During the first week in January, I participated in an Instagram yoga challenge on self-care, and why yoga is sacred to our self-care.

It got me thinking. Yoga is so, so important for self-care in my life. My mat is my place where I can laugh, cry, examine my life, and contemplate some of life’s biggest puzzles (on a personal level, of course). Its the place that I go to for clarity, to find comfort (both physically and mentally), and find inner peace. But as yoga teachers, sometimes we lose that side of yoga.

As yoga teachers, we give to our students. We guide them to a place of kindness, love and security, and sometimes our own personal self-care gets lost in the weeds.

Self-care is no less important for us as teachers than it is to our students, though. In fact, it is key to being a successful yoga teacher, as well as to running a successful business.

So how do we make sure that it is a priority in our busy teaching lives?

Here are 5 things I do to ensure that self-care is a daily part of my life:

1. Set clear boundaries

I’ve always been a believer in work-life balance, and when I worked in the corporate world, I made sure that I kept that balance on a day-to-day basis. Since transitioning into self-employment, the lines are much blurrier. I do the things I love and I love the things I do, and often times, I forget that I still need “work”-life balance. My work has blended so far into my life, and my life into my work, that sometimes it is hard for me to draw clear boundaries on what is work and what is life.

It’s important to create clear boundaries though; with your students, other yoga teachers, your clients, your family, your partner and yourself.

How do you do this?

Set guidelines for yourself. One of mine is no cell phones while I’m out with friends or with my family. It’s appalling to me when my parents accuse me of being a millennial with my face glued to my phone, yet my phone is on silent in my bag 25 feet from the table, while theirs are face up, making audible sounds while we are eating. Nuh-uh.

My phone is one of my biggest distractions, and I don’t get the downtime + connection that I crave with my friends + family when I’m on my phone, so unless there is an emergency, I put it away.

On the flip side, when it’s time to work, those boundaries are also set, and I don’t let distractions come in the other direction from my personal life. This is key to finding that balance.

Look at your daily life and determine where the lines are blurry between work and personal life, and see if you can set some clear boundaries for yourself and the people in your life. At the end of the day, this will help you to feel much happier as a whole.

And, we all know that when we are happy, our businesses thrive!

2. Take time just for you every single day

“Me” time is key for self-care. This is time away from your phone, and anyone else in your life. It’s time spent by yourself doing something that you love. Something that relaxes you, invigorates you, and ultimately, recharges you.

My favorite “me” time activities are long walks in nature, solo coffee dates, solo gym dates with really loud music, reading, journaling, napping, and taking baths.

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by everything that I have on my plate and everything that I’m not doing; but, I’ve learned that the best way to tackle that endless list of to-do items is to put it aside for 20 minutes or so and to take time to recharge my batteries.

One of my favorite moments during my first few months as an entrepreneur was when I took a break to take a bath at 2pm in the afternoon on a Tuesday. I was exhausted from teaching early in the morning, I had already practiced, cooked a nutritious lunch, and worked for 3ish hours. I was ready for a break, so I took it. At first, it felt wrong, and as if I was doing something bad. I went to public school, followed by university, followed by corporate life. In that world, one does not bathe at 2pm. I’ve ditched so many conventional norms in my life, so I figured I mine as well ditch this one too, and it was certainly worth it. I was in the bath for about 30 minutes, and when I got out, I worked for nearly 4 more hours before my partner got home.

Taking time for yourself is seriously the key to productivity.

3. Don’t ditch your practice

Sometimes the last thing you want to do after a long day of teaching is practice. This has been one of my biggest struggles as a yoga teacher, and something that I still struggle with occasionally.

My rule of thumb is unroll your mat, set a timer for 15 minutes, and have 0 expectations for what will show up when you step on the mat. Sometimes after a long day of teaching, I find myself sitting in childs pose for the entire 15 minutes, or rolling around on my back in some form of happy baby, lost deep in thought.

At first, I thought I was failing.

What type of yoga teacher just lies around during their self-practice? I should be practicing handstand or something more challenging.

How about the kind that is honoring their body and what they need in that moment?

Sometimes showing up with absolutely no expectations is exactly what you need to do. We’ve put confines and rules around what our self-practice needs to look like, when in reality it doesn’t need to look like anything. It is ours for a reason.

It’s truly surprised me how much of a mental difference it can make to self-practice for just 15 minutes, even if it is spent entirely in childs pose. It’s like a switch between feeling guilty for not practicing, and knowing that I got on the mat even though I was tired as hell.

Your practice is so important if you want to succeed as a yoga teacher, so show up without expectations everyday and just see what happens without judgement.

4. Get outside

Nature is magic. It’s calming, meditative + healing, and I can’t emphasize this enough. If you want to take care of yourself, spend time in nature at least once a week. Ideally though, get outside everyday.

I grew up in the freezing tundra of Alberta, Canada so the concept of getting outside everyday can almost be laughable during the coldest, darkest days of the year. But even during the coldest day, 5 minutes in nature can make all the different to my mental space.

There truly is nothing like a breath of fresh air.

5. Treat yo’ self

For some of us, this may be challenging to do everyday, but I would encourage you to treat yourself at least a few times a week.

This doesn’t need to be cake or pizza or a big night out with friends or a weekend getaway (although it can be those things if you want); it can be as simple as something more than you’re regular dark roast coffee. Or, even as simple as turning your phone and computer off for a couple of hours and completely disconnecting.

Maybe you go for the massage you’ve been craving, or get a pedicure. Maybe it’s date night at your favorite restaurant.

The point is that we work hard as yoga teachers, and sometimes it can feel like the hard work goes unnoticed. In reality, it’s no one’s responsibility to acknowledge the work that you do – it’s yours and yours alone. So take on that responsibility and treat yourself to something nice.

Financially, this can be a tough part of self-care, and it’s something that I’ve struggled with. Sure, I’m sore from teaching and practicing constantly, and I would LOVE a massