New Year, New Yogi
Sustaining Your New Year Yoga Resolution
It has come to a be a tradition in American culture to create a New Years Resolution with every year that comes. The new year symbolizes the beginning of something new, letting go of old habits, and creating positive new ones. The new year has an elusive aura around it that motivates the dreamers, the goal setters, and the believers. The aura of something new and positive entices everyone to set a resolution; but keeping that resolution is one of the hardest tasks of all.
According to Discover Happy Habits, after 6 months, only 46% of people who make a resolution are still successful at keeping it.
The most popular resolutions made each year are health related, whether that is, eating better, exercising, or quitting a bad habit. Like the old saying goes “It takes 21 days to form a new habit,” but is that really all it takes to stick to your resolution? According to James Clear, who studies Behavioral Psychology, his research shows that on average it takes more than two months before a new behavior becomes automatic – 66 days to be exact. This can widely vary depending on the person and the circumstances.
With all this information pointing you to fail - what can we do to successfully stick to our resolutions to better ourselves both mentally and physically? Yoga is a great tool to do just that. The benefits of yoga go beyond the physical when you decide to make yoga a habit in your life. When you immerse yourself in a yoga practice, even if it is only once a week, you’re reminded of the key components of yoga, mindfulness, concentration, and breath.
More than 15 million people in the U.S. practice yoga – According to a survey done by Yoga Journal.
Yoga has increasingly become more popular in the United States. Many people are taking notice of, not only the physical benefits but also, the mental. Yoga is known to reduce stress and relieve anxiety, depression, and insomnia. Kelly McGonigal, PhD says “The evidence is showing that yoga really helps change people at every level.” As we live in a world full of the what ifs and the want more’s with societies unrealistic social media norms and filters, it’s good to have an outlet that can bring you back to yourself and ground your body and your emotions. One of the main focuses in yoga is getting out of our sympathetic nervous system (fight and flight response) and coming into our parasympathetic nervous system (our relaxed calms state) as Sat Bir Khalsa, PhD a neuroscientist and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston explains
“Yoga targets unmanaged stress, a main component of chronic disorders such as anxiety, depression, obesity, diabetes, and insomnia. It does this, by reducing the stress response, which includes the activity of the sympathetic nervous system and the levels of the stress hormone cortisol. The practice enhances resilience and improves mind-body awareness.”
Our mental health state has a huge impact on our physical health, it really comes down to or inside appearance that reflects our outward appearance. Yoga has so many benefits physically in which many can be connected to our mental health. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine the physical benefits of yoga include improving strength, balance, and flexibility. It helps with pain relief and can ease arthritis symptoms. Because yoga reduces stress it contributes to a healthier heart. Helps you relax and sleep better, in turn, means you have more energy and brighter moods. Lastly, yoga connects you with a positive, supportive, community like the one we cultivate at Northern Life Yoga.
Now that we know the many benefits, mentally and physically, of yoga and we all want to make yoga part of our New Year Resolution. How can we make our New Year Yoga Resolution manageable and successful for each of our unique, busy lives?
Start small! Start with specific micro-goals, things that are attainable in a short period of time. To take that even a tiny bit further, write those micro goals down. Maybe your first goal is to sign up for the Introductory Offer and your second goal to attend your first yoga class. Easy enough, find one of our classes that fit into your schedule that you can easily attend, and go. Hooray! You accomplished your first goal.
Celebrate the small hoorays. Accomplishing those micro goals are a macro deal! You did it, you did something for yourself. Hooray! Celebrating those small goals keeps the resolution positive and keeps you motivated to celebrate the next goal. Maybe the next micro goal is attending a different class, or just attending the same class again until now you’re attending every Monday night class.
Make your Yoga Resolution for the right reasons and write them down. Why do you want to do yoga? What brings you to class? How did the yoga class make you feel? What do you want to get out of the yoga class? Having a clear reason for practicing yoga and having a reason that inspires and motivates you will keep you coming back and keep you motivated.
Practice patience and forgiveness. It’s important to remember that every day is unique and even sometimes when we have the most regimented routines something comes up and our routine changes. When that happens, what is most important is how we get back on track to our goals and healthy habits. Forgiveness and being easy on yourself are very important when it comes to sustaining those healthy habits and mental clarity.
Document your progress. Documenting your progress can be so satisfying and motivating. One day you’ll look back at your first entry and see how far you’ve come, the changes you’ve endured, and the results you’re seeing. Could there be anything more satisfying than positive progress!?
Slow down. Remember to slow down. Slow down and smell the roses, notice the trees in the wind, or the birds singing. Take time to notice your surroundings, slow down, and enjoy them. Similarly, slow down and notice the small changes, maybe it’s mental clarity one day or maybe it’s your jeans fit a little better the next. Notice those changes and celebrate the small hoorays.
Reward yourself. Reward yourself. And I don’t mean with a something that goes against your goals and habits. Reward yourself with a healthy delicious meal, going out to dinner, getting your nails done, your hair done, or enjoying a nice bottle of wine. Whatever it may be, celebrate yourself and your progress more often than not.
Be accountable for yourself or ask others to keep you accountable. Lastly, be accountable for yourself. If that’s too hard at first, ask a trusted friend or start yoga with a buddy to keep each other accountable. That means not making excuses for why you didn’t achieve your small goals. Yes, things come up but reflect and ask yourself what could I have done differently to achieve this yoga goal? Reflect and be accountable.
This New Year is sure to bring lots of changes and self-discovery as every new year does. Yoga can be a wonderful tool in aiding to your new years goals and resolutions, shoot maybe starting yoga is your resolution! Whatever your resolution is Northern Life Yoga is here to support you. We offer a variety of classes and workshops, as well as memberships and class cards. All these options give you the ability to find what works for you, your schedule, and your budget. We hope to see you in class!
By Morgan Van Winkle, NLY Studio Manager