Get to Yoga in 27 Easy Steps

elidr via Flickr

If you've been around the Brave Self Care community a while, you might know how integral my daily walk is to my self care routine. It's free, it energizes me, and takes barely any willpower since I've made it a habit.

HOWEVER, this happy habit is contingent on my kids being in school. I drop them off, I go for the walk. When they're on break, all bets are off.

Knowing that summer is around the corner, I've been thinking about ways to keep stewarding my physical health, especially as I enter third trimester(!). I took prenatal yoga classes in my first pregnancy and LOVED them, and was curious to try them again.

Today I'm sharing my easy, 27-step guide to getting to yoga.

leegreen12 via Pixabay

1) Vision for your ideal summer exercise plan.

2) Remember how amazing it felt to go to yoga, years ago.

3) Google yoga classes near your home.

4) Because it's too hard to commit to a studio sight unseen, ask for recommendations on your neighborhood parent group on FB.

5) See several moms recommend a studio about a mile away. Nice!

6) Check out their website.

7) Let your web browser get closed by your kids, or lost among the 20 other tabs you have open.

8) Repeat steps 6-7 over the course of two and a half weeks.

9) Mull over whether to buy a five-class pass since it's such a good deal and might force you to go at least five times before your baby comes.

10) Keep thinking about it, keeping the tab to purchase said five-class pass open in your browser a few days.

11) Repeat step 7 a few times.

12) Put it in your calendar. If it's in your calendar, you'll go, right?

13) Tell your partner - you're going to go to yoga. You've made up your mind. It's gonna happen. Next Wednesday.

14) Next Wednesday, text a friend to see if she wants to join. Darn, she can't.

15) Decide you're too tired to go.

16) Decide that buying a five-class pass is too much pressure, even if it's a good deal. Commit to just trying it ONE TIME.

17) Next week, text two more friends for moral support. This time, you really are going to go. They cheer you on.

18) Remind your partner - it's yoga night. For real this time.

19) Decide right before class that it'd be a great time to cook chicken katsu for the first time. Yes, it requires 4 different prep dishes to marinate and dredge the chicken cutlets (in flour, egg, then panko), but wouldn't it be nice to have dinner ready for the family before you go?

20) Eat super fast. ALWAYS a good idea to have a really rushed meal before practicing yoga. Bonus points if you're kinda stressed, too.

21) Quickly change into a tank top and leggings, hoping you don't smell like fried chicken.

22) Leave later for class than you wanted to. This will only make the relaxation that much deeper once you're in class.

23) Miraculously find a parking spot a block and a half away.

24) You made it!

25) Pay for class, nervously unroll your mat, get the blankets/blocks/bolsters everyone else has by their mats, and wait for the instructor to arrive.

26) Have an AMAZING class. Feel like a goddess who intuitively knows just how far to stretch to the right and left. Feel complete freedom to move your upper body in circles while on all fours. Imagine the mysterious universe unfolding inside you as the instructor suggests. ​Cringe only slightly when she uses the phrase, "soft vaginal walls" to describe the state of being you are aiming for.

27) Class is over. Feel soooo gooood. Promise yourself you'll do it again soon.

Post-yoga shine

​If you think self care comes easy for me because I'm a self care coach, it doesn't! I think precisely BECAUSE this is an area that's not a natural strength, I'm able to relate to others' struggles and offer compassionate support.

Where can I support you this week?

Comment below and let me be one of the dozen steps it might take to get you moving in the right direction!