10 Ways to Find Time for Your Yoga Practice

Whether you’re new to yoga or reinvigorating an occasional practice, designating even a small part of your day to being on your mat can be a major barrier to entry. Between work, social commitments, family, and all of those chores, it’s easy to let yoga take a backseat to reality.

But for yoga to truly become a practice, it’s sort of important to spend some time on your mat. But how does anyone find the time?

It doesn’t have to be complicated. According to experts, the best time to meditate, stretch, and pretty much everything else is whatever time is best for you. If you’re consistently struggling to fit yoga into your schedule, the following suggestions can help make it feel more like you time and less like a chore.

10 Ways to Find Time for Your Yoga Practice

Linking your yoga to a specific time of day, reframing your commitment, and bringing a buddy are just a few of these entirely doable ways to build more yoga into your life. Since yoga as a philosophy expands well beyond the physical, devoting time to the asana element can help you begin to embody your yoga elsewhere as well.

1. Rise with the sun

Starting out simple, the earlier you get out of bed, the more hours you have in the day. So if yoga doesn’t fit into your current schedule, make more time. Not only that, but an early a.m. practice invites more presence into your day, setting a calmer tone for whatever is yet to come.

2. Try a short practice

You don’t need to spend an entire hour on the mat to benefit from yoga. A 5-, 10-, or 15-minute yoga practice is better than nothing at all—and might be exactly what you need.

3. Take a midday yoga break

Anytime is a good time for yoga. That includes your lunch break! A midday practice is an excellent way to counter any sort of slump and an ideal option for those with already overscheduled mornings and evenings.

4. Strike a pose whenever you can

In a similar spirit to a short practice, taking time for even one much-needed yoga pose can be enough to redirect your day. Balancing in Tree Pose while brushing your teeth, hitting Warrior 2 between meetings, or dropping into Standing Forward Bend when you get out of bed act as a bridge between a non-practice life and a yoga-filled one.

5. Get yourself an accountability partner

Call it pride or the power of teamwork, but it can be easier to make it to your mat if there’s someone else, besides you, who cares that you show up to your mat. Enlist a friend to sign up for classes with you, practice virtually at the same time, or just send each other a stream of reminder texts.

6. Do yoga in bed

Yes, bed yoga is a thing. Start or end each day with some reclined stretches and other effortless shapes.

7. Reconsider your priorities

Time for a little tough love! You make time for the things you prioritize. Take stock of how you spend your hours each day and see where you’re dedicating more hours than you need. You will likely find room for some shuffling.

8. Practice whenever works for you

If you’ve been trying and failing to hone a regular practice, perhaps it’s time you reevaluate what makes sense for you. Try practicing at different times and in alternate styles to what you’ve been trying. Maybe 6 pm is more your vibe than 6 am. Or you need slow flow instead of restorative. Feeling things out might provide the answers you need here.

9. Sign up for class in advance

Committing to a studio class ahead of time is one of the surest ways to ensure you find time for yoga. It doesn’t matter if the reason you make it to your mat is to save yourself a $15 cancellation fee. All that matters is that you show up.

10. Release the pressure to plan

Look, some people simply aren’t great at adhering to a schedule and thrive on spontaneity instead. So if that’s you, give yourself a break! Yoga shouldn’t feel like a chore. Practice when you’re able and you may discover that you will want to build more yoga into your life.