Changing Routine: Letting Your Practice Evolve

[Music] Welcome to Yoga That Works. My name is Gwen. I am a yoga teacher and I live on Bonair and Island in the south of the Caribbean. Yoga That Works is a podcast for people with very full days, but also big goals, just like you and me. If you want to feel unstoppable every day, if you want to be more intentional with your time, and you want to have a yoga practice that fits and supports your lifestyle this is for you. In each episode, I share simple practices and real life insights for you to build a realistic routine on and off the mat. That keeps you going with more energy, feeling more calm and connected to what really matters in your life. Join me every other week as we explore the world of habits, yoga and first know the development and start to create your own practice today. [Music] If what you are doing on the mat is not actually helping you in your real life, in the way you make decisions, in the way you respond to pressure, in the way you choose when to push or when to rest, then your practice might look nice, it might feel good for a moment, but it is not a yoga practice that works for you. Let's talk today about something that comes up a lot, not just on the mat, not just in the yoga practice, but in the way we organize our life, in the way we try to take care of ourselves, and in the IT of routine, and more specifically, the pressure that we put on ourselves to make that routine look a certain way. Because very often what I hear and what I see and also what I experienced myself as well, is this belief that a routine only works if it is consistent in the sense of being identical, structured, predictable, something that we can repeat exactly the same day after day, the exact same way. And often if we can do that, if something changes, if we don't manage to follow it exactly the way we planned or expected it, then suddenly it feels like it is not working anymore. And let's talk today about what I think is actually the complete opposite of that. So if you ever try to build a routine and felt like you couldn't keep up with it, if your schedule changes, if you notice that your energy is not the same, every day, if your days don't look the same from one day to another, I think this episode is perfect for you. And if you ever felt like you should be doing more or doing it better or doing it in a more structured way, but somehow it doesn't really fit into your life the way it is right now, stitching as well for today. And maybe it's realizing that instead of helping you and supporting you that routine has become just another thing on your to-do list. It's another source of pressure. It's something that you feel like you are failing at instead of something that is actually helping you feel better. And to be honest, I wanted to record this episode yesterday, but I actually chose to wait because I really wanted to share something that happened. Something very simple, but that really reflects what I want to talk about in this episode. So yesterday, I was teaching the monthly life class for the life-life membership. And for the first time since I opened the membership, so for the first time since May last year, depending on when you're listening to this mid- 2025, I had to teach the class inside. And usually I teach all the classes from life-life outside in that beautiful green, upward space under my trees, often with a little bit of sunlight coming through it, a little bit of wind. We can breathe everything. Everything that is together creates a certain feeling that is island atmosphere that you probably get used to when you are watching the classes. But yesterday, about 20 minutes before the class, it actually started raining. And when I say raining, it was pouring rain, which means I wasn't sure if it was raining, going to be raining during the class. But I also knew that the space that I usually use was going to be wet. So there was a tiny moment where things were not going exactly as planned. I could have been finding this for straighting. Like something was off. Like something was not right. It was not the way I'm doing things. So it's not as good as usual. But instead, I chose to see it differently. Not worse, not better, not wrong, or not something that needed to be fixed. Just something that was different from what I expected to offer. And that allowed the practice to change. The space to change, the energy to change. And in many ways, that created something new, something that me and the students presented a practice and the students watching the replay or practicing with a recording in a few months, they would not have had experienced if everything stayed exactly the same. And actually, later that day, I was teaching yoga and massage class as every Monday. And I taught something that was connecting directly to this. We were working on creating change in the body, not for the sake of changing something. But to create a different perspective, to create a different experience of what we are doing. Because when everything stays the same, when we always move the same way, when we always go into a pose the same way, or we always do the same thing, we follow the same sequence, at one point, we just stop noticing. We stop noticing where the extension in the body. We stop noticing where there could be more space. And we stop noticing what actually feels good or what doesn't. We stop noticing what could be different because we just get used to how it is right now. So when we start to change things a little bit, just tear up things a little bit. We maybe shift the way we enter a pose, or we add a little bit of movement, or we adjust something. We move things around. This is when different things start to show up. This is when we can feel more clearly because we have that new eye, that new perspective. Maybe we can also understand better what is happening in a body. And this is actually when we can start to choose to make decision. And yet, we don't do that often because there is so much pressure around routines. We tend to believe that for something to work, it has to be structured, it has to be consistent and repeated in exactly the same way every day. Almost like we are trying to create something stable by removing any change, any chance of changing or doing a variation of it. And that's why I find it extremely interesting because a lot of things in your yoga practice and your routines are going to work when you are actually consistent and you are repeating, but not when you are doing it in a fixed way that does not allow for any change or any exploration. So very often, we just associate consistency with repetition in a very fixed way, meaning that we're doing the same practice, we're doing it at the same time with the same structure. And if anything change, whether it is our schedule, our energy, motivation, or just the way your day goes, then immediately it starts feeling like we're not longer being consistent even when we are because we're somehow breaking the rules, breaking the routine or having that feeling that we're not doing it properly. And within that there is often an underlying belief that if we cannot follow that routine perfectly, the way we think it should be, then it does not count or it's not enough or it's not going to work, which slowly turns the routine into something that we have to maintain and succeed at, instead of something that is there to support us. And we need to understand here that life does not stay the same. Our days will not look the same, our energy is not going to be the same every day and what you need from one day to another can be completely different. And yet instead of allowing that routine to move with that, we often try to keep it fixed, to push through it, to fit our self into something that might not even fit us anymore or in that moment. And that is usually where I see the frustration that starts to build, where the guilt starts to show up, where there is that feeling of I should be doing better or I should be more consistent, and