When I get into the habit of doing yoga on a regular basis, I always look for new ways to change up my practice. I like to try something different every time so that each experience feels unique and I am motivated to come back to the mat the next day. When I switch things up in my yoga practice, I feel more at ease during my flow and inspired to focus on my breathing and my body. Sometimes I struggle with the repetitiveness of the moves, so I thought of a few new ways to keep me inspired and excited about my yoga practice. Here’s a list of the things that I do to change it up in each class – Comment below with your favorite techniques!

    1. Notice and appreciate the changes that your body makes each time you practice. Sometimes I’ll overlook the progress I am making if I’m not mindful of how I feel in the pose. This past weekend, I started practicing yoga because my hips were very sore, which made the standing postures more difficult than usual. Later in the week, I realized that every practice did help my body adjust and I appreciated my improvement that my body accomplished over time.

    2. Change the environment. You can move to a new room to practice in, go to a new class or light some candles to make your space feel calming and peaceful. It’s time to focus on what makes you feel the most relaxed, so change it up by elevating the quality of your space and making your yoga practice new again.

    3. Add music. You’ll definitely feel refreshed by adding some new music to your yoga practice. Even the smallest adjustment can make you feel more at ease and in tune with your body, and you can really personalize your yoga practice by creating a playlist to accompany your flow.

    4. Get ideas from social media on ways to rethink a pose. There’s always a pose that we strive to move past as quickly as possible. I love to swiftly move in and out of happy baby pose because the leg pain is too much to handle. As I was looking through yoga posts on Instagram, I was reminded to focus on bringing my lower back to the ground. This allowed me to change my focus, which led to holding the pose longer and easing the tension in my legs. Challenge yourself to prioritize the poses that you overlook and see if this new energy changes what you bring to the yoga mat.

    5. Take a longer savasana than normal. When I allow myself to relax for an extended period of time, I feel rejuvenated and ready to get back into my next class. It’s the perfect incentive to keep coming back for more yoga.

Written by Emily Parsons, Certified Let It Go Yoga teacher.

Want to know more about Let It Go Yoga? Start here with our Diaphragmatic Breathing Video!