5 Ways to Do Your Yoga Practice by Building Willpower

Many people understand that a daily yoga practice leads to a more enriching life. When we practice, we feel better. We are more in tuned with our senses, with our friends and family, and with the world at large.

The problem many of us have is actually having the willpower to wake up each morning and literally “Do our yoga practice.”

When we’re lying in bed in the morning, our minds have a funny, nagging way of convincing us that it is better to stay in bed and that “doing our practice” is not necessary. Our minds will come up with any sort of excuse. “You’re too tired, you need to clean your room, it’s too cold outside, it’s too hot outside, need to let the dog out, etc.”

Your mission is to transcend these excuses and hit the mat every day. Each time you succumb to excuses, you are losing a bit of willpower. Each time you do your practice, even if it is a short practice, you are making a deposits in the willpower bank.

1. Carpool with a friend

When a friend is coming to pick you up for yoga practice or when a friend is relying on you to pick them up for yoga practice, you are less likely to make up excuses and miss practice. When you’re only letting yourself down or lying to yourself, it is easier to succumb to excuses. If your friend has gone out of their way to pick you up for practice, are you going to lie in bed and make up excuses? Find a friend, rely on each other, and don’t let each other or yourselves down!

2. Set your yoga mat and yoga clothes near your door

A common excuse while lying in bed is, “Oh, I’m not going to get up because I need to get up and find clothes and gather my yoga mat. That’s too much effort, I’ll just continue sleeping.” Eliminate this obstacle by placing your yoga mat and a bag with yoga clothes next to your bed or door. This creates one less excuse for your mind to concoct.

If your asana practice is a home practice, lie your mat on the ground before you go to sleep the previous night. That way, you can literally roll out of bed and do your practice.

To take this a step further, if you practice with incense or music, have the incense in a ready position so that all you need to do is light it. Have your music cued the night before so all you need to do is press “Play.”

Seems like a small/obvious tip, but it really works!

3. Set small, attainable goals

It’s difficult to go from doing zero practice to full asana practice every day. A common mistake we make is trying to achieve too much in too short of a time frame. When we set lofty goals that are difficult to attain, we end up missing them and thus losing the all important willpower that we set out to achieve.

If you’re starting at zero practice, set a goal to practice 3 times a week for five minutes. Once you’ve achieved this successfully, slowly build up. Keep making deposits in the willpower bank 🙂

Rory wrote a great post here on lighting tapas.

4. Utilize an Accountability Partner

Ask a friend to text, call, or email you every day around 10am asking one simple question: “Did you practice today?” If you’re making up excuses having an accountability partner will make this more apparent. It’s important not to get frustrated by these messages, understand that your friend is helping you out of love, looking out for your best interests by forcing you to be honest with yourself.

5. For home practice, find a routine that works for you

While a YouTube yoga video is certainly not necessary, it is helpful for beginners or those who are having difficulty building willpower.

I have several “go to” routines. One is Pattabhi Jois’ Led Primary Series. The other is for when I have less time. When I have only 5~20 minutes, I put this short led yoga with Kirtan music on and do Sun As followed by Sun Bs, and keep flowing wherever my practice takes me. Always leave at least five minutes for Savasana.

Here are a few other yoga YouTube videos that I’ve enjoyed:

David Swenson’s short form Ashtanga 15 minutes

David Swenson’s short form Ashtanga 45 minutes

Pranidihi Varshney short form Ashtanga

The 5 Tibetan Rites by Raageshwari

It is important to be realistic and admit that sometimes you will not have time to do a full practice.

Remember that hitting the mat for even one minute each day is far better than not hitting it at all.

Bonus Idea:

Just get up and practice 🙂
There’s no substitution for looking yourself in the mirror and making a commitment. Tell yourself, even affirm out loud, “I am going to practice asana today. No excuses.” A few days of this and boom…. you’ve created a long lasting habit that sticks.

Remember, as the late Krishna Patabhi Jois rightly said, “Do you practice and all is coming.”