How Often Should I Do Yoga? Should I Do Yoga Every Day?

If the questions like How Often Should I-do Yoga? Can I do it everyday? Or how can i start doing every day comes to your mind regularly, this is the right article for you. In this article we will answer all these questions in details so that you know them once and for all. So, stay tuned. 

Many people around us have started doing yoga these days- and that is wonderful. People have started taking up yoga practice as a form of exercise for all the right reasons- for the well-being of the mind, soul, and body, for health benefits, for losing weight and much more.

As a beginner to the practice, it is quite common for you to have a number of questions on your mind about yoga. So, before going onto answering your wonders about this practice, let us understand what “Yoga” means.

What Is Yoga? 

The term “Yoga” is derived from a Sanskrit word ‘Yuj’ which literally means union. Yoga is a spiritual discipline where the union is with our inner divine self, our mind body, and soul and ultimately leads to our union with God.

This union may or may not involve the movement of bodily postures but if it does there’s no harm- it keeps us fit without obstructing our spiritual efforts. Yoga is believed to be an art as well as science.

It is considered to be science, because it involves practical methods for controlling the mind and the body, and is proven to be a form of art because yoga involves sensitive and intuitive practice.

However, in contrary to the popular belief, yoga is not a system of beliefs. It takes into account the influence of the mind over the body and vice versa, and thus bringing both of them into mutual harmony.

To know more on this in details read our Post on Meaning of The Word Yoga

How Often Should I Do Yoga?

Now that you have a broad understanding of ‘What is Yoga’, as a novice to the practice we are sure that you have a number of other questions in mind too. Your head must be spinning with questions like,

• How Often Should Yoga Be Done?
• How Regularly Should It Be Done For It To Be Beneficial For Me?
• What Should Be The Duration Of The Practice So As To Reap Quick Benefits From It?
• What Is The Purpose Of Practicing Yoga?

So on, and so forth!

Well, let us take up your questions one at a time.

Understand Your Purpose of Practicing Yoga

If you want to know how often you should practice yoga, the primary step is to understand your basic purpose of taking up this practice.

To Burn Extra Calories?

If you have taken up practicing yoga to burn a few extra calories or to build physical strength, flexibility or to increase your stamina, then practicing yoga on a regular basis will do the wonders.

However, the results will not be as quick as you would receive from taking up other forms of exercise for a purpose like this.

Other Related Health Benefits?

If you are looking for health benefits then practicing yoga even once a week will be beneficial, but again the effect may not be the same. Doing too little is equally not effective like doing too much.

Right Balance and Consistency is More important than ‘How Often”

Therefore, the key is to find an amount of practice that is suitable for your body in order to bring the balance. Like balance, consistency is critical too while practicing yoga.

So, no matter what your purpose may be, the most helpful thing to do is make a commitment to practicing regularly for a certain period of time and then re-evaluate.

This will get you to a habit and will get your physically stronger and reap all the benefits that you wish to receive from this practice.

Whether you choose to practice yoga once a week or every day, you will surely experience the benefits of it both on and off your mat.

Also, read our post on How To Gain Weight Through Yoga?

How Often Should You Do Yoga A Week? 

This question is indeed a crucial one and depends on a lot of factors. The frequency of your yoga practice depends entirely on your personal goals, your purpose, your body type, your budget and a number of other factors.

While you may choose to do yoga every day, you will also reap benefits if you do it once or even twice a week. You know your body best, so bring about a balance keeping all those factors into consideration.

How Does Yoga Benefit Us When Practiced On A Regular Basis? 

People take up yoga practice for a variety of beneficial effects on the body, mind, and soul. The number of times you choose to practice yoga in a week, however, affects how quickly you’ll feel the benefits. The different benefits we gain from practicing yoga on a regular basis are:

Benefits Of Regular Practice Of Yoga

1. Relieving Us Of Stress And Anxiety

The most essential reason why people choose to practice yoga is to bring about inner peace and tranquility of their minds.

Yoga promotes better sleep which in turn reduces your stress and anxiety and helps you to do away with any kind of sleep disturbances to a great extent. 

Therefore, yoga brings about relaxation improving our overall health mind and well-being.

2. Bringing Flexibility And Balance

Practicing yoga regularly increases muscle flexibility and brings about body balance. This is why most athletes and fitness enthusiasts take up yoga practice for better performance and also to avoid any kind of unwanted injuries and pain to their muscles.

3. Other Internal Benefits

Apart from these outward benefits, yoga provides us with great internal benefits as well. Yoga improves our cardiovascular functions, reduces inflammation and prevents us from experiencing any kind of chronic pain and much more.

