How To Embrace Mindfulness On Your Yoga Mat
With the rise of advanced technology around social apps, live streams and video platforms, more and more people are starting to turn to online yoga. And there are many reasons why…
Read: Yoga At Home Vs. Yoga At A Studio
The main two being: it saves time and money. When practicing yoga at home, you set your own class time and you don’t have to worry about traveling and making it to the studio on time. You can practice at any time of day or night, depending on your schedule. This allows for more flexibility and gives you complete control over your practice. Practicing at home also tends to be cheaper than buying a membership to a studio. Thanks to platforms like YouTube, you can find many free videos and classes. For these two simple reasons, practicing yoga at home is a convenient choice for many.
However, the biggest disadvantage most people fine with practicing yoga at home is that it’s easier to become distracted or unmotivated. Without a class structure or teacher to hold you accountable, dedicating yourself to a home practice might be difficult.
Whether you are practicing yoga at home or at a studio, it’s important to learn how to develop a sense of mindfulness — maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment, through a gentle, nurturing lens. This allows us to stay focused in the present moment and avoid distractions.
Here are 7 useful tips to help you embrace mindfulness on your yoga mat:
Remove distractions.
If you must have your cellphone with you, cover it with something and place it at the back of your mat. If having your phone nearby isn’t a necessity, then keep all your personal belongings in a cubby, locker or outside of the yoga room. If you are practicing at home, turn your cellphone on silent or completely off to avoid being interrupted. Your practice area should only contain your mat and props needed for practice.
tap into your own experience.
Set up your practice space and before class starts either come to a seated position for some quiet meditation, or simply lie on the mat with your eyes closed. Although it’s great to practice with friends, it can take away from your own preparation for practice to be outwardly focused. In the first few moments, try to tune into how you feel. This is not to judge your experience or set unrealistic goals for yourself, but simply to begin the process of noticing and increasing your awareness.
Set An intention.
An intention, or Sankalpa, is simply a quality or virtue that you want to cultivate more of in your practice or in your life. This is best done at the beginning of your practice. An example could be, “I will give my focus to my breath throughout the practice”. You could even come up with a mantra or positive affirmation such as “I am peaceful” or “I am centered.” Setting an intention can be broad and rather general, or it can be very specific. When you notice your mind beginning to stray, return to your pose by reciting your intention in your head. This is one way we can live a more intentional life; we are starting to take our yoga "off the mat" and turning our practice into one of mindfulness.
Resist the urge to compete.
If you are practicing at a studio, this can be hard if the students around you are practicing advanced variations of the poses being presented. Do your best to stay connected to what makes the most sense for you in every pose. If you are practicing yoga at home, you may find yourself comparing your own practice to your teachers’ or the persons’ on the screen. Remember that comparison isn’t a healthy habit to have. Over time it can have a negative impact on your self-esteem and even start to affect your mental wellbeing. However it is fairly common, so if at times you find yourself falling into the comparison trap, don’t feel bad or judge yourself. Simply come back to your own practice and focus on what feels good to you.
Be aware of emotions that come up — accept & then let go.
Our practice can be a trigger to other emotions. It could be the teacher’s voice, something he or she brings up, your perceived level of ability to do a particular pose, or the person next to you and the sound of their breath. An important aspect of mindfulness involves acceptance, meaning that we pay attention to our thoughts and emotions without judging them—without believing, for instance, that there is a “right” or “wrong” way to think or feel. Use your practice as a chance to play with the idea of accepting and letting go of these emotions. Rather than rehashing the past or imagining the future, tap into your present experience by bringing awareness to your breath and physical practice.
Pay attention to your body.
Notice when your body is telling you it needs to rest or modify and honor it. Just as competing with others can pull us out of our own experience, forcing our body into certain poses and pushing beyond our physical limits will bring us out of awareness and into our heads. Stay connected to your breath and notice when you need to stop and take a break. If the breath starts to become uneasy or staggered or you feel any type of pain, come into Child’s Pose and take a moment to tune back in and rest.
Take time for Savasana.
Allow your body to come to a complete state of relaxation and let the mind do what it does. Some students will feel the urge to skip Savasana, but I truly believe this is one of the most important parts of the practice. After all, it is the end of the practice that sets the tone for how you will feel as you leave your practice. When you come into Savasana, it goes without saying that the idea is to physically relax. But, just as in meditation, if you find your mind wandering, let it do its thing.
I hope these few tips provided you with fresh insight and inspiration to bring more mindfulness to your yoga mat!
How do you stay mindful, present and aware in your yoga practice?
Practice with me online!
I hope to meet you on the mat!
With love & gratitude,