A yogic lifestyle is key to a happy, healthy, and abundant life! And, you don’t have to be a yogi to enjoy the benefits of a yogic lifestyle. So, if you’re looking for more clarity and balance in your relationships, home, and work life, or you want to take your life to the next level, a yogic lifestyle might just be the answer!
Yoga is well known for its postures and poses, but they were not strictly the focus of yoga thousands of years ago. Rather, the goal of a yogic lifestyle was to expand spiritual energy using the breath and mental focus.
A yogic lifestyle is meant to bring balance, positivity, health and happiness into your life. And, living a yogic lifestyle may be more beneficial now than ever before!
What is a Yogic Lifestyle?
A yogic lifestyle involves consciously shaping our attitudes, habits, and general ways of life to be more congruent with the philosophies, principles, morals, and ethics of yoga. While we will all have a highly individual way of implementing a yogic lifestyle, there are a few guidelines we can all follow.
1. Establish a regular yoga practice
A dedicated and frequent practice of yoga is essential to support and fuel all of the various ways to infuse yoga into your daily routine. While breathing exercises and the physical postures create a calm mind and a clear heart, other yoga paths are equally powerful and supportive. Raja and Jnana yoga are deeply meditative, reflective, and contemplative. Bhakti and Tantra yoga invoke devotion and are more ritual based. Karma yoga encourages selfless service and humility. Whatever paths you choose, find a way to establish and maintain a regular practice throughout the week.
2.Wake Up and Stretch
In order to be at your best, wake up every morning and stretch! Nothing feels better than lengthening your tight muscles to relieve the stiffness in your body after a night’s sleep.
One of the key components of stretching is the breath. Focusing on the breath, with deep inhales and exhales, will relieve stress and have a wonderful calming effect on you. However, the benefits of stretching are not only limited to that!
Other beneficial effects of a getting a good morning stretch are:
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- increased blood flow to muscles and brain
- more energy
- better flexibility
- lower stress
- faster recovery from injury
3. Search For New Yoga Styles
Everyone is different and has different needs. You can pick your favorite yoga style that makes you feel most at peace and connected with yourself. There is a wide range to try and choose from, each of which has some unique characteristics and concept to it. Anusara, Ashtanga, Bikram, Hatha, Iyengar, and Jivamukti are some of the styles you can opt for. Don’t get bogged down by the complicated names and study up a bit on each to find your perfect match!
4. Practice meditation
If you’re new to yoga, you might find meditation tricky at first. Try five or ten minutes of meditation before your morning yoga session to put you in the right mindset. Or try after your yoga to wind down, and get you ready to face the day with a clear head. A daily meditation session is ideal to ensure a steady level of peace and tranquility throughout your day.
5. Personalize Your Place
Yoga is all about meditation and relaxing your inner self. The first step to incorporate it well into your life is to customize your home with things that soothe you. Adding natural products to your lifestyle can be a good start. One can always bring in plants, aromatherapy oils, and scented candles to feel closer to nature.
6. Let go of hate
Hate is corrosive, wasteful and toxic. Let go of it. Don’t give anyone else that much power over you. Rise above it and the petty concerns that occupy your mind. As you learn to let go of hate, you will find yourself to be a happier, more positive and productive person. This also helps you on your path of Ahimsa or nonviolence; one of the essential tenets of the yogic lifestyle.
7. Keep an open mind
Keeping an open mind about new experiences and other people helps you grow as a person and also lets you defeat hate. Yoga talks about looking inward and studying the self (Swadhyaya) so we can perceive what is wrong within and begin the journey of self correction.
8. Eat like a yogi
Traditionally a yogic diet is vegetarian or vegan, but what is more important is to minimize tamasic animal protein and eat more sattvic and nutrient-rich fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes. Ideally, you should try to eat food that is organic, minimally processed, in season, and locally-grown. Yogis will also want to fine tune their diet based on their body’s Ayurvedic dosha. Eating like a yogi will not only support your yoga practice, but make you feel vibrant, energized, calm, and centered throughout your day as well.
9. Hydrate
Drinking water first thing in the morning is a great way to start your day! When you hydrate, you create more oxygenated blood which stimulates the growth of red blood cells. And, that gives you energy!
Another benefit of staying hydrated is an increased metabolic rate. This means that body will burn calories more quickly.
Warm water, in particular, can stop premature aging by repairing skin cells and supporting your digestive system. And, drinking water on an empty stomach clears your body of toxins which keeps your skin healthy and glowing!
10. Be Honest With Others And With Yourself
Once you have decided to take on the journey of the yoga lifestyle you have to start speaking the truth. Honesty is the key to every good step you take in your life, and when you live, the yoga life tries to embrace the truth in everything and speak it whenever you get a chance. Try avoiding all sorts of lies be it big or small because a lie is always a lie.
But there are times when you tell the truth to everyone except yourself. It is essential that you reflect on your actions and evaluate them with utmost honesty. Doing a small exercise before starting your yoga, like sitting back for a while a reflecting all that goes in your mind can help you to find the inner peace you are looking for.
11. Love Your Imperfect Perfection
Loving yourself is a significant step when moving towards the yoga lifestyle. At times, most of our health problems occur when we stop taking care of our bodies. To avoid that it is a must that you treat your body with love and care. Stop comparing yourself and accept your body and if you feel there is something that needs to be changed then work on it gradually. And to feel beautiful, you want to look beautiful too. However, that sounds impossible when doing yoga but not anymore as you can visit the biggest online yoga shop Anaheart right now and get yourself some amazing yoga clothes.
Along with doing yoga regularly, try to incorporate other activities into your daily life to pamper your body. Try skincare procedures for a healthier glowing skin. Also, detoxify your body by performing various yoga poses that target specific areas in your body that can help you detoxify and lose weight too.
Bonus point:
Embrace Your Inner Yogi
Yoga is a journey back to self. At its core, the goal of the physical aspect of yoga (asana) is not necessarily to make you master every pose, but to use the poses (asanas), techniques, and sequences to release toxins and harmful elements that pollute your spiritual life.
By living a yogic lifestyle, you will ultimately be able to break free from your negative, egoic-based, thought patterns.
Quieting the repetitive voice in your head and relaxing into self is wonderful and freeing aspect of living a yogic life! And, attending a yoga class or having a regular sadhana (daily home yoga practice) helps to retain a calm, harmonious quality of life. It encourages a healthy diet, an organized, clean, and happy home, and generous thoughts. And, most importantly, it creates the foundation for a beautiful, well-lived life!
