Yoga · Sport

How to make yoga a daily habit

How to get from an occasional class to a daily practice, the ladder from ten minutes to an hour, and how yoga counts in the app, synced from your watch.

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The movement

How to do one properly.

Every rep the same shape, so the numbers mean the same thing on day thirty as on day one.

1
Start with a few slow breaths to settle before you move.
2
Work through the postures in time with your breath rather than racing to the next one.
3
Hold what you can hold with a steady breath. A shaking breath is the edge; go there, not past it.
4
Finish lying still for a couple of minutes, every time, however short the session.
5
Same place, same time, every day. The habit is the practice.

The way up

How to make yoga a daily habit

Rung 1

10 minutes

Every morning, the same short sequence. The habit first.

Rung 2

20 minutes

A full sequence with a couple of holds.

Rung 3

45 minutes

A class length, at home or in a studio.

Rung 4

An hour, daily

A practice. Few people need this rung; those who do already know.

Minutes a day beat an hour a week. Ten minutes every morning for a month changes more than four long classes, and it is the only version that survives a busy week.

Add five minutes to the daily session each month, not each week. The point is the days in a row, and the chart on the board shows those better than any single session.

How it is counted

On the board, however it got there.

Your watch or phone sends it. Garmin, Fitbit, Wahoo, Suunto, Apple Health, and Health Connect all report yoga on their own, so it lands scored without anyone typing. No watch? Say it out loud in the app instead.

Worth 2 points per minute in the app, so a challenge can weigh it against anything else you count.

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