Don’t let the harried nature of the holidays rob you of this vital time for yourself. Here are seven things you can do to ensure you maintain your practice and find some much-needed centering during the hustle and merriment of the season. Most important, do your best to relax and enjoy these special moments and to make memories with your friends and family. The yoga practice is a technique to help us feel more deeply interconnected with everything around us. This time of year can be viewed as a particularly interesting test for our ability to take our practice off the sticky mat or meditation cushion and share its benefits and positive effects with those around us.

1. Make an appointment with yourself

It is so important to set aside a special time for your yoga practice and guard this time as you would any appointment. If you know that you have a particularly busy day ahead, get up 1 hour before the rest of your family to honor your commitment to yourself. If you practice first thing in the morning, it can be helpful to clear the space where you will practice and set out your yoga mat the night before so that, as soon as you wake up, you can begin. On the other hand, if it’s better for you to get your sleep, make an agreement with your family—especially your partner or kids—that this private time is inviolable. Have them help you guard your practice time.

Related: A Brilliant Way to Organize Your Calendar for Less Stress

2. Start and finish your practice with quiet contemplation

The holidays can be a strangely stressful time when you might notice more anxiety, worry, fear, or anger coming up. To help counter this activation of your sympathetic nervous system, it is very helpful to take a few minutes to sit quietly and center yourself before or after your practice. Begin by observing your breath. Then consciously start to lengthen your exhalation. By doing so, you directly stimulate a natural parasympathetic response, which will help increase your feelings of calmness, connection, and compassion. It can be especially nice to include a gratitude or loving kindness meditation to increase this intentional cultivation of thankfulness and good wishes for yourself and others. Or you may wish to set an intention for yourself, your family, or the day ahead. You can do this by chanting a particular mantra, saying a quiet prayer, or reciting Om several times.

3. Set realistic goals and plan ahead

It is helpful to keep a realistic perspective about how much time you have for your practice each day. If you have only 20 minutes, plan a routine that will fit into that time frame. Assess what is most important for you to do in order to make it feel like you are able to maximize this time you have to connect more deeply to yourself. When you have less time, it is important to plan ahead and know which postures you intend to practice. Be sure to move your spine in all of the cardinal directions: forward bending, backward bending, twisting to each side, lateral movement to each side, extension, and compression. Take a few minutes to include conscious breathing or pranayama, relaxation, or a short meditation. Above all, remember that even if it is highly modified, keeping the continuity in your practice will help you to feel mentally and emotionally balanced.

4. Feel the flow

Don’t worry about making the perfect position with your body or doing a “correct” sequence within your practice. Instead, focus on your breath and the subtle sensations in your body. Immerse yourself in the flow of body, breath, and movement together. Let go of any preconceived ideas about what a “good” practice should be, and allow the yoga practice to become whatever it needs to be for you in that moment. Enjoy this experience for what it is and approach it with a sense of playfulness and curiosity. Celebrate the fact that you made time to connect with a deeper aspect of yourself at all during this busy and stressful time of year. Maybe even try something different or new.

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5. Hydrate and eat well

The holidays tend to be full of rich, sweet, and indulgent foods. Every cell and tissue in your body needs water to work properly, so be sure to remember to hydrate well during these demanding and decadent days and nights. Even mild dehydration can make you feel tired and drain your energy. The body also needs water to rid itself of toxins and waste and to keep your joints lubricated. Also try to avoid drinking too much alcohol, eating big meals late at night, and snacking after your last meal. When you eat late at night, it becomes more difficult to wake up early feeling refreshed. If you know you will be out late with family or friends, plan ahead and move the next day’s yoga practice to a later start time, if possible.

6. Travel with your yoga mat

If you are visiting family or traveling during the holidays, bring your yoga mat. It can be fun to check out a local yoga class or visit a new studio. If you have the space to practice on your own, taking an online yoga class can help keep you focused and motivated. There are several classes with yoga Master R. Sharath Jois on Sonima ranging from a short 10-minute class to a 60-minute class. You can also find free classes on YouTube. Making an effort to connect with other practitioners or a yoga community will help support your practice. Plus, this can be another way to stay committed to setting aside dedicated time for yourself and your practice.

7. Take 5 minutes to breathe

Even 5 minutes of controlled, coherent breathing will go a long way to helping you feel calm, connected, and peaceful during busy or stressful periods. To practice a coherent breathing technique, sit comfortably or lie down. Then lengthen your inhalation to a count of 4 to 6 seconds and extend your exhalation to a count of 6 to 8 seconds. This kind of conscious, controlled breathing can help reduce symptoms of insomnia, anxiety, depression, and other types of agitation caused by excess stress building up in the nervous system. Couple this with some restorative postures like legs up the wall, or lie over a bolster or pillow in reclined bound angle pose. Making this short time to rest and restore while consciously focusing on your breath can drastically change your mental and emotional space for the better.

