Daily yoga practice and discipline

Simple tips to help you maintain a regular yoga practice from Esther Ekhart.

Von Esther Ekhart

Since the day I started to take yoga seriously and realised yoga’s many spiritual and health benefits, I’ve wanted to practise it daily. But the reality of actually having a daily yoga and meditation practice, however, is something I have been wrestling with ever since! It still does not come easy.

For most people, trying to fit a new habit, like yoga, into your daily routine for longer than a few weeks is very, very difficult. These are a few tips that have helped me maintain a regular practice over the years. Plus I've suggested some EkhartYoga programs which will help to motivate you to get on your yoga mat.

1. Prioritise your practice - see it as a necessary part of your day

One of the main barriers to practising that I hear is "I don't have enough time in the day". And yes, it feels like life is busier than ever for many of us. Especially if you're juggling caring for children or loved ones with work and projects. But taking care of your own body and mind has to be a necessity for you to be able to care for others - whether that's through daily yoga and meditation or some other practice to get your body moving.

It helped me to hear Barack Obama say he starts each morning with a workout! If the (former) president of the United States could find the time, the rest of us should be able to, even if it's just 20 to 30 minutes sometimes. It doesn't always have to be a strenuous physical yoga class.

2. Try to practise at the same time every day

After many years of trying to be flexible and fitting in yoga around the rest of my day, I have learned that this approach does not work well for me. It’s too easy to keep putting it off until ”there is a better time” and end up not doing anything at all. When I practise at the same time every day I find it much much easier to keep the daily habit.

So what time is the best time to practise?

For me, it is first thing in the morning. I am most likely to practise then and keep up with it. After that, I can enjoy the benefits all day. Something else I have noticed that works really well for me is getting up a little earlier to add extra time to my day to practise. That way, I don’t have to fit it in somewhere. My practice gives me a healthy energy boost so getting up earlier doesn't feel hard. Those students who have done a teacher training course with me know I always start each day with meditation and pranayama and part of the reason for this is to give people enough energy to get through the training. It works!

Everybody is different though, and if after work or evenings are better for you, that’s fine too. Find your time slot and try as much as you can to stick with it.

3. Make a plan

When you do not have a plan, your daily habits take over and again, it is very difficult to bring something “new” into your daily routine. So plan your time but also plan what you are going to do during that time. When you don’t, you might still get up early to practice but before you know it you’re checking your emails at 5am instead of doing yoga or meditation.

This is why I recommend to people that they follow one of our programmes if they are struggling with the daily discipline to practise - or maybe feel they don't know which class to choose each day.

4. Follow a regular programme

We now have several programs on YogaEasy which are designed to help you develop a regular habit of yoga by giving you a different class each morning including our 10 Days of Vinyasa Flow program

This program is a set of ten 30-minute Vinyasa Flow classes from different teachers so that you can get to try out a mix of approaches to Vinyasa yoga. You can find some more suggestions for programs at the bottom of this page.

There are many more tips but these are the ones that seem to have made a difference in my life. I would like to invite you to share your tips with me and everybody reading this; leave them in the comment box. Thanks to those who have shared their tips already!

Hope this helps!

With love,

Esther

More YogaEasy programmes for a regular practice:

This article was updated on May 1st 2018 and was originally written 15th June 2012 - the tips still help me keep a regular practice almost 6 years later! :)

Esther Ekhart

Esther Ekhart, face and founder of EkhartYoga, brings years of personal yoga and meditation practice, therapy training and study of yoga philosophy into her teaching.

Artikel veröffentlicht: 30.04.2018|überarbeitet: 06.03.2022

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Liz15.05.2018

I'm a freelancer, so I never know how much and when I got to work. And I have a 4-year-old who wakes up in the morning as soon as I'm up, regardless of how sneaky I am. But. I found to establish a regular practice over the years that suits me quite well: I know I can't keep up daily practice because of my very irregular work and the kid, so I have a "4 times a week" approach – it doesn't matter if that's four days in a row oder spreckled allover the week. That works well for me, and most weeks I'll manage to squeeze in a 5th class, or even a 6th. But I don't beat myself up anymore if there are weeks with only two classes. I do my very best and that's gotta be enough. And I know I'm always coming back to my mat, even when there was a week with no practice at all, because good habits also stick – not just the bad ones. So I learned to trust myself with that, and it totally works for me. I rely on short, punchy classes. The ones from Anat and the "Busy parents" program from Raghunath are true gems. And in phases of less work I'm doing all the longer stuff on my Watch-later-list :) That said, I'm putting on my yoga pants right now. Namasté!

