5 Tips to Rock Your First Yoga Challenge

If you haven’t yet signed up for Wanderlust TV’s first challenge of 2021, you can sign up any time during the challenge to receive daily emails to keep you on track! “It Starts at Home” is a 10-Day Yoga Challenge featuring Hannah Barrett that kicks off Fri Jan 22 and runs through the end of January 2021.

Committing to a challenge is just that: a challenge! You’re throwing down the gauntlet at yourself to hit the mat unwaveringly. Luckily, this challenge has been designed with two rest days (Day 4 and Day 8) so the task is less daunting, and in fact, the entire journey is a path of healing.

Here are five tips to ensure you rock your first challenge:

1.Put the time on your calendar.

Without the time carved out in advance, you’ll find a million (or more) reasons why you just don’t have time for yoga today. Add it to your online calendar or scribble it in bright colors in your daily planner so that you tell your brain that this is a priority, and tells others that you’re in “do not disturb” mode.

2. Set up your home practice space in advance, and leave it there.

When you roll out your mat and keep it there, it’s a reminder every time you see it that a) you are amazing because you committed to practice today, and b) you get to be amazing again tomorrow. Putting it away leaves the door open for (oops!) forgetting to roll it out the next day.

3. Tap an accounta-buddy!

It’s no secret that if you tell someone you’re going to do something, you’re much more likely to follow through. Tag a friend in social media, but follow up by asking them to practice at the same as you! Some people even pop open a Zoom fo Facetime so it feels like they’re practicing together. And they are! Don’t let distance stop you from the sweetness of sharing your practice.

4. Put yourself out there.

This one builds on number three… During this challenge, if you share yourself on IG stories with hashtag #ItStartsAtHome and @Wanderlust__TV and @HannahBarrettYoga, you become eligible for a random drawing for a year’s worth of Wanderlust TV! The advantage of sharing your practice is that it bolsters your sense of motivation: by seeing others breathe, wobble, stretch and grow, it will underline the feeling that we’re all doing this together, as a community.

5. Delay gratification.

In other words, give yourself a reward! Surely there’s something that you’ve been meaning to get, or do, or follow through on… Make this the carrot that dangles in front of you, and treat yourself upon completion. This could be a new book from one of your favorite spiritual guides (we suggest Gather by Octavia Raheem), or maybe it’s time to reward yourself with your very own yoga props at home (this pandemic is still going folks, you might as well lean into creating a home studio!)

We can’t wait to see you all sharing your journey in our Wanderlust Virtual Yoga Studio as you begin the journey right where you are… it starts at home, after all.