Here Are Four Ways to Practice Yoga Without a Mat
By Sarah Ezrin
Between the hours of 4:30 a.m., when I wake up, and 9:30 p.m., when I go to sleep, I’m responsible for two children under the age of four, a needy dog, a home, my writing assignments, my podcast, my yoga students, certain members of my extended family, all the backend logistics of running a small business, my mental health, my physical health, my spiritual health, and, occasionally, my husband.
Finding time to do yoga often feels impossible. The great irony is that I’m a yoga teacher. Even someone who gets paid to move her body and talk about yoga all day is hard-pressed to unroll her mat and do a proper practice. It’s a heck of a lot easier to throw the kids in the double stroller and go out for a long walk than lock myself in a bedroom and meditate or stretch for an hour.
I live with the guilt of “missing my practice” every day, but when June 21st rolls around and the whole world starts talking about International Yoga Day—which the United Nations declared in 2014 with the hope of inspiring people to reap the many benefits of yoga—suddenly billions of people are reminded of how wonderful yoga is and just how busy they all they are.
Science bolsters these benefits: from improving mood to reducing inflammation to improving cardiovascular health. Yoga is effective in reducing the symptoms of a wide range of human experiences from menopause to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
I have some good news for you. Yoga needn’t involve squeezing yourself into tight leggings or purchasing a fancy mat. Yoga is an umbrella term for a wide range of contemplative practices, which include meditation, prayer, and even service. For this International Yoga Day, let’s broaden our understanding of what it means to do yoga, and I bet you will be surprised by how much yoga you already do.
Give Back
Karma yoga is the practice of selfless service. We can do this in a number of ways. Pick an organization to support. Yoga Gives Back is a non-profit that provides micro-financing to mothers and educational scholarships to children in India. It doesn’t even have to be a yoga-based project. You can volunteer at your kid’s school. I’d argue that parenting is the ultimate karma yoga practice!
Sing, Pray, Love
Bhakti yoga is the practice of seeing everything as a blessing and an aspect of the divine. Gratitude lists fall under this category, as do singing to a higher power, like hymns in church or prayers in synagogues and mosques. In the yoga community, we practice kirtan, a devotional call-and-response style of singing.
Listen to a Podcast
Jñāna yoga (pronounced gnee-yawn-uh) is the yoga of wisdom. It is the practice of learning and expanding our minds. Knowledge can be acquired in a variety of ways, from listening to podcasts to reading books. Even simply exploring the environment around you, like hiking uncharted territories, falls into this category of yoga.
Pay Attention
Rāja yoga (pronounced raw-guh) is the practice of meditation. Most people think meditation is about clearing your mind and emptying your thoughts, but that’s not necessarily the case. One-pointed focus and mindfulness meditation are techniques where you choose to focus wholly on one thing. That thing can be anything you choose, from a child’s smile to a candle to the sounds of the wind in the trees.
You don’t have to wait until International Yoga Day, or when you have those ever-elusive large chunks of time, to do yoga. You are practicing it every day by simply living your life. The Sanskrit word yoga translates to unite and connect. This means that anything you do with a present mind and a connected heart can be considered yoga. Even reading this essay counts!
Sarah Ezrin is a world-renowned yoga educator, content creator, mama, and the author of The Yoga of Parenting, based in San Rafael. Sarah loves guiding people along their wellness and parenthood journeys. Her words, classes, and social media are supportive, healing sources for people to feel seen and heard.