Do you ever ask ¨Why?¨

A few weeks ago, yikes, actually a month ago, I listened to an interview (or conversation, really) between two dear friends of mine, Jane Freedman and Amey Mathews. 

They are my yoga buddies, and one was my teacher when I first started yoga.  She stil is my teacher, in a way, even when she is on the mat next to me.  They were talking about daily yoga practice. 

I’ve been practicing yoga for about fourteen years, since just before my daughter was born.  No small amount of time.  I have consistently attended classes during that time, and attended a two-week yoga teacher training with my teacher, Kofi Busia. 

Yet, while I rarely will skip a class (only in the case of a very sick child or if I’m out of town), I’ve had a hard time developing a daily home yoga practice.

While I've been traveling, I've been practicing yoga intermittently on my own.  I found a few classes here and there at the beginning of my trip, but later it was harder to make it happen logistically.

​
​For the first time when thinking about this subject, instead of berating myself, I asked myself, ¨Why?¨ Why don’t I practice yoga at home when I’m not going to a class? 

Of course, I have all the reasons.  I’m busy, I have to get the kids off to school, I only have so many hours in each day…and so on and so on.
 
Why, really?  Because I’m scattered!
 
In the amount of free time I have, there are always about a million things I’d like to do. 

When there it’s time to go to my yoga class, I just go.  My teacher only teaches the class I like two or three times a week, so I’m out the door no problem.

When I’m at home, the kitchen needs to be cleaned, laundry needs to be done, the dogs need to go for a walk, and I would like to get some actual “work” done.
 
What to do?  Usually, bits and pieces of all of those, sometimes with no clear sense of accomplishment.  

That’s not completely true.  I tend to prioritize my work, with the dogs coming in second.  They are young herding dogs that need their exercise after all.
 
Since I listened to the interview, I decided to prioritize a bit. 

True my life for the past nine months and for the next month is different than my normal life, but maybe not so different.  I’m still trying to balance kids, some cooking and cleaning, and planning, as I’m the travel agent for our family trip.
 
In my work life, I've learned to be a list maker. “If it’s not scheduled, it’s not real,” says Marie Forleo, one of my business teachers.

 It’s true, it’s much easier to get down to business and be productive when you’ve scheduled your time.
 
So instead of looking at yoga as something I’ll fit in somewhere during my day, and having the day pass by without fitting it in.  I’ve shifted to having a fairly specific time for practicing yoga. 

I’ve been scheduling my yoga for mornings before the rest of the family wakes up, even though there are a million other things I want to do in that brief uninterrupted time of my day. 

And as my friends talked about in the interview.  ¨Practice begets practice.¨ It’s true.  If I schedule thirty minutes, I often do more.  And if I practice two days in a row, there is a much greater chance that I’ll practice on the third day.

​This of course works for other things, not just yoga.

---

Now it's your turn!
Do you schedule your day to fit in what's truly important?  
What time of day are you most likely to accomplish that important thing?

​Please comment below.

---

Receive my healthy tips and updates each week by clicking below and you'll also receive my new 3-Day Refresh Program.

Click here to receive your 3-Day Refresh program

As always, if you like what you've read, please share!