5 Ways to Have More Fun Doing Yoga

Has your yoga practice gotten stale, boring, or uninspired? Do you visit the same studios, study with the same teachers, practice the same old poses time and time again? You could just make an effort to mix it up, go to a new class, try out a new studio, and learn something new. OR you could follow my five magical tips to having more fun with your yoga practice:

1. Try a pose that looks impossible—like a really REALLY crazy arm balance. Then laugh at yourself for failing miserably. (I'm trying to adapt this attitude toward challenges in my life, too!)

2. Practice outside. Be careful not to unroll your mat in doggy doo.

3. Play the Word of the Day game. Find a word or phrase your yoga teacher says over and over again, "That's BEAUTIFUL!" is a good one. Then, every time he says it let out a deep Lion's Breath. It can be your own inside joke or if you let a friend in on it so it can be like a drinking game, but with YOGA. What could be more fun that that?

4. Speaking of drinking games... have you ever done yoga as a party trick? Having a little wine before you practice does make things more interesting. But a word of advice: Wine and inversions do NOT mix. I speak from experience.

5. Make up ridiculous names for the poses and/or actions. How do you think those Anusara folks came up with Wild Thing and the concept of "Floint"-ing? They might say they were trying to come up with a way to teach an action, I think they were probably just amusing themselves. :)

What do you do to spice up your practice when it gets boring?

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