The Power of a Daily Yoga Practice

In the last several years there seems to be a growing trend towards shorter and shorter yoga classes. There was a time when the majority of classes were 120 and 90 minutes long. Light on Yoga recommends practicing twice a day – upon rising and at dusk. The traditional sequences developed by Pattabhi Jois, Sivananda and Bikram take at least 90 minutes to complete. However, times have changed. Who has time to practice daily for 90 minutes once a day, let alone twice a day? We’re all busier and more easily distracted than ever before. Finding a class that fits our schedule can be challenging, especially when you’re a parent. At a recent workshop with Bo Forbes discussing yoga’s effect on the nervous system, we learned that practicing at home twenty minutes a day is far more beneficial than taking three 75 minute classes per week.

Practicing yoga once a day acts as a reset button. We are faced with stress, emotional ups and downs, and a never-ending stream of mostly useless thoughts every day. Taking twenty minutes to connect the body and the breath in a rhythmic flow is essential and very effective for a content internal environment. Our experience of this life is 100% based on perception and mental attitude. If you wait until the next time you can “make that class,” you are missing out on the easily accessible tools that yoga arms you with. Dealing with a daily barrage of external and internal chaos can take a toll on the body and mind. Twenty minutes of yoga a day will calm the mind, release physical tension and refresh your perspective of the world around you. If you can’t make it to the studio, practice at home with a yoga video or make up your own mini class. Do it for yourself but also for those around you. Somewhere in between watching TV, surfing the web or getting work done, carve out some time for yoga or meditation – it’s the ultimate mood lifter. If everyone did a little bit of yoga a day, the world would be a better place.

Do yoga everyday with yourBuddhi.com. Try the video below to mellow yourself out while gently stretching and strengthening the body.