The post How to Maintain Your Yoga Practice During the Holidays appeared first on Sonima.

As Ashtanga yoga practitioners, we have a dedicated time in our day where we connect our mind and body together through the use of our breath and the subtle movement of internal energy. This practice gives us so much, including physical health, mental stability, and a deep sense of inner serenity. It is a part of the very fabric of our existence.

For many of us, it’s also a solo practice, often done in our living room with only our pets or children to keep us company. Sometimes we may be fortunate to have a dedicated school and teacher to guide us through the poses. But nothing quite compares to receiving the practice from the source.

No wonder the presence of Guru Sharath Jois teaching in the U.S. draws students out from all corners of the globe. It’s not only a more accessible option for those who cannot make the difficult and often costly trek to Mysore, India. It also brings the global community together in a spirit of oneness and devotion, while his teachings give new light to the practice and philosophy that we aspire to embody.

All of us come to receive the transmission that happens when we practice together in the presence of our teacher. These few days with Paramaguru Sharath Jois are a unique opportunity to share in the energy of the practice with hundreds of others who also share our passion and heart for the practice. This intensity creates the kind of focus that invigorates the old routine with new life and rekindles a spark where the enthusiasm may have dampened. It draws the community of students together, allowing old friends to catch up and new students to feel the excitement of being invited into the global family of Ashtanga yoga practitioners.

Related: Sign up to practice with Paramaguru Sharath Jois now!

Hearing Sharath Jois call out “Samastihi”, a sound many students have heard hundreds of times before, is an emotional moment filled with elation and anticipation. On the surface, the practice looks the same, but inside this group of students there is a heightened vibration of intensity that holds the power to perform this secret inner alchemy we call yoga.

There’s still an opportunity to take part in this transformational experience. Paramaguru Sharath Jois begins his 2019 U.S. teaching tour with a week in northern California at Stanford University. Then he will be in Miami for another full week of practice before returning to New York to complete his tour with five classes in Brooklyn.

Don’t miss your chance to attend class with Ashtanga yoga master Sharath Jois when he visits the U.S. this spring! Watch the video above to learn more, then click here to register.

Photo by Agathe Padovani; Video by Jesse Gordon

The post Why Nothing Compares to Paramaguru Sharath Jois’s 2019 U.S. Tour appeared first on Sonima.

There is really no other student who can claim to have received this kind of continual instruction and apprenticeship from Guruji, and no other student who has practiced all Six Series. This placed Sharath in the unique position of assuming the role of teacher and guru to an exponentially growing population of new Ashtanga yoga practitioners around the world.

In 2016, I traveled to New York City and joined Sharath’s six-day tour stop there. I was amazed to discover how similar the experience was to actually being in Mysore, India. The feeling of practicing Primary Series or Intermediate Series in a group of more than 300 people was astounding. In the months following, I felt that this experience provided me with a massive energy boost to my solo self-practice life. I felt lifted by the convergence of so many practitioners from around the world who had all traveled to assemble together for this week of practice.

Personally, I had already made 14 long trips to Mysore before I had ever considered joining Paramaguru on one of his U.S. tours. I just couldn’t comprehend the benefit of taking a full week out of my busy schedule to practice with him in America, when I could spend months at a time practicing in India.

However, it was such a special experience to see my teacher outside of the intensely demanding schedule that he keeps in Mysore. Here, on tour, Sharath was relaxed, smiling, laughing, and truly enjoying his time with the students, both in and outside of the classes. This was a very special connection to make.

In addition to reuniting with close friends from across the globe, I was able to visit many famous sites and attractions in New York City during the day after the morning practice. It was the perfect mix of discipline and relaxation that I needed to feel refreshed upon returning home.

Related: Sign up for the New York City tour stop now! Or check out the other two U.S. stops he’ll be making this spring here.

Life comes with many challenges. It’s not always possible to take months away from family, work, and responsibilities to fly off and practice in Mysore, India, especially when you have school-aged children at home. Being away for an extended period of time is not a realistic option at a certain stage in life.

I am so happy that Paramaguru Sharath Jois will be coming again to teach in the U.S. from April 22 to May 16. I will be making the most of his tour as it is an excellent way to reconnect with him, along with an international community of practitioners, and infuse a little extra energy into my daily practice.

Even if you have never been to India, or maybe you are not even a regular Ashtanga yoga practitioner, coming to this kind of event and experiencing the intensity of being in a class of over 500 people, all breathing and moving in unison, is beyond anything words can describe. It is simply transformative.

You are welcome to seize this opportunity to practice with Paramaguru Sharath Jois at one of these three locations:

Stanford University, California: April 22 – 27
Miami, Florida: May 1 – 7
New York, New York: May 11 – 16

Registration is now open! Grab your spot soon before we sell out.

The post Experience the Energy of Practicing Ashtanga on the U.S. Tour appeared first on Sonima.