It doesn’t matter how advanced you are or how much you love your yoga practice, everyone has times where it feels like the most painful thing in the world to peel yourself out of bed/off the couch to get on your mat. Even the most dedicated seeming yogis have days where the last thing they want to do is yoga. We are only human, and any sort of daily commitment can be hard in the face of the snooze button or after work drinks. Or a holiday season of parties and trips.

I find that the more yoga I do, the more I want to do. It becomes an addiction (a good one!) that my body craves and my mind needs. But then a busy week at work hits me and I don’t make it to the studio at all. It’s fine, its all about balance!

There are a few ways that you can help yourself not get into an anti-motivational rut - or get out of one if you find yourself dreading your practice.

1. Practice in the morning
When I hit the snooze button and tell myself I will just go to yoga after work— this is the quickest way for me to end up not going to yoga for a week. Something always comes up by the end of the day that makes it hard to go to yoga..a long day of work, a dinner with friends, an after work drink. Having the discipline to get up and out of bed is the best way to guarantee your practice stays regular.

2. Create a ritualized morning before your practice
It can be really hard to get out of bed early in the morning, throw yoga pants on and rush from the house without even letting yourself wake up. If I give myself enough time to make a tea or coffee and sit for a few minutes (write in my gratitude journal or other journal) then I actually look forward to waking up. If you do this regularly you will begin to feel like you’ve missed out on the best part of your day if you sleep in!

3. Get a friend involved
Invite someone to go with you for a few practices to get back in the flow and to have some accountability. Its fun to practice with a friend in the room with you - and they will appreciate the motivation or introduction as well!

4. Embrace a holistic lifestyle
I find that when I am taking care of myself in more than one area of my life it is easier to stick with the whole lifestyle. For instance, if I am working with a hypnotherapist (I recommend Chloe Brotheridge if you are in England) and a nutritionist, it becomes really important to stick with my yoga practice so that I feel really balanced and get the most benefit from all of the sessions and changes I am making in my lifestyle.

5. Find joy in the practice
Instead of thinking about your yoga practice as something that is very serious, think about it as a fun activity that you are lucky to get to do! Yoga should be filled with joy and fun…think about it… Who else gets to roll around on a mat, upside down standing on their heads every single day of their lives even after the age of 50/60/70??? Yogis are the luckiest creatures on the planet.

I hope you have a yoga filled holiday.

About Tegan

Tegan is a vinyasa teacher, computer hacker, architect and insatiable traveler, London lead of SERENE and co-founder of the SereneBook. She works for Zaha Hadid Architects in London. Previously, she has worked with NASA Astronauts while they were on the International Space Station, started a non-profit called ArtistsActivists, filmed for Ridley Scott in the Kibera Slum in Kenya, and plays horse polo.