ana27.08.2012

Thanks for the good advice, read the article as well. I will let you know if it helped, first I need to buy a calendar :))) Ana

Sarah12.09.2012

I have to have occupied children for me to practice, so I can't pick a time. What has worked for me is to see yoga as a priority, something I do as a gift to myself. So when my youngest naps, I get a snack for the older two and tell them I'm off to do yoga. I then practice BEFORE I tidy up, wash up or anything else. That feels like a little luxury, which keeps me coming back.

Sandra02.05.2018

thank so much for sharing this. I have done this regular practice for a couple of years now. and it suited me very well. Getting up early in the morning, at 6 hrs. do a half an hour of yoga and then start my day. But nowadays i find it more difficult to stick to this regular practice. i find myself judging myself of being lazy, my motivation has become low and my body seems not to ask for the practice anymore as it used to... So maybe start with one of the programmes will help me out..thanks for being here and telling this helps me to come back to my practice again. Im sure!

Esther07.05.2018

We all go through cycles my sweet friend, who I haven't seen for much too long !! xxxx

Sage16.12.2018

I love that you say "my body seems not to ask for the practice anymore..."!That is exactly the case with me and yet now a year later, I notice with sadness, the changes. Finding my way back...

Rhonda16.11.2012

Pain is a great motivator. For the last couple of years I have constantly faught with myofascial pain. Yoga has given me my life back. I can function as long as I'm diligent about my work-out. Thank you Esther.

Adelaide24.02.2014

I find that it's very helpful for me to be flexible within the discipline. This means that my notion of yoga practice has expanded (very well written about in the recent article by the Eckhart yogis). One day may be a long class, the next a 20 minute class, the next could simply be sitting in meditation for 10 minutes. I realise that I don't always have to do a 75 minute strenuous class - I used to think that I had to do this and when I didn't I felt guilty and got discouraged! I try to be both disciplined and gentle as my practice continues to grow.

Saeeda07.12.2018

To help keep me on track with a daily dose of yoga, I choose which class I'm going to do the night before. That way I've done the "difficult " bit of choosing which class and can then look forward to doing it the next day. ? ( it feels like giving myself a present to unwrap the next day?) I also leave my mat unrolled so it's all set up for me ready to go in the morning.

Esther08.12.2018

Dear Saeeda, Great tip As well in the morning you can get on with it without distractions...Thank you for sharing.

Laurie21.02.2014

I truly agree about setting a plan - it's like every other goal in life - if one wants run a 10k it must be planned for as with yoga. Impt question I struggle with is: if I do a,daily yoga and meditation practice how does one fit in time for cardio and weights - in fact the question I keep coming back,to,is: does the body need weight training if doing yoga,daily??? I am not making excuses I am just from a place that did yogam2 to 3'times a week and exploring my desire to do it daily; same with meditation - previously it was once a week and now I want to sit more often... Any thoughts

Jenny24.02.2014

Thanks for your comments everyone. Hi Laurie - Esther's away this week but there's a good article about studies examining yoga and different aspects of fitness on Yoga Journal http://www.yogajournal.com/practice/739 It depends on your style of yoga of course! :)

Julie29.04.2014

I try to stick to this : -I set my alarm 30 minutes earlier when I work, I have a 10 to 35 minute practice according to the mood, body stiffness, etc. -I have an evening practice (long enough after diner - I have diner very early) from 30 to 90 minutes. If I go out but have time to come back home, I schedule a short practice before getting ready. If I really cannot do yoga, I don't blame myself and just enjoy it even better the next day !

Myrthe24.02.2014

@Adelaide, It's great to read your comment. I have only recently discovered this too! What a great revelation into my practice :)

Tracey28.05.2018

My routine involves yoga and meditation every morning after I have fed my animals (nothing like trying to find a peace with your pig squealing in the back because you're five minutes with her food!). If I don't find the time then, more than likely I will do practice yoga at all. I am very lucky that my gorgeous hubby and kids made me a yoga room for Christmas, so my mat is already unrolled each morning.

