7 Creative Ways to Add Yoga to Your Everyday Life ...

Taking photos? Strike a pose. Ways to add yoga to your everyday life can be as simple as taking a picture. When I traveled to Europe this past summer, I didn’t want to take photos in front of tourist attractions just smiling. It’s way overused! Instead, I chose a yoga pose that complemented the area I was in. In France, there was a circular castle that amazed me so I decided to go into Camel pose and to this day, it’s one of my favorite photos!

The only word I can think to describe the music at my studio would be yogic. It sounds like what I imagine yoga sounding like. Chants and Sanskrit and flow. To mix things up in your home practice, why not put on your favorite song? Even a pop song can give you the flow to have some great vinyasa! I really enjoy listening to fun.’s “Some Nights” while practicing.

I was in a yoga class recently where we were talking about the sacredness of the yoga mat. I mean, think about it. It’s incredible how just a small stretch of mat can be a foundation for peace and perseverance! Someone raised the idea that your yoga mat is your own personal runway, like a model’s but founded in strength and surrender. So work it!

If you have an office job, you may feel the strains of sitting hunched up over a computer on your body. I’ve worked jobs like these before but learned that you can bring yoga into the workplace. You can move through a few Cat-Cow flows to warm up your spine. Even doing half a sun salute when you swan dive to your feet, look up to straighten the spine, and then drag prayer hands up the center line. It can work wonders! What other poses do you think you can sneak in?

Sometimes I’ll be excited to go to a class but then by the time it rolls around, so do the excuses. But if you make plans to go with friends then it not only makes sure you go but also gives you a way to socialize. My friends and I do it all the time when we know our schedules get busy and we want to see each other. It’s a win-win because we get to see each other and leave with that post-yoga bliss.

Yoga is a moving practice defined by awareness. You don’t have to be on your mat to practice yoga. Pranayama is breathing techniques that you can incorporate into your daily life. Also doing everyday tasks mindfully is another way to bring yoga into your day. You may read books on the sutras, chakras, other yogic thought or memoirs of yogis. In Matthew Sanford’s memoir, he talks about his experience as a yogi both physically and spiritually despite an accident that left him paraplegic. Talk about inspiring!

I’ve been doing yoga for about a year and a half now and I still don’t have a daily practice. But I’m working on it. One thing that’s inspired me is that if I do what I can for each day, then that is more than enough. Some days I may be able to move through an hour-long practice and other days my biggest accomplishment may be just sitting on my mat mindfully. It’s incredible how freeing it is to add some yoga to your everyday life without pushing yourself to master Lizard pose. Try it and you’ll see!

The benefits of yoga are immense. Why not add it your everyday then? These are just a few of my suggestions to help get you on your mat in more creative ways. What’s one creative way that helps you get on your mat?