3 Reasons to Take a New Year’s Yoga Challenge

The new year is a timestamp to bring in changes and to choose to steer your life in a new direction or to continue with the energy and momentum that you’ve been building. 

There are many ways to bring a greater sense of purpose, meaning and connection in our lives.

Yoga can be one of those ways. And daily yoga practice might be able to help.

Remember, the sun will still rise, most people around us will remain the same, and the seasons will go on. However, meaningful New Year resolutions begin below the surface. Start with a change of perspective within yourself, and then practice with your intention for the duration of the New Year Yoga Challenge.

Suppose you are crystal clear on why you want to practice yoga, perhaps to gain physical, mental, or emotional health; a new year challenge is a clean slate to start the new year right. However, an excellent way to enter any challenge is to have an open mindset without expectations, and you will discover many things about yourself.

With that, here are three reasons to say “why not” to New Year’s Yoga Challenge:

Build Healthy Habits

No worries if you indulge over the holidays, but New Year resolutions don’t have to be extreme. Regardless of the healthy habits you want to build, start from a place of self-love as you make yoga a more significant part of your lifestyle. 

Yoga and mediation offer many benefits, from improving your breathing to helping alleviate back pain and helping clear the mind. The physical postures help improve blood circulation and move lymph through the system, so we feel energetically lighter, clear-headed, and more energized. Chanting is another form of yoga practice that can help release stress through the sound of vibrations.

Yoga is about awareness. The more that you practice yoga, you build positive movement habits and have more tools, teachings, and yogic tips that you can lean on when you need support beyond the new year. What you learn in a yoga challenge will sustain your life the entire year around.  

The Importance of “Me” Time

When we take care of ourselves, not only do we honor our own needs, but it sets the tone for those around us as well. It becomes contagious!  “Me” time is something to recharge you. It is simply choosing to use the time we already have a bit more mindfully.

The yogic journey is personal, intimate, and a process that works from the inside out. Establishing a deep connection with yourself allows you to stay connected to that place in your heart where everything comes together as one. 

Ultimately, a yoga challenge will help you become more mindful. You will appreciate the little things when you’re more present. You will feel more gratitude. You will experience the joy of carving out time for your self-care and notice the difference on days when you skip your practice.

Happiness Comes from Contentment

Have you heard the saying, “If you aren’t happy with yourself, no one else will make you happy”? Well, that’s true. And happiness isn’t just an inside job. It’s a practice, just like yoga.

If you want to feel connected to something larger than yourself and to be able to observe your thoughts with more spaciousness (hello, fewer reactions, and spinning stories within the mind), then a yoga practice helps clear the mind.

Make your yoga practice yours as you practice with intentions and allow it to serve you. A daily practice, no matter style or length, is a time for you to reset and reconnect to yourself. With that, you might experience more profound contentment and develop a powerful mantra – an attitude of gratitude, and express appreciation for every aspect of your life, both big and small.

Final Thoughts

You don’t have to be in a classical yoga studio to practice. It will be up to you if this yoga journey becomes your new way of life or just something that passed through your mind like thousands of other ideas!

Whether you want to feel stronger, feel calmer or embark on a more spiritual journey, the yoga teachings will support you as long as you show up consistently. The art and discipline of yoga have profound potential to empower you to have a better, present sense of self and not only let the physical body rejuvenate but allow you to make different lifestyle choices in the long run slowly.

So, take a leap of faith, believe in yourself, and click here to join the Practyce New Year Yoga Challenge hosted on Everyday Yoga.