How Often Should you Practice Yoga?

Why there’s no answer to the question of “How often and how long should my yoga practice be?”

“How often should you practice yoga?”

This is a question that new clients ask me all the time. While I know it can be reassuring to get a definitive answer on how often to do yoga, there’s actually a lot of variation in how we make regular practice work in our lives, by which I mean practice in a way that supports your healing and spiritual growth.

So how often should you practice yoga? Read below for my thoughts.

Why a Set Daily Yoga Schedule Doesn’t Work for Everyone

Here’s an example – Imagine I tell every client to practice for 15 minutes every day.

Most clients won’t be able to do that for a variety of reasons. The vast majority of those will come into their next session feeling guilty and embarrassed about not practicing “as much as they should.” Even when I don’t set a practice expectation, I find this is the most common report clients give me when they return for a follow-up. As they continue to fail to meet this guideline (because they have good reasons!), these clients will often feel worse and worse about yoga practice as they continue to “fail,” and a significant number will soon give up—even if yoga is helping them.

Some clients will practice exactly 15 minutes every single day, but they will force themselves to do so in a way that’s rigid. They may not adapt their practice for what is needed or pay attention during the day to when their bodies are signaling a need for something specific.

And a few clients will find that my guideline is exactly the support they need to spark a useful and fulfilling regular yoga practice!

Ok, so How Often Should you Practice Yoga?

As I’ve observed this process playing out for my clients, I’ve come to think that the question of how often you should practice yoga isn’t actually the most useful question to ask.

Many of my clients include creating or refining their home practice and self-care routine as one of their top goals. Either they know going in that more regular practice will help them feel better, or they see the evidence quickly as they begin yoga therapy.

Even having a strong desire to practice more often, we encounter so many obstacles, don’t we?

We want to practice more. We don’t practice more. And then, often, we get frustrated.

At this point, a lot of people start to blame themselves.

Making Your Yoga Practice Work for You

In contrast, I approach these situations with the assumption that nothing is wrong. If you want to practice and you’re not practicing, that means your obstacles are real, whether that’s obvious or not.

Give yourself credit for how hard life can be.

Your time is limited. Your energy is limited. Your mental capacity is limited. Your physical space may be limited.

And change can be hard! Or rather, change is only easy if we have the right combination of motivation, support, and structure.

One thing that almost never works is being hard on yourself for not accomplishing what you set out to do.

Instead, if you start with the assumption that you’re doing your best, and things feel hard because they actually are hard, then you can get clear on what’s really going on. Make things easy on yourself. And go from there.

Finding Your Own Rhythm

If you’ve been wondering how often you should practice yoga, remember that there isn’t one right answer. The best practice is the one that supports your needs, fits your lifestyle, and helps you feel more like yourself.

Watch the video below for the question I like to ask instead to help people build a home yoga practice that works, and then watch the entire Home Yoga Practice playlist on my YouTube channel for more ideas.

And if you to answer “how often should you do yoga” for yourself and want support in the process, please reach out for a free consultation.

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