I graduated from Practice Indie’s 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training on May 28th. I have been teaching one class a week since priot to graduating and since graduation, this has increased to three classes a week. I teach two 6o minute classes and one 90 minute class a week in addition to working a high-stress corporate job that requires a minimum of 50 hours a week. Through all of this, I am finding it difficult to keep my personal practice going. I see this chaos as an opportunity to find balance. I can keep up my teaching and work schedule and still maintain a personal practice.

This experience has been great for me. I already recognize that practicing yoga is as much a mental practice as it is a physical practice. Yoga is a practice that one lives and experiences in each moment of every day. Finding balance has been difficult for me. I often leave work feeling drained but teaching yoga is something that sustains me. Practicing yoga sustains me. So it makes sense to find time to practice yoga.

I decided to take one day a week and dedicate it to my personal practice. I take one or two yoga classes and then practice meditation. For example, this past Sunday I took a fantastic class from one of my teachers, Purvi Lippincott. Her class challenged me and left me feeling fantastic. After the class, I decided to try something new and did a 90 minute float session at A Place To Float. This was a different experience for me and I left there feeling more grounded and centered. My entire Sunday was dedicated to self-care and it was amazing. I have never truly taken a day just for myself and it was a great feeling.

Taking time for yourself despite a busy schedule is critical to your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. This is a lesson that I have learned. It can seem difficult to find time for self care but it is not impossible. Often times people get into the routine of leaving work to go home and rest. Or, taking their day off to do nothing. I’m not saying that taking the time to do nothing is a bad decision but if that is not leaving you feeling replenished, then it may be time to consider trying a new self care routine. This is a realization I came to recently and I feel 100% better for making some changes to my self care routine.