"Spring cleaning" my yoga practice this year will begin with donating this 8-year old yoga mat to my local animal shelter!
We are almost officially two weeks into spring. Perhaps you've begun the annual ritual of spring cleaning your house, your car, or you desk and files at work.
Did you know that it's important to "spring clean" your yoga practice too? Why and what do I mean?
Well, just like anything else, your can breathe new life in your daily home yoga practice by clearing out old energy and items and replacing them with with new items and new approaches. The following are 3 super easy (and probably super obvious) but often forgotten steps you can take to "spring clean" your home yoga practice.
Step 1 -Get rid of your worn out, old yoga mat
For example, the yoga mat shown above, which I have loved so much and used for the photos in this blog and in my book, is at least 8 years old and it has served its purpose well. But, it has faded and looks weathered - so out it goes this week to my local animal shelter ((animal shelters welcome donations of old yoga mats. Although you will still see photos of me here with this mat - it's because I cannot schedule time to take new photos any time soon.. I will be ordering a spanking new yoga mat this week (I have a second yoga mat that is still in great shape).
Step 2 - Throw away or donate old yoga tops, pants, leggings
I am chagrined to admit that some of the tops I have been wearing for my yoga practice are at least 5 years old! I did not spring clean my yoga practice last year or the year before (that's why I am writing this post - to remind and motivate myself!). I have been wearing a favorite college t-shirt since my reunion of 2012 and my 2017 reunion is coming up in just a couple of months - enough of that 5-yer old t-shirt and any other old t-shirts, tops, and leggings that just don't look crisp, clean, or attractive.
Even if you practice yoga at home, alone, as I do and no one sees you and you think it doesn't matter what you wear - it probably doesn't....(I plead guilty to often wearing my PJs during my practice!). BUT and here's a big BUT, wearing an attractive new yoga outfit does wonders for your motivation and energy throughout your practice - really - it does!
Step 3 - Learn a new pose or two (or three)
I am making a commitment to learning and/or doing poses that I have not included in my daily practice. Although I have a natural sequence of a selected set of yoga poses that I do daily, it's important to change things up and change the order around as well as start learning new poses to challenge yourself. I'm not talking about forcing yourself into trying to master those pretzel poses you always see splashed in the media in articles about yoga. What I mean is just as you should occasionally learn new recipes to add to your home menu, look up, study, and try a new yoga pose to add to your daily practice. Learning a new poses "spring cleans" your practice by infusing it with new energy. Perhaps you can also eliminate a yoga pose that you don't happen to enjoy or that is not suited to your particular physique.
Just as spring cleaning your home can boost your energy (it does mine, every time), spring cleaning your home yoga practice will re-inspire and energize your practice and motivate you to "keep on keeping on" with yoga.
Laura Venecia Rodriguez, Yoga at Home Coach for Beginners
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