Have You Lost That Yoga Feeling? Here’s How to Fall Back in Love With Your Practice

Have you lost that “yoga feeling?”  You know—that passion, anticipation, excitement, and near-obsession that we all experience at some point in our practice. Sometimes as yoga practitioners, we’re just “on.” We are in the flow and loving our yoga… we can’t get enough!

Then, there comes a point where perhaps those feelings seem to fade. Suddenly your job gets more demanding, life happens, or something specifically about your yoga practice has just…shifted. Just as there are countless reasons to step onto your mat, there are also things that can take you away from your practice.
 

4 Easy Ways To Fall In Love With Yoga Again

If you’ve lost that yoga feeling and want to get yourself back on the mat, try these simple steps.
 

1. Find Inspiration

Not everyone can nail crow pose the first time they try. Not everyone can master a headstand after years of attempts. Sometimes not being able to achieve something can discourage you and cause you to lose your enjoyment on the mat. In times like these, you need to find inspiration!

Get on Instagram and start following yogis that you admire and whose strength you want to emulate.

Read about inspiring yoga stories (Ex: Yoga Stories, Inspiring Yogis). If just reading the stories and looking at pictures isn’t enough, print out images of yogis in poses you want to master and create a vision board of where you want your yoga practice to be in six months, one year, or even five years from now.

Having a constant reminder of your goals and creating a focus for your practice will help you find inspiration and rekindle your yoga feelings.
 

2. Read a Book on Yoga

There will be times in your life when you can’t even find a moment to breathe. Between work, family and friends, you have no time allotted to yourself. Not having any “me” time can affect your mood and cause you to lose that yoga feeling.

Start saying “no” to some of those extracurricular activities (you really don’t need to attend three happy hours a week), and find a night or two to relax on the couch and curl up with a book on yoga, such as Yoga Girl by Rachel Brathen.

Or something encouraging like Meditations from the Mat: Daily Reflections on the Path to Yoga by Katrina Kenison. Reading about another yogi’s personal journey will get your inner yogi excited again.
 

3. Involve a Friend

While yoga is a personal journey and you are encouraged to find your own expression, there really is nothing better than doing it with a friend. Not only will you and your friend help keep each other motivated to attend class, you’ll feed off each other’s energy during class.

Having a friend next to you will keep your physical and mental energy charged and upbeat. Practicing yoga with a friend reminds you to not take anything—yourself or your practice—too seriously. It will remind you how fun and lighthearted yoga is, and you’ll get that yoga feeling back immediately.
 

4. Try a Different Class, Teacher or Studio

Imagine if you ate the same thing for breakfast, lunch, and dinner day in and day out. If you do the same thing repetitively, you will eventually get sick of it. If you’ve been attending the same class at the same studio on the same days every week, yoga can start to feel mundane.

Break out of the routine and try a different class or style of yoga. If you regularly practice Bikram, try a Vinyasa flow class. If you’ve always practiced at home, try going outdoors. If you’ve never attended a hot yoga class, try one out!

We promise: you will be pleasantly surprised how a change will light your inner yogic fire and you will fall in love with yoga again.

Don’t be afraid to try something new! Websites such as Groupon and LivingSocial frequently offer yoga studio discounts for new students so you can try something new without worrying about commitment or breaking the bank. You might even realize that you like this new style of yoga better, and you’ll be eager to get back on the mat!
 
 

It’s Time To Fall In Love With Yoga Again