Gunn Kristin05.05.2018

I have been practising daily for 4 years now. The last 3 with ekhartyoga. It is easy to do when you enjoy the practise... Have a couple of videos from my favourite yogateachers (Esther and Andrew) ready on the favourite list to comeback back to if practicing feels like a struggle. I think variations in your practise also helps. Do what you feel lake that day, yin, core, strenght, flow? Practising should be a delight, not a torture? Also your 5 min. Class has saved me many times Esther! You can always spare 5 min. Even at 23 in the evening, and even this short practise makes a difference to have you feel. Thank you for EkhartYoga??

Angelina07.05.2018

I have always struggled with a exercise routine and yoga hasn't been any different. Since having a child this has been even more difficult, but as some of the other people mentioned bellow in the comments, pain can be a great motivator and for me, my back pain certainly was. I also modified my expectations, so instead of expecting to do 1hr or more yoga a day a lowered my limit and went with 30 min. I started with the 30/30 challenge here on ekhart yoga and I must say it worked for me, I managed to keep this for 2 months, 30 min every day and even though I have not been able to keep it up that way I still practice at least 3-4 times a week. Another modification that worked for me is to practice in the evening after I put my child to sleep, so I practice at 8.30 pm. Yes it's not ideal but since my son wakes up at 6:30 there is no way for me to have a morning practice, so I settled for better something than nothing!

Esther07.05.2018

Dear Angelina, practicing at 8.30 pm is beautiful! So wonderful you do that, it is ideal! For your situation it is, we all have to work with what we have.

Sharon01.01.2019

Dear Esther, Happy New Year 2019! I have been doing yoga for about 10 years. For first couple of years I go to yoga studios. The last 5 years with EkhartYoga, initially following your youtube videos, and then your website. I am very grateful for the existence of EkhartYoga! I have found my favorite teachers and practices through your website. And through yoga I understand myself and my body better. I mostly do yoga after waking up or before going to sleep, 3-4 times a week. This year I would like to try a daily practice! I wish you can add a feature to save searches on EkhartYoga. For example, I can save and name a search with filters of my favorite teachers, 30-45min, morning, and vinyasa. I can save another search with filters of 10-20min, evening, and hatha or meditation. And maybe another search with filters of 60min, yin, and etc for weekends. Right now I find myself doing these same searches repeatedly. I think saved search feature will greatly help me. Thanks! Sharon

Sharon11.01.2019

Hello Kirsty! I start to save things I've searched, tried and liked to my collections. Thank you for suggesting that!

Kirsty02.01.2019

Happy New Year to you too, Sharon - and thank you for your loyalty to EkhartYoga, it's gratefully appreciated. Thanks also for your suggestion to save searches - I'll pass this onto our website developer. In the meantime, perhaps you could save your searches using our Collections feature, where you can save personal playlists and revisit them later? If you need help with this, do let me know. Many thanks and wishing you a healthy and peaceful 2019.

Kirsty11.01.2019

Hi again, that's great to hear - am happy it's working for you :)

Lou08.05.2018

I made the decision to get up earlier and I now manage about an hour most mornings, using Ekhart Yoga videos (brilliant!) before my two year old wakes up. It works well for me and if I have time for anything else during the day, then that’s a bonus xx

Muna09.05.2018

Thanks everyone, very useful, since I have recently fallen away from my practice and these were just the tips and inspiration I needed. This also reminded me of how I initially built up my yoga practice and how to return to it (similar to what Adelaide expressed) Every day I did SOMETHING, no matter how small. For example, I just did cat-cow or just sat, closed my eyes and took three deep breaths. The amazing thing was that nearly always this lead to me doing more and if I didn't do more I had still done something and there was a continuity and connection maintained (almost in the Jerry Seinfield, don't break the chain way that Arjan mentioned). I have to say that choosing a set time is very powerful and I think I dissipated a lot of energy by not doing this. Thank you Esther for again sharing challenges that you have, instead of presenting as some "perfect yogi" (which you could easily do) - it really is much more inspiring and helpful.

Jax07.05.2018

I really want to commit to a daily practice... But first could I please ask a few questions... I have a RSI in my shoulder girdle which is made angry by doing downward facing dog- can I substitute another easier pose in its place? (especially in vinyasa) Also, I have a question for the poor sighted glasses-wearing yogis out there in Ekhart World, I am very short sighted- and if I wear my glasses they fall off my face while doing yoga- which means I can't see the computer screen anymore. And if I wear contact lenses I can't relax with my eyes shut. What do other glasses-wearing yogis do? Any wisdom would be welcomed!