a yoga practice:
A graphic showing 1% better or 1% worse every day
Start small. Employ the 1% Better Theory to build the habit.
James Clear’s theory of 1% Better, or Continuous Improvement, reminds us that by aiming to get 1% better at something everyday for a year, we will then end up 37 TIMES better by the end of the year than we were when we started.
If your goal is to build a regular yoga practice, then ask yourself: what can you do each day to become 1% better at practicing yoga? Maybe it’s scheduling the group class at the studio, maybe it’s trying out a new guided meditation on the Insight Timer app, maybe it’s reading a chapter in a yogic text about the practice. Remember: yoga has 8 limbs, and is much more than just the physical practice!Build consistency. Show up, even on the days you’d rather not.
If you truly want to build a sustainable yoga practice, consistency is key. As Maharshi Patañjali himself states in The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali Sutra 1.14, “Practice becomes firmly grounded when well attended to for a long time, without break and in all earnestness.” But how do we accomplish this?
Set an achievable goal of getting to the studio maybe once or twice a week at first, at MOST. Set yourself up for success by building a habit of going to yoga first, THEN try to increase the number of times you practice.
On the days when you’d rather not, just remember: the hardest part is making it up the studio steps! Even if you simply lie on your mat in a resting shape like Child’s Pose, you still practiced yoga. <3Hold yourself accountable! Use the Public Pledge Bias theory to your advantage.
Did you know that only 9% of New Year’s Resolutions are kept for the entire year, and 43% of people usually quit by the end of January? This is not to discourage you, but instead, to encourage you to make a public commitment or tell a friend so you aren’t part of that 43%!
Tell a friend, tell your yoga teachers, or tell Sam or I that you intend to keep practicing X number of times a week/month/etc. The more people you tell, the more likely you will be to follow through. And the psychology of telling someone you’re going to do it backs this strategy up: the public pledge bias is the theory that if you tell people you’re going to do something publicly, you will feel (positive) peer pressure to stick with it and follow through.
We’re rooting for you, and we’re so glad you’re here! Whether it’s your first practice or your 1000th, Fire Horse Yoga is here for you - in mind, body and spirit.
-Danni