You’ve built a regular yoga practice and step onto your mat several times a week. Congratulations on your commitment and your positive healthy lifestyle. Consistency and dedication are key elements in creating a strong yoga practice you love. Wait one second––hit the pause button right now and check in with where you are today.
Are you challenging yourself or have you settled into a nice comfortable routine? Have you had any ‘aha’ moments lately on the mat, like when you noticed your concentration was laser focused or you managed to hold Tree Pose effortlessly? Or perhaps you are just going through the motions and have lost a little of your yoga high. We all have our favorite styles, teachers, and classes, but sometimes in order to develop, you need to get uncomfortable. We aren’t suggesting you toss out all your favorites and start over, but what about adding in a challenge every week?
In order to grow and progress on your yoga mat and in your daily life, you have to push beyond your boundaries and try something new or different.
We’ve got a few suggestions for you to tweak your existing practice and we’ve also got some great new intermediate and advanced classes to encourage you to reach further. A few ways to progress in your current practice include holding a posture for longer than usual, trying a more advanced variation of a posture if it’s safe for you, working diligently to maintain an intention for your practice, and fine tuning your breathing.
Challenge yourself to try a new class once a week and enjoy the benefit of returning to a beginner mindset. You remember, when you were eager and tentative and a little mystified when you stepped onto your sticky mat. Trying a different practice can help you evolve physically, emotionally, and mentally. This week we bring you more intermediate to advanced practices to make you work and challenge yourself! Remember, each practice can be modified and adapted to how you are feeling in the moment. Moving forward is growth and we always want to keep growing!
This week’s classes are more challenging physically and ideal for pushing the edge of your comfort zone.
Two are powerful yoga sequences to advance your practice and blow off some steam, and the other two incorporate yoga with other fitness elements. Enjoy the challenge, and use these practices as motivation to not get too comfortable in life, and keep moving outside your comfort zone!
1. Erin Wimert - Grin n' Barre It
2. Pradeep Teotia - Power Flow
3. Eric Paskel - Slip & Slide
4. Ben Davis - Fitness n' Yoga + Weights: Full Body Tune Up