Making Time for Yoga

Yoga is a beautiful and ancient practice to which many people have dedicated their lives through the millennia. Serious dedication to yoga is a noble pursuit with many benefits for the body and the mind. But not many people have time for that these days, in our busy modern world! We often don’t even get close to the 8 hours of sleep we need a night, let alone develop an exercise routine. So how on Mother Earth do you make time for yoga?

Instead of blocking off a whole hour or two at a time, get creative about where you can sneak in 5-10 minutes of yoga here and there in your daily life! You’ll get your hour done in no time.

Wake up groggy? Place your mat on the floor next to your bed the night before, and roll right out of bed onto it! Wake up with 5-10 minutes of gentle Cat-Cow, or maybe a Sun Salute or two if you’re feeling ambitious.

Walking around your house and kitchen getting things together for your day? Pause every minute or two and lower yourself into a brief Warrior to wake up your legs and core; the added energy from the poses will make up for lost movement time.

Driving to work or on public transportation? Practice your dirgha breathing and center yourself for 5 or 10 minutes blocks of time (especially if there is bad traffic).

By the water cooler or in the break room? Strike a Mountain, Chair, or Tree pose — you can leave your arms down if you feel self-conscious, or you can tell your coworkers to give it a try too! — and hold it for two minutes. Do another or the other side on your next water break. Repeat as necessary.

On lunch break? Find a grassy space outside or an empty room inside and drop into a Downward Dog before you have your food. Come through and down to Pigeon on each side to release those hip flexors if you’ve been sitting all day. Give yourself ten minutes to explore and relax into the pose. Lunch will taste better when you’ve been energized by the stretches.

Trying to wind the kids down for bedtime? Spend ten minutes showing them your favorite relaxing poses and ask them to show you what poses they can make up that might feel restful.

These may not all apply directly to you, but you get the idea — now get out there and see what you can come up with! Leave us a comment with what works for you.