How To Keep A Yoga Journal

If you are serious about truly adapting yoga as part of your lifestyle, then it is a must for you to secure a tiny notebook that will serve as your own personal yoga journal. The content in your journal cannot be limited to mere accounts of your experiences while practicing yoga. You can also use it for illustrations or any form of communication wherein you get to express your innermost thoughts and feelings about your practice.

The point of inspiration for each person is totally different. This is due to the fact that every person experiences yoga differently and it also produces unique impact on their lives, depending on the goals they have established to begin with.

Getting Started

Keeping your own yoga journal is very easy. But the most important prerequisite is that you have to practice yoga, whether by enrolling into a class or practicing it at home. If not, then there is no point in creating your journal.

Here are some tips to get you started:

• First off, you need to purchase a writing material. This could be any type of notebook that is convenient for you to write your thoughts on. If you want to go further, you can purchase specialized yoga notebooks. But whichever you choose makes no difference.


• You can then write down different styles of yoga in your journal. You can write down key points that you need for choosing which among these styles to develop.


• Write down notes for the positions that you have executed or is going to execute. This will enable you to visualize exactly what you need to do as soon as you begin each session. Constant visualization of the poses will also enable you to precisely execute these movements.


• Aside from the generic points, write down more specific details about each major notes. These should include mental preparation prior to starting, breathing exercises, other essential points that will enhance your session, among other things that you find is useful to enhance your practice.


• If you want to deepen your yoga practice, you can provide reflections and other deep thoughts that you can associate with your yoga routine. This will enable you to evaluate the ability of your practice to attain its full meaning.

The ability to benefit from keeping a yoga journal all lies in your ability to delve deeper into the thoughts and experiences you have shared in it. Once you are able to use that information as it is supposed to be, it opens up a whole range of opportunities for you to advance in your practice of yoga.

Below are some important reasons why you should consider starting your own yoga journal.

Tracking Your Progress

With constant re-reading of your yoga journal, you will come to realize your level of progress and to determine how far along you have come in your journey. Basically, the idea of making a journal is for you to step back and view things objectively. Without access to a journal, you have no means of determining how long you have dedicated yourself to the practice of yoga, what new poses or styles you have acquired, and how much you have developed your own skill by the time you started.

Moreover, you will be able to pinpoint patterns in your practice in your constant effort at establishing a learning cycle. This is why journal keeping is highly advised for individuals who perform yoga at home since the lack of instructor means a lack of objective opinion that will cater to their progress.

Further Improvements

This is the main reason why serious yogis keep a yogi journal. Improvement is always on the top of their minds and this is made possible with a traditional tracking system, in the form of a journal. The best thing about the idea of making a journal is that it utilizes a very personal approach. Therefore, one can easily get motivated to perform better as s/he writes down what they have achieved so far by comparing that to the goals they have set for themselves. Even Integral Yoga founder, Sri Swami Satchidanana, believes in the weight that your own personal words have to do in enabling you to take a step further into your yoga experience.

Those who create and keep their yoga journal often keep it over a long period of time. In most cases, it often takes years. You can then use your journal to assess records of your journey towards establishing a deep yoga practice. This could be as basic as tracking down your improvement from executing basic yoga poses to advanced ones. If you want to encounter new yoga styles, this will show you accurate records of the things that you have yet to learn.

More importantly, reading through your journals will often trigger some realizations that you did not encounter during the actual yoga session. This is because your attention is often fixed at trying to correctly execute poses or meditation.

For a more effective yoga journal writing, take note of the following additional tips:

• Some experts believe that keeping a dream journal is important for your practice of yoga. Therefore, you can also write down your dreams for you to interpret later on. After all, dreams are subconscious thoughts that have importance on the waking moments of your life.


• If you are skilled at drawing, you can use it to express your thoughts and feelings about your experience with yoga.


• Look into your journal and review it on a regular basis. If not, then what's the point of keeping a journal? This is your avenue to keep in touch with your thoughts, feelings, and evaluation of your yoga experience so you can see any progress (if there are).