Smart Yogini

Check out a video of my practice space below!

This is the most important part of your practice. There are a few things that held me back initially from practicing on my own outside of a studio. I have lived in small apartments and had a lot of furniture and would kick things when I would try to practice. That would hurt and I wouldn’t want to practice anymore! Or I had roomates so I couldn’t practice in the space of the living room without worrying they would think I was weird.

Looking back it was all part of the process my mind had to go through before I became comfortable enough with my body to just practice. Of course now I am over the thoughts of people thinking I am weird (I’m glad I’m not normal!) But I understand how early on you might not want people to see you practice…after all this is a very personal time spent with your body!

So slowly I sold furniture I didnt need and cleared more space (which felt great since I was kind of a collector of things I really didnt need! There was a lot involved in my cleansing process!)

Now I have set up a permanent space that is big enough for my mat where I can stretch my legs out in downward dog and swing my arms around beside me. I keep all my props within reach.

For me it was very important to have a permanent space for practicing. I could have done some minor furniture rearrangements each time I practiced, but for me over time that became too much a a hassle and I wouldn’t get on my mat. Moving the furniture also set me with a great excuse of not wanting to move the coffee table, so therefor I wouldnt practice that day. (as you can see discipline is a hard one for me.)

So my area is always ready for me to roll out my mat and start practicing. I also have made sure to have an area of wall space open without any pictures so I can have an area to practice inversions as well as some other stretches and postural excercises.

BONUS:
I am a bit of a narcissist and really like to see how I am progressing in my practice so I have set up a giant mirror in my living room. The mirror is a great critic to show me where I need to build strength to take the poses further. This also has the added bonus of making the room look bigger!

Check out what my practice space looks like here!

Motivation & Discipline

Part 1: Where do I get some of that?

Motivation and discipline are characteristics that I felt I didn’t have and struggled with for quite a while. I spent four years going to drop in or structured classes and learned some, but felt I couldn’t bring it home. I had trouble just getting on my mat and practicing.

At first it did take a little discipline. Ok, a lot! I would come home from work, put on my 3 second breath cycle cd, and set up my practice area. I still found ways to avoid the practice for a while spending time cleaning up my apartment or calling friends. But after a while I would know I had to get some type of a practice in. I followed the structure my teacher had given me with the Smart Yoga approach. Sometimes I would use a pranayama exercise to calm my mind and breath. When I first started practicing on my own it wouldn’t be for very long. Sometimes only half an hour. And I always experienced great benefits from any little bit of yoga I did.

Yoga builds. My practice built slowly. But now there are times when I loose hours to practicing yoga within that happy realm of motion. It might not be everyday, but it is constantly evolving.

When you get home, clear a space, roll out your mat and enjoy your body!

The first newsletter has finally gone out!

Check it out below and sign up if you are looking for more!

Welcome to the Smart Yogini Newsletter!

In these newsletters you will find tips and experiences I found important in my exploration of yoga. There will also be links to videos or extended explanations located at my website. All of this information is provided without any commitment from you. I believe that the experience of yoga is something that should be shared and available to everyone. Check out my website at www.smartyogini.com. The content is low right now, but will be building quickly! Soon there will be picture and video demonstrations of tips and things that I found really helped me along with the practice of a yogic lifestyle!

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What is My Mission

To help students realize that they have the ability to create a practice of asana that is special to them. To aid in the initiation or development of a personal practice of yoga.

Who am I?

I am a student of yoga with the intention to share my experiences in my discovery and incorporation of the lifestyle of yoga.

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Mission

To help students realize that they have the ability to create a practice of asana that is special to them. To aid in the initiation or development of a personal practice of yoga.

Who am I?

I am a student of yoga with the intention to share my experiences in my discovery and incorporation of the lifestyle of yoga.

I am here now to help you achieve what I have over the past few years and more! I want you all to be pain free, love your body, and feel calm and stress free! This is the way we should all be living life!

The practice and path will be different for everyone, but I want to share with you things that I have found helpful in developing my practice of yoga. I hope you find it helpful as well! Please blog questions and tips, and feel free to answer fellow students questions. To leave questions just click on a blog and leave a comment or send me an email! kate@smartyogini.com

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Everyone has the time to do some yoga. The hard part is disciplining yourself and finding the motivation. It is hard when we all work day jobs and come home tired after work. Before I started yoga I would fall asleep on the couch in front of the tv, wake up to cook dinner, and then be too full to do anything for the rest of the night. The next day I would go to work again and do the whole thing over. The only way I would get out and do something would be if I had plans with friends or had signed up for a class or something like that.

Once I started a home yoga practice I found it hard to work into my weekday schedule. Honestly I still do. The weekend seemed easy to get a practice in at least. That’s good enough, right?

I started getting stricter with myself. I would come home from work, have a light snack, roll out my mat and put on the breath beats cd. The cd was really key for me (I’ll explain the cd in a blog soon). I would still find little things to do around the house like the dishes, or make the bed, or put on a load of laundry first, or maybe I’ll call that person I should call. I should do this, I should do that…etc. (Note: please don’t should yourself!) And then finally I would calm down and come to my mat.

You just have to do it. Set out your mat, whatever props you want, put on comfy yoga clothes and get to it! The cd was a constant reminder to me that my intention was to do yoga. And I would start to breath deeply along with it. Oh, and remember after practicing you will feel AMAZING! There is nothing else like it. The time spent in meditative movement is so incredible for your mind and body and you will feel it after! It may be hard to get going, but there is huge reward!