Studies have revealed of people experiencing lower blood pressure and pulse rates than those not practicing yoga.

Yoga is not only about practicing the various asanas (postures and bodily movement) on a regular basis. It provides for a 360 degrees discipline which also involves other key elements like breath-work, meditation and living a healthy yogic lifestyle and therefore the benefits vary from individual to individual.

One cannot point out and say the ‘right’ way of practicing and incorporating yoga into your life. Yoga never works the same for all, and thus it is necessary to find the correct balance between the mind, body, and soul for the proper enhancement of mental, spiritual and physical well-being.

Also, read our post on How Yoga Works?

Is It Okay To Do Yoga Every Day? 

Yoga experts say, practicing yoga every single day is not only possible, but they also encourage doing so. Practicing yoga frequently helps our body greatly by increasing our energy levels, enhancing mobility and flexibility.

If you happen to be a beginner at this practice, starting off with easy flows and gradually pushing your body to achieve advanced flows, will make you a seasoned yogi. However, to attain that it is important that you do it regularly and follow a healthy routine.

Also read our post on How To Get Into Yoga And Start Doing Yoga At Home?

Any Type Of Workout, Including Yoga, When Done Regularly Is Quite Beneficial 

No matter what you choose to do, whether it is yoga or other forms of exercise, having a regular workout regime is important. It does not need to be an intense workout session every day, because that does not help the body to develop.

The recovery time of your muscles after an intense workout session is also a very crucial element that you must keep in mind while setting out your workout regime.

And if you choose to do an intense workout, then working out ten minutes a day consistently will go a long way for you and you will see the changes and the benefits that your body will experience.

Also, read our post on What does Namaste mean in Yoga?

How To Start Doing Yoga Every Day? 3 Simple Steps

With our busy schedules and lack of time, we often tend to delay things when it comes to starting something new. Especially, getting into a healthy disciplined routine seems to be very difficult. So, the best way to start anything new is to have short term goals and plans.

1. Give Yourself A 30 Day Challenge

Similarly, when you decide to practice yoga, start with committing to a 30-day challenge. Prepare yourself a 3-day routine that you can follow and alternate between every single day.

Also, set a time for it and duration for it. Unless you have a fixed time for working out, it ends up not happening. However, the duration of your workout might vary ten minutes here and there, but make sure you do it- even if you do not complete the routine it is okay!

Also, spend time practicing the poses and start with your routine. Do Not Delay!

2. Keep Track Of Your Progress In A Calendar

Your next step will be to keep a track of this challenge with the help of a calendar. Mark it specifically with the 30-day achievable goal that you wish to accomplish. Make sure that the calendar is placed in a visible position, for you to see clearly.

3. Keep Checking The Time Commitment Everyday

Your next step is to check off each day on the calendar and note down the amount of time you’ve committed towards it, for 30 days straight. In case you are just starting off, start with a lower amount of time and gradually increase it.

Don’t be too hard on yourself! That’s not good either! Pushing yourself too much will reduce your motivation and leave you exhausted right at the very beginning and end up with you not sticking to your commitment. Build up your health energy slowly and steadily!

Knowing all of the above-mentioned information will help you to start practice yoga and set definitive goals for yourself. If the amount of time you can set aside for rigorous workout is limited, start with yoga and you shall see the benefits you experience even if you do only one hour of yoga a week.

Whether you have larger or smaller goals, practicing yoga will improve your overall health, relieve you from stress and anxiety, help you to master postures and build you up both internally and externally.

All you need to do is start with an hour of yoga a week and then add to your practice and gradually make it several times a week or daily. Over time you shall see the greatest of benefits you’ll achieve- physically and spiritually.

Also, read our post on Yoga Nidra and When Is The Best Time To Do Yoga?

Concluding Thoughts

After all of this detailed discussion, one thing is for sure- it is you who can decide what you are capable of and what you aren’t. You know yourself the best. If a routine gets you all spiked up and motivated, stick to it.

Or else change! Bring about the balance in the routine until you feel good after executing it. Yoga requires your body to stay connected with your mind- feel that, achieve that!

It is only you who will able to understand whether you should workout for five minutes or you should push yourself past 45 minutes. 

Maintain a journal of your progress and after a considerable period of time, you’ll be surprised to see how well your progress has been. After all, all of us are different. We are individuals with different body types and different minds building different connections. 

Explore them as much as possible. Let your mind flow just like your body every time you decide to practice yoga! It is all worth it, for sure!

Also read our popular post in Yoga Therapy