Lesson From India - Create Routine to increase serenity

When I registered for the 500 Hour Yoga Teacher Training program at The Krishnamacharya Yoga School (KYM) in Chennai in 2017, I didn't realize just how much I'd learn. Since I had already completed 200 hours of training in the US and had been teaching for 9 years at that point, I thought I had a good understanding of yoga. Turns out I had a good understanding of āsana, but a very limited understanding of everything else yoga has to offer.

One thing I learned that has been key to cultivating Serenity in my busy life as a wife, mom, business owner, and yoga teacher, is the importance of developing a routine. I know that "routine" may sound impractical to many people, but I invite you to be open-minded and hear me out.

Yoga and Ayurveda (the Indian system of health and healing) teach about the importance of eating and sleeping at fixed times each day. Can you imagine my confusion when I was filling out the New Student paperwork at KYM and it asked if my meals, sleep, and bowel functions were "regular". What they meant was, are they on a regular schedule. Hmm, why would this be such a priority that they'd put it on their intake form?

Well, it turns out that our bodies function best with routine. If we can manage to develop a consistent sleep schedule, our quality of sleep improves, our health improves, and even our appearance improves. If we eat on a consistent schedule, our digestive system regulates and knows when to expect food and when to rest. We avoid getting hangry. We begin to understand our body better and we get a better feel for how much food it needs.

The same goes for all of our daily responsibilities. If we have a fixed time for all our regular tasks, we greatly reduce our stress and experience more Serenity.

I encourage you to sit down with your calendar and spend half an hour brainstorming and organizing your weekly schedule. You can start with baby steps - make a sleep routine and start putting it into practice. When you feel ready for the  next step, make a meals routine and start putting that into practice. Once you get the hang of those, you can start organizing more of your daily and weekly responsibilities into your routine.

As your daily habits become more routine, your body and mind are less stressed, and you'll begin to experience more Serenity.

I'd love to hear what you think about this idea, and how this exercise goes for you! If you have a minute, please shoot me a note and let me know how it goes.

All the best,

P.S. This weekend is the start of my 4-week series, Yoga for Fibromyalgia. I'll be teaching gentle yoga postures and breathing techniques designed to calm the nervous system and reduce pain and the symptoms of Fibro. Please share this with a friend or loved one who may be interested.

Behind the Scenes: Winter 2016 Class Schedule

Over the past few weeks we’ve been hard at work planning the Class Schedule for the beginning of 2016. You might think planning the Class Schedule is a quick and easy job, but it’s actually very challenging. Every time I update the Class Schedule, I have to take into account a lot of competing priorities.

I need to consider which class types tend to work in which time slots, which actually means two different things: which classes are popular at which times, and which classes are theoretically beneficial at which times. For example, early in the morning and late at night, gentle classes are beneficial because they help us ease into our day and help us wind down so we can sleep well at night.

I also need to consider teacher availability, which means scheduling around the teachers’ full time job work schedules, outside teaching schedules, childcare availability, and rush hour.

One of my personal priorities is to schedule teachers for classes they love to teach. Sure, all of our teachers are great and could probably teach any class type in a pinch, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re confident and enthusiastic in teaching every class type.

I want teachers to be in the zone and the best way to accomplish that is to allow them teach their area of expertise. It’s one way I can help them stoke their enthusiasm and avoid burnout, and give them the opportunity to further refine their teaching. We teachers learn so much from our students.

My other personal priority is to minimize change. I pretty much never do a radical overhaul of the schedule. I try to keep things as consistent as possible so that it’s easy to remember when your favorite teachers teach.

Now that you’ve had a peak behind the scenes, here is our schedule for January 2nd through March 2016. Please note we will have a special schedule for New Year’s Day which we’ll announce next week. Keep reading for a list of the changes as compared to our current schedule.

(Click on the schedule for a printable version.)

Monday 6:45 p.m. changes to Vinyasa Flow with Iyone 7:30 p.m. changes to Gentle with Susan

Tuesday 8:00 a.m. Free Meditation Session with Zelinda (NEW!)

Thursday 8:00 a.m. Self-Guided Practice with Cony (NEW!)

Sunday 9:15 a.m. changes to Vinyasa Flow with Iyone 10:30 a.m. changes to Gentle with Iyone 5:00 p.m. Yoga for Cancer with Stacy (NEW!)

XO, Zelinda

P.S. Do you live or work near Dell in Round Rock? A person with an eye disability (who is unable to drive) reached out to us, wondering if we know of anyone in his area who might be able to give him a ride to and from any Gentle or Restorative classes on weekends, or weekdays after 5PM. Interested in helping out a fellow yogi? Email us at info@rryogaroom.com, and we'll connect you!