If you are looking to incorporate yoga (or any healthy, new habit) into your routine and schedule and are determined and dedicated to sticking to it, the first thing you’ll need to do is create the goal.

Grab a journal or some paper and join me! Let’s write about your goals. Putting your goals to paper increases the likely hood of achieving them.

Step 1. Create a Goal!

I want to practice yoga ________.

How often would you like to practice yoga? You can choose whatever is believably obtainable for you. Would you like to practice every day, twice a day, every other day, three days a week? Choose where you want to start. You can always adjust this later on, if after some consistent effort you notice it is not working for you.

Example 1: I want to practice yoga once a day.

Example 2: I want to practice yoga 3 days a week.

Step 2. Create a Schedule.

I always like to plan out my weeks as well as individual days ahead of time. Using a planner or calendar is very helpful in keeping up with a busy lifestyle. By staying organized, you will always be prepared for upcoming tasks/events on your schedule. You can set yourself daily and weekly goals/tasks to accomplish.

Decide what days and/or time of day would be best for you to practice yoga. Pick a time slot and stick to it! Be dedicated. Consider what time of day you will need yoga the most. Doing some yoga in the morning instead of hitting the snooze button is always a good idea. It will get you up, stretch our your body, allow you to gain mental clarity and get you prepared to start your day off on the right foot. On the other hand, practicing in the evening such as after work or before bed is a great way to unwind from the day. I’m not going to lie, both of those sound pretty fantastic. Do both if you wish, but all you need is to choose one slot of time for now. It can be your lunchbreak, while your kids nap, whatever works best for you. If you are finding it difficult to incorporate time for yourself and your well-being into your schedule, you may need to do some reflection on which areas of life that you can begin to limit. If you have the time to binge watch Netflix, surely you can make time to improve your mental and physical health.

Example 1: I will practice my daily yoga in the morning as soon as I wake up so that I can stretch, become alert and start my day off right.

Example 2: Since I’d like to practice yoga 3 times a week, I’ll choose the three specific days that work best for me. Since I prefer to practice yoga before bed, I will make this a part of my nightly practice on Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday nights.

Fully commit yourself to this new goal you are setting. Do not give yourself permission to not practice. Understandably, this is the real world and sometimes things pop up that may make it difficult to complete your practice one day here or there. If something comes up, forgive yourself… but the only way to create new, healthy habits, stay consistent and see actual results is to stick by your commitment. Create your schedule, write it down and follow it. If one session is interrupted and impossible to complete, decide when you can reschedule it, but do your best to stick to your original plan.