I don’t know about you, but I’ve had my work cut out form me, making yoga a daily part of my life. I probably read 10 books on the subject of yoga before I tried committing to anything resembling regular yoga practice. Sure, I had tried some poses, and using yoga DVDs helped me include a variety of yoga poses, but I had trouble staying motivated in a consistent way.

I went through periods of time when I’d practice yoga daily for a couple of weeks and then I would think of some reason why I didn’t want to practice that day. And before you knew it I was back to thinking more about yoga than actually doing it!

After much pondering about how to effect the changes I wanted, I realized I needed to satisfy two requirements for ongoing yoga practice. One, I needed to set a habit. Two, variety is crucial for maintaining interest and accommodating my changing skills and needs. The following are some things I’ve done to create and maintain a yoga habit.

Yoga Trial Period

It takes longer than a week or two to create a new habit with lasting results, but not much! Can you commit to 30 days of yoga practice? If you can only commit to 15 minutes each day, fine, go with that. If you can practice for 45 minutes, great! The important thing is that you choose a length of time that you’re willing and able to commit to.

The great thing about giving regular yoga practice a 30-day trial is tahat you can do anything for 30 days! If you don’t like it you’re free to stop or adjust your yoga program at the end of the 30-day trial period.

If 30 days of daily yoga seems intimidating, why not commit to 5 of 7 days each week for a month? This way you’re leaving some leeway to accommodate your busy lifestyle. I practice yoga for about 45 minutes Monday through Friday. Some weeks I may skip Friday, but practice yoga on Sunday. Some weeks I get a chance to practice every day of the week. This more free form system works best for me, because any day of yoga practice over my 5 sessions/week is bonus!

Me Time

Whether you’ve got kids, a hectic job or both of those plus fifty-six other obligations that make consistent yoga practice seem difficult, at best, there’s no good excuse for denying yourself quality me time — meaning a period of time each day just for you.

Morning is the time of the day I set aside for myself. The house is quiet and I look forward to my morning yoga practice. I put on some comfortable clothes and head downstairs, pausing for a drink of water or juice. I select some music or a yoga DVD and settle in for a rejuvenating yoga session.

I know what it’s like for the day to disappear with several things left undone, so if you have to get creative with making daily time for yourself a priority, get creative! I started getting up an hour and a half earlier. I spend 45 minutes doing yoga then I sort of reward myself with 45 minutes of reading, surfing the net or whatever sounds like fun.

Setting aside time to unwind or be inspired by simple joys or curiosity is one of the most effective things I do on a regular basis that makes me feel excited about my life and the day at hand. Even if you only have an extra hour each day, taking time for yourself on a regular basis is rejuvenating because it helps you listen to your intuition rather than reacting to habitual patterns you’ve outgrown. Taking 30 minutes to do something fun and creative, such as paint or write, keeps us open to being creative with our lives, receptive to how our tastes and needs change from day to day.

Avoid Burn Out

Whether you put together your own yoga routine from poses you add to your program as you go along, or use instructional yoga DVDs, when you start feeling bored with your yoga practice it’s time to change something! This means being more mindful during practice and/or changing things up with some new yoga poses.

I try to reevaluate my yoga program every month or so, but not formally so much as I just make sure to change something the second I don’t feel excited about doing yoga. I’ll alternate between my own custom yoga routine and usually 1 or 2 yoga DVDs for a couple weeks at a time. Variety is the spice of life! I’ve found that keeping my routine varied results in greater consistency in my practice, which in turn makes practicing more and more advances poses of mindfulness that much more challenging and enjoyable.

Visual Stimulation

I find that keeping notes of my program schedule (however loosely planned) on a piece of paper or in a yoga journal helps me make the visual connection with my commitment to personal health and vitality. Each time I scribble a new yoga schedule (hey, if you’re more the color-coded PDF type, by all means go for it!) I’m renewing this contract with myself.

Yoga DVDs are a great way to pick up some new asanas. Even if you prefer to go through your own program at your own pace, yoga DVDs are nice to have on hand for when you want to try something different or just want someone to guide you through a session you might not keep if you had to summon the willpower on your own. After all, we all have those days, why not prepare for them? I like to add to my yoga DVD library whenever I come across an interesting title or read a great review.

Ready… Set.. Commit

Write it down, say it out loud. Better yet, do both. Writing your goal on a piece of paper makes the commitment to yourself that much more real. It’s a very simple, yet effective way of manifesting your desired result. Even if it feels silly, saying your goal out loud has even greater influence for many people.

One of the best things we can do for our self confidence is honoring commitments we make to ourselves. It doesn’t matter if a goal requires a minimal amount of effort, simply by making goals and following through we build a solid vision of our power to creatively impact our lives. So don’t worry about setting lofty fitness goals, start with simple goals and watch for self determinism thrive.