Hello! I’m back from a small hiatus. I am still in college so when I started school again, the 16 units I’m taking hit me a little hard. How do you fit in your yoga and meditation when it’s sooo easy to let life get in the way? Here are some things I have found through experience. Please feel free to comment and add anything else you do to allow yourself the time to do what it is you love doing every day…
–learn to say no. I only do something if I love doing it (usually. Obviously there are things in life that you have to do, like clean your apartment and study) or if it will strengthen my relationship with another person. However, you even have to be picky about when you say yes to people and when to say no. You could rationalize and make excuses and allow yourself to just hang out with people all the time. But that wouldn’t get you anywhere would it? Keeping your priorities in check is key.
-acknowledge and accept the fact that life DOES get in the way sometimes and that much of life is out of our control. Learn to control what you can and let the rest go. That way, you can quit beating yourself up for not doing what you’re “supposed” to every day.
-perhaps you are expecting too much from yourself. Do you really need to do two hours of yoga, an hour of running, an hour of weights, and all the other things you do in a day? Start small. Maybe just try to do twenty minutes of yoga before work or school. Perfectionists and over-achievers tend to have trouble with setting too high of goals (as a perfectionist I’ve had to learn to tone it down) and then can’t finish them because they put too much on their plates. If your problem is motivation, really look at why you are doing something to begin with.
-Try to only conquer one thing at a time. (And no, women aren’t naturally better at multitasking than men). When you write down twenty five New Year’s Resolutions you most likely achieve them unless you take it one at a time.
-write down your goal in a goal book. I keep one around to remind me of the things that I strive for every day.
–don’t necessarily start right away. When I started on the Primal Blueprint I waited a week to start so that I could mentally prepare myself. That’s my personality but some people may just like to dive right in.
–identify your weak areas. If you can’t get yourself to wake up in the morning because you go to bed too late and therefore miss your yoga time in the morning, try going to bed a bit earlier. Set an alarm on your phone telling yourself to go to bed in a half an hour.
-When you identify your weak spots or triggers find something else to do instead when that trigger strikes.
-If you find yourself not having any time to yourself try writing down the things you do all day. This is similar to a food journal. Write everything down. Even the five minutes you spent on facebook. Maybe you’re spending time on things that aren’t particularly necessary.
Hopefully you can make time for yourself and find balance if you don’t have it already so that yoga or whatever you do that fulfills you can happen regularly!
How do you find the time for your passions?
Namaste. Jenna
photo courtesy of h.koppdelaney