There Is Still Time to Begin Your Yoga Practice

What if you didn’t have to start perfectly?

What if you didn’t have to begin on the first day of the month, follow every practice exactly as planned, or somehow find 30 uninterrupted days to make a difference?

What if you could simply begin?

Over the past 30 days, I’ve been exploring yoga through a simple daily practice.

Not a practice built around perfection.

Not a challenge to see how flexible, strong or disciplined we can become.

But a practice of coming home to ourselves.

And as this 30 Days of Yoga journey comes to an end, I keep thinking about the person who may be watching from the sidelines.

Maybe you’ve been following along.

Maybe you’ve watched a few practices but haven’t started.

Maybe you’ve told yourself you’ll begin when life settles down.

Maybe you’ve missed several days and decided you’ve already “failed.”

If that’s you, I want you to hear this:

You haven’t missed your opportunity.

You can begin today.

Yoga Isn’t About Catching Up

One of the things I wanted this 30-day journey to teach was that yoga is not about checking every box.

You don’t have to complete Day 1 before you can do Day 15.

You don’t have to be flexible.

You don’t have to know all the poses.

You don’t have to practice for an hour.

And you certainly don’t have to look like the person next to you.

Yoga is an invitation to pay attention.

To notice your breath.

To feel your body.

To observe your thoughts.

To discover where you are holding tension.

To notice where you are strong.

To learn when to push and when to soften.

And perhaps most importantly, to learn something about yourself.

Thirty Days Can Change the Way You See Your Practice

Throughout these 30 days, we’ve explored different ways of moving and being in the body.

We’ve moved the spine in its six directions.

We’ve practiced standing.

We’ve explored twists.

We’ve worked with strength.

We’ve practiced arriving in the body.

We’ve talked about letting go of perfection.

We’ve explored what happens when we stop trying to make our practice look a certain way and instead begin making it our own.

And that may be the most important lesson of all.

Your yoga practice doesn’t belong to anyone else.

It doesn’t have to look like mine.

It doesn’t have to look like a yoga class on Instagram.

It doesn’t even have to look the same from one day to the next.

Some days your practice might be strong.

Some days it might be five minutes of breathing.

Some days it might be chair yoga.

Some days it might be lying on the floor and simply noticing your breath.

It all counts.

Start Where You Are

This is one of the foundations of my teaching, especially when working with adaptive yoga, older adults, caregivers and people navigating physical limitations.

We start where we are.

Not where we think we should be.

Not where we were five years ago.

Not where someone else is.

Where we are.

Your body today is the body you get to practice with.

And that body deserves compassion.

It deserves patience.

It deserves curiosity.

It deserves to be listened to.

What If You Started Today?

If you’ve been thinking about starting yoga, here’s my invitation:

Don’t worry about the 30 days you missed.

Don’t worry about whether you’re “doing it right.”

Don’t worry about becoming a yogi.

Just choose one practice.

Set aside 10 or 15 minutes.

Put your phone somewhere you won’t be tempted to scroll.

Take a breath.

And begin.

You can start with Day 1.

Or Day 10.

Or Day 23.

Or simply choose whichever practice speaks to you.

There is no yoga police coming to check your progress.

There is only you, your breath and this moment.

Carrying the Practice Into September

As August comes to a close, I’m beginning to turn my attention toward September.

Our theme will be grounding and finding our foundation.

And I think these two ideas belong together.

Because before we can grow, we need somewhere to root.

Before we can reach outward, we need to know what supports us.

Before we can keep moving forward, sometimes we need to pause and feel our feet on the ground.

That’s what I hope this 30 Days of Yoga has given you.

Not another thing to accomplish.

But another way to come home.

Your Practice Doesn’t End at Day 30

Thirty days is a beginning, not an ending.

Maybe you discovered that you enjoy moving in the morning.

Maybe you learned that your breath changes when you’re stressed.

Maybe you noticed how much tension you carry in your shoulders.

Maybe you found that you are stronger than you thought.

Maybe you simply discovered that ten quiet minutes can change the rest of your day.

Take that discovery with you.

You don’t have to do another 30-day challenge.

You don’t have to make a resolution.

Just keep showing up.

A little at a time.

Again and again.

If You’ve Been Waiting, This Is Your Invitation

If you’ve been watching these practices and thinking, I’ll start tomorrow, consider this your invitation to stop waiting for the perfect day.

Start messy.

Start slowly.

Start sitting in a chair.

Start with five minutes.

Start with one breath.

Start exactly where you are.

Because there is still time.

There is always time to begin again.

And perhaps that’s one of the greatest gifts yoga offers us:

The opportunity to return.

Again.

And again.

And again.

Come Practice With Me

The full 30 Days of Yoga series is available on my YouTube channel, and you can begin anywhere.

Choose a practice that feels right for you today.

Then come back tomorrow.

And begin again.

September doesn’t need you to become a completely different person.

It simply invites you to become a little more grounded in the person you already are.

Enjoying this content? My book 52 Weeks of Wisdom & Wellness goes deeper — find it here.