Diary of a Mama-Yogi
Verena Primus - Ayurveda Yoga Coaching
13. The Habit and Gift of Yoga: How To Practice Regurlarly
Read time – 5 minutes
The Diary of a Mama-Yogi The Habit and Gift of Yoga: How To Practice Regularly
“Regular practice builds up the body’s inner strength and natural resistance, helps alleviate pain, and tackles the root, rather than the symptoms, of the problem.”
– B.K.S. Iyengar
Last week, one of my dearest yoga students and newsletter readers shared that reading my newsletters helped him return to his regular yoga routine after a long break due to knee surgery. I was overjoyed to hear this (I was his first yoga teacher twenty-two years ago, and he has been practicing ever since!), so I decided to share some tools in today’s newsletter that have helped me and my clients integrate a regular yoga practice into daily life. This way, you too can experience the many gifts yoga has to offer.
Yoga, in the way Ayurveda has been using the practices and teachings of yoga for centuries, is a healing system that tackles imbalances and diseases at their root. With a regular practice of yoga, you stay healthy by proactively managing your stress levels and nurturing your body and soul, which ultimately leads you to express your true nature more fully in everything you do.
Yet incorporating a regular yoga practice, especially in the busy life of a mother and householder, is not easy. There always seems to be too little time, too much on your mind, or some other kind of disturbance or problem keeps you from practicing.
Knowing more about the real gifts of yoga and how to make a habit of practicing can help you get on the yoga mat and spend some time with your body, mind, and soul every day. Because:
A regular Yoga practice has the power to trigger many other good habits.
In this article, I’ll discuss the benefits of yoga beyond the physical aspects and share my perspective after thirty years of practice. At the end, I’ll offer you four tools to help you establish a daily yoga practice and improve your health and self-awareness through yoga.
What we'll cover:
- Yoga Beyond The Physical Benefits
- My Interpretation of The Word Yoga
- The Habit and Gift of Yoga
- Establishing The Habit of Yoga Sadhana
Yoga Beyond The Physical Benefits
I first learned the physical practice of yoga—stretching and strengthening postures—at the Alvin Ailey Dance Centre in New York City. I remember lying on a wooden floor that smelled of sweat, surrounded by sweating bodies, looking at myself in the mirror doing a complicated side split while trying to breathe calmly and thinking, ‘Wow, that’s hard, but it looks good!´
That was thirty years ago, and I still practice yoga daily.
I’ve come a long way since then, and while I still enjoy the physical benefits of yoga and a body that feels young and looks agile, my thirty years of practice have given me a much deeper understanding of what yoga truly encompasses. Its benefits extend beyond the obvious physical ones into a spiritual realm that is reflected in our daily actions and how we live our lives. The physical postures are just one piece of the puzzle, and as I always explain to my students:
‘Yoga is more than the sum of its parts.’
By practicing yoga regularly with its breathing, asanas, relaxation, and meditation, you’ll naturally come to recognize what yoga can teach you through daily practice. The transformation sets in naturally and touches every area of your life, and the experience will be unique to each individual.
At first, you might be drawn to the physical strengthening and flexibility aspects of yoga, as I was, or to the breathing, relaxation, or meditation exercises, or the awareness of healthy eating and living. But over time, you will find that all these different aspects of yoga come together to form one cohesive practice—Your Yoga.
‘You realize the philosophy of yoga by practicing, not just by reading books.’
My Interpretation of The Word Yoga
‘ ‘Yoga’ means union or to unite, and when you practice yoga, you bridge the gap between who you think you are and who you know you are.’
Your whole life becomes a spontaneous expression of flow, ease, health, and care, and in the midst of it, you will realize: this is me!
The yoga I describe involves a daily practice of focusing your breath and attention both on the yoga mat and in your daily life. The physical twisting, bending, strengthening, reshaping, and uniting happen on the yoga mat, while the transformation of your mind and consciousness occurs in your daily life. As you navigate different life circumstances, you apply the lessons and insights from your yoga practice.”
This is where the real grinding away of rigid thought patterns and unfavourable personality traits takes place—in your day-to-day life and through personal and professional confrontations with other people in different circumstances.
For me, yoga is how you take care of yourself and your family while expressing yourself in ways beyond the daily tasks of a mother and householder.
‘Ultimately, yoga means living your true nature:
pure and simple and not very sensational.’
It means living spontaneously and intelligently in a disciplined way and acting on what you know to be true. Your yoga practice becomes the way you interact with life circumstances and people daily, allowing your true nature to manifest more and more.
The Habit and Gift of Yoga
‘If there’s one single habit with the power to trigger many other good habits, it is the habit of practicing Yoga.’
Once you start practicing yoga regularly without forcing yourself, you naturally begin to make positive changes in other areas of your life, such as diet, lifestyle, work, relationships, and time, money, and energy management. Your physical, mental, and spiritual health improve simultaneously, and from this state of health, you make decisions that shape your life to reflect who you truly are. You might start with a few simple physical exercises, but if you do them consistently, a regular yoga practice will transform your body and mind. Your renewed sense of self will guide you in better self-regulation of your emotions and naturally connect you to what is good for you, making it easier to follow Ayurvedic teachings since the motivation comes from within.
‘You deserve the gift of Yoga in your life – one breath and one asana at a time.’
You deserve to give to yourself. Always remember the importance of self-nourishment. How do you want to love your children, partner, family, and friends unconditionally if you haven’t started loving yourself? When you practice Yoga, what you receive is much more than the initial effort you put in. Learn to give to yourself as you continuously give to others. There is always a way. If you don’t try, you will never find out.
Establishing The Habit of Yoga Sadhana
‘Absolute freedom is the goal in Yoga.
Discipline sets you free.
Habit makes it easy.’
The way you succeed in practicing yoga regularly and reaping its many benefits—from physical fitness to emotional well-being, spiritual awakening, and actions that reflect your shift in awareness and consciousness—is by making yoga a daily habit.
My free newsletters and articles, as well as my Ayurveda-Yoga coaching programs, guide you in transforming Ayurvedic, yogic, and meditative principles and practices into daily habits—actions that become second nature, requiring no extra willpower or effort.
Habits are the cornerstone of this journey, becoming automatic and requiring no extra willpower. Imagine starting your day with a glass of warm water and a short yoga practice, not as a task, but as a nourishing habit. Applying these essential Ayurvedic teachings of regular, repeated actions in the form of habits will simplify your daily life, making it more fulfilling and also more powerful. Through a slow, step-by-step approach, you can recommit to your well-being and that of your family over and over again.
Here are four major tools that help students and clients create new practices and habits, which will help you make yoga a daily part of your life:
4 Tools To Make The Gift of Yoga a Habit:
Stacking – Locating – Replacing – Enjoying
Tool 1: Add a New Habit to an Existing One
It is easier to incorporate a new sadhana (spiritual practice) into something you already do every day rather than creating a new time slot in your schedule. Here is an example that worked well for a client of mine:- If you already have a morning meditation or exercise routine, consider adding a few minutes of yoga practice to it. Katherina, a client of mine, already ran every morning. She successfully integrated yoga into her day by focusing on her breathing while running and incorporating a few Sun Salutations, yoga poses, and a short relaxation after her daily run.
Tool 2: Choose a Designated Place
Walt Disney and authors like Isabel Allende have made use of this principle. It is much easier to establish a new habit and maintain your regular routine when you designate a specific location for it. Performing a task repeatedly in a particular location builds an energy field, which makes it easier to focus on a specific task. This could be a separate room in your home where you do things that ground and recharge you, or it could be a designated spot in a room. Here are some examples that worked well for two of my clients:- Marcy, a busy working mom of two, chose a chair in her living room and made it “her chair.” She sits there every morning and evening to do her breathing exercises and meditate.
- Greg, a stay-at-home father with a two-year-old son, recently started construction work on his house. He plans to add a couple more rooms, one of which will be his space for daily yoga practice and personal time when he needs it.
Tool 3: Replace an Unhealthy Habit with a Better One
As I discussed in the last newsletter, it can be challenging to eliminate a bad habit. It’s often easier to replace it. Start by identifying why you engage in a certain habit. What reward do you derive from it? Then, find a similar habit that offers a comparable reward and use it as a replacement. Here is an example of what worked well for a client of mine:- Sue wasn’t very happy with her office job, so she would treat herself to an iced cappuccino every mid-morning. Although she knew it wasn’t good for her, she needed something to look forward to. Once she realized she wasn’t “treating” herself but instead “mistreating” her body by disrupting her insulin levels (resulting in mood swings and weight gain), she replaced the iced coffee with a green smoothie and loved it.
Tool 4: Add Positive Associations to Your Habit
It is more effective and enjoyable to combine habits you already like with a new one you want to establish. This approach helps you implement the new habit more quickly and stick with it. Here are some examples that work well for our clients and me:- Marcy, the client who chose “her chair” as a location for meditating, also prepares a cozy blanket, a thermos of hot water, and a candle as part of her daily morning routine. She now looks forward to these elements, which give her even more motivation to get up early and make time for herself before starting a full day.
In Conclusion
Yoga is the greatest gift you can give yourself every day, whether on or off the mat. From yoga postures in the morning to a deep breath in the middle of the day, or a loving gesture to someone in need, yoga enriches your life. I have loved all aspects of yoga for thirty years, and if you want to start, get back on track, or go deeper, my Private Ayurvedic-Yoga and Meditation Program: Practice Yoga and Meditation at Their Peak ( see below) is perfect for you.
Make yoga a part of your daily routine and experience its benefits firsthand! Thank you for reading, and I wish you joy and balance in your practice. See you in the next newsletter!
With love and light,
Verena Gayatri Primus
Ayurveda-Yoga Coach and Teacher
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