that feeling starts to take more. or any more space, creating that disconnection, where instead of feeling supported by your routine, you start to feel like it is something you're consistently feeling at. And that is the part that I really want to shift for you today, because the problem is not that you cannot keep a routine. The problem is the way we define what a routine is supposed to look like in the first place. What I teach and what I truly believe in is that your practice should be something that is alive, something that is able to adapt, to evolve with you, instead of something fixed that you have to fit in, that you have to restrict yourself in. Because the moment your practice becomes that rigid, it stops responding to what is actually happening in your body, in your mind, and in your life. And this is where we start to normalize imperfection. Not as something that we tolerate, oh, it's okay, if it's a little bit imperfect, but actually as something that is actually necessary, I'm going to repeat that because it is so important. We want to start to normalize imperfection because it is something that is actually necessary. Because if your routine is always expected to look perfect, to look the same way, structure the same. Every day, it lives absolutely no space for you to adjust, no space for you to respond to what you need, and no space for your practice to actually support you. Because in reality, supporting you might mean doing less on certain days. It might mean doing something completely different than what you had planned on other days. It might mean letting go of the plan altogether, it might mean doing more, or any of those options, and knowing that any of those are as valid as following through with what you initially intended to do, which will happen sometimes, just not every time. And let's acknowledge here something that because even when we talk about listening to your body, or listening to what feels good, sometimes it can create also another layer of pressure, especially when it is not right away clear for you what you need, or when something feels good, or when something doesn't feel good. Because there are going to be days where you don't have a clear answer, where you don't know whether you need movement or stillness, until you maybe try it, until you experience it, until maybe you're finished with your practice, and you notice, oh, that's what I needed, or that's really not what I needed actually today. There are days where nothing feels really obvious and trying to figure out what you need can feel as other women as trying to follow a perfect routine. And this is where allowing change becomes less about making the right choice, and more about allowing yourself to explore, to try something without needing it to be perfect, to notice what that brings, and then to adjust from there. Knowing that the process itself is what helps you understand what works for you in the long run. So maybe the first time you're gonna do, let's say an active practice. And after at the end of the practice, you notice, oh, that's not really what I needed today, I pushed myself, doesn't feel much better. You're noticing it, it's perfect, you're just noticing it. Maybe the next time you're noticing it, at the middle of the practice, as you are practicing, you're feeling that it's not sitting right, that it's not what I need right now, so you're stopping in the middle. And then maybe the time after you're noticing it, after one third of the practice, and so on. So you're building it, every time you're noticing, something that feels not so good, or something that feels amazing as you're doing it, you're learning to notice. And that is gonna help you build that confidence in yourself, build that kind of like repertoire in yourself on informing or using what you are feeling to know what would work the best for you that day. And still knowing that some days, you're just not gonna know, or you're gonna miss and interpret something that happens to all of us. So that is really important to keep that in mind. So over time, that process of repeating, trying, observing, adjusting, you start to recognize the pattern, you build that trust in your own experience and in yourself, and you start to create that way of practicing that is based on what you feel, and what you can understand from what you feel, rather than what you think you should be doing. So how does that look like also in a practical way, instead of asking yourself what the perfect routine should look like, or trying to design something that you can follow perfectly every day, you can start shifting the way you approach it by asking what feels or what felt supportive today, what do you really have space for today, and what would actually make a difference in this moment? Because the answer to those questions is not gonna be the same every day, and that is exactly the point. Some days you might have the time, the energy, other days it might just be a few minutes somewhere, some day it's movement and pushing yourself, and other days it's teenness, and taking deeper care of yourself. And all those variations are part of the routine. They are what makes the routine, instead of a change of deviation from it. And when you start to see it this way, the routine becomes so flexible, it becomes something that can expand, contract, depending on your life, it can change with you, it can be with you, rather than something that is fixed, that you either succeed at or fail at. Because what we are practicing here goes far beyond the mat. It reflects directly the way we respond to change in our life, whether we tend to resist it, to feel frustrated where things do not go as planned, or try to four things back into what we expected them to be, or whether we can start to allow things to be different without immediately labeling them as bad or wrong, just recognizing that just because something does not look the way we imagine it would, it would, it does not mean that it is not valuable or supportive in a different way. And just like that class yesterday, what could have been seen as disruption was simply a change in environment, and that changed, created a different experience, one that would not have happened if everything had stayed the same. And this is exactly why I created the life-flip. Not to give you one fixed routine that you have to follow perfectly, but to offer a space where you can explore, where you can try a lot of different practices, different duration, different focus, and start to understand how you can build something that actually fits into your life. It's a space where your practice can adjust to your schedule, to your energy, to your need, instead of you having to constantly adjust your life to fit into your practice, which is often where things just stop working in the long term. There is one thing that I want you to take away from this episode, and is that your routine does not have to be perfect to work. To work. It does not have to be the same every day, and it does not have to follow a strict structure to be effective. Notice what changes every day and what you can learn from this. What matters is that your practice and routines support you, that it can evolve with you, and that allows you to keep showing up in a way that is realistic and sustainable for you when your life changes, when your energy shifts, and even when things do not go as fun. And maybe today, this simply means letting go of the idea that your routine, of what your routine should look like, and allowing it to become something that actually works for you. A yoga practice, or every other routine in your life that works, is not a fixed one. It's a routine that can evolve with you. Thank you for listening. I hope you feel ready to take action and to finally create your own yoga practice that fits your busy life. If you like this episode, please share it with a friend. And if you want to make sure that you never miss the next episode, follow or subscribe on your platform. I will see you in two weeks.