Yoga With Pamela McDowell

A journal is a wonderful tool. Keeping a journal can help keep you motivated and it is very useful for discovering your patterns.

Record as much or as little as you like - it is for you to use and to learn from.

Every so often, review what you write.

During my 2-year teacher training, we were required to maintain a journal to keep track of our asana and pranayama. Then, every month or so, review it and note our observations.

Here are some ideas of what to put in it -
How you feel before practice (even a few descriptive words will suffice -you may want to consider your state of mind, your physical feeling, your breathing)
What practice you did (you can transcribe the practice in stick figures or just describe it - example 30 minutes, lots of forward bends)
How you feel after, and any observations from the practice (again, this can just be a few words)

Here’s a tip to make it really easy… get yourself a calendar or diary with the dates already in it. That will save you writing the date and figuring out what day it is. You can get academic-year calendars that start in the middle of the year (usually August) and of course regular year calendars. The range from basic black to bright and zippy and just about anything in between.

My favorite so far has been a 5″x7″ spiral bound calendar with a page for each day. Some pages had a little writing, some had none, some had a lot. It was easy to glance back and get an insight into my habits.

Other things you can experiment with writing about -
Time and length of your practice(s)
How well you slept the previous night (duration and quality of sleep)
Unusual life activities or events (like family is visiting, big meeting at work, stayed out late last night, etc.)
Other activities fitness or spiritually related (exercise, going hiking, attending church, etc.)
Change in supplements, medications or diet
Menstrual cycle
Elimination (if you’re prone to constipation or other bowl issues)

Play with it, and enjoy learning from it!

Study yourself, study others:
Grandpa’s Yoga Sutras
Grandma’s Yoga Secrets

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Tags: Yoga Motivation, Yoga Practice Tips, Yoga Techniques //