5 Steps to Creating Your Daily Practice

 by Jodh Kaur

Autumn is here and shorter days, colder weather and the holiday season are all right around the corner. This can be a tough time for many of us - Seasonal Affective Disorder, feeling blue, managing family and old (and new) conflicts around holiday time. Even those with ideal situations feel the stress of expectations that come in the last months of the year.

This time of year it is critical to establish a daily ritual or practice that will build our reserves so we can manage life’s challenges with grace and compassion for ourselves and each other.

At Urban Yoga Chicago, we regularly encourage our clients in class to commit to a 40 day practice and in response, we often hear things like:

“How do I get started?”
“I need to create an altar.”
“I need a special space in my home and need to paint, move furniture, get a mat, buy a cushion, get some photos, collect candles etc (you get the picture 😜).”
“I’ll start on Monday.”

As human beings we tend to stand in the way to our own salvation by making things so much harder than they need to be.  Discipline isn’t something certain people are born with, it is something we are all capable of creating with daily activity.  While it’s nice to have a dedicated space and an altar, these are not necessary prerequisites to having a daily practice. All that is required is for YOU to take time each day to devote to YOU and the nourishment of your soul.

Here are 5 simple steps to create a daily practice:

1. Realistically identify how much time you can dedicate to a daily practice. (You don’t have to commit to 40 days of a 2.5 hour Aquarian Sadhana).
2. Select a kriya or meditation. Not sure what to choose? Talk with your teacher - we are here to help.
3. Start your practice right away! Either the day you choose your kriya or the next morning.
4. Block time in your calendar each day for your practice.  Think of this time as your daily gift to yourself. The ideal is to practice early in the morning between 4-6:30am, the real is to practice every day (ahem, sometime before your go to bed). Suggestion: set an alarm in your phone that will go off every day to remind you to practice. (I have mine set for 8:30pm and in the event I don’t complete my practice in the morning, I set this alarm which gives me time to complete it before bed). Feel like ignoring your alarm one day? DON’T.
5. Mark in your calendar your day 1 and day 40. Commit to yourself. You are worth it.

After you get going with your practice, feel free to add any of the bonus steps:

1. Practice in the same spot on the same mat or blanket every day.
2. Practice at the same time every day.
3. Keep a journal next to your practice space and jot down anything that comes up during your practice.

Yogi Bhajan said, “Having no self-control is like driving a car without brakes. Having no self-esteem is like driving a car without gas. So how far can you go?”

A daily practice gives us both. And yes, You are worth it.

I would love to hear what you are commiting to for the next 40 days.
​Reply here and let me know!