Should you be doing a less intensive Yoga Practice?
Choosing the right intensity is one of the most challenging things about being in charge of your Yoga practice. In particular, recognizing when you need a less intensive Yoga practice is tricky.
Unfortunately, we often don’t recognize this need until it is too late.
WHEN should you do a less intensive Yoga practice?
1. WHEN you think you don’t need it
When you are on auto-pilot with life and with Yoga you are likely not stopping to check in with yourself.
Slowing down and doing a less intensive or restorative practice will help you see where your body and mind is at and to recharge.
2. WHEN you feel burned out
When you feel burned out, doing Yoga or anything physical is likely the last thing you want to do.
If you do manage to get yourself to the mat for a lower-intensity Yoga practice, you give yourself the chance to feel better and to set the body and mind for some nourishing rest and overcome the restless feeling of not being able to do anything.
3. WHEN you struggle with building a Yoga practice
When you feel like doing nothing at all or you struggle with building or returning to your Yoga routine, doing a lower intensity Yoga practice might be just what you need to bring your motivation back and to get moving.
You can start with some Yin Yoga to help settle the mind before addressing the body.
HOW can you do a lower-intensity Yoga practice?
Slow down the practice you are doing
A less intensive Yoga practice can be as simple as slowing down the practice you are already doing.
Add an extra breath or several to the poses in your practice. You can take out the more strenuous poses or flow parts.
Stay longer in the poses that are releasing and take a longer Savasana at the end.
Swap your practice for Yin or Restorative
It might not be your favorite style, but the benefits of scheduling Yin or Restorative practice once a week, perhaps at the end of your busiest day, might surprise you.
Especially if you got ‘buts’ coming up in your mind about why you would miss out on x, y or z benefit of your regular practice, you might want to give this a go.
Let your body guide you
Just come to your mat, lie down on your back and do your favorite reclined poses, with loads of deep long breaths. (If you are a beginner, you can just work on deepening your breath into the belly and taking any intuitive stretches your body asks you for.)
If you feel like continuing your practice from here you don’t have to stop yourself, but carry on with deep long breaths and avoid high intensity poses and holds.
Feeling exhausted? Move away from movement
Yoga is not limited to movement.
For some of us, this is a difficult mind-shift as we love the Yoga routine we usually do on the mat, but switching it up for a day with some breathwork, meditation or even some Yoga Nidra can only expand the range of benefits we get from our practice.
Before you move on…
Even though you might not really feel like it, try to select one of the ways to de-intensify your practice and schedule it in.
Just once. Observe, and see what happens :-). This is Yoga. 🙏🏽
Want to do some lower intensity Yoga right now?
CALM Series
Email me with the subject CALM, add how your Yoga practice is going if you like and I will send you 3 free 15-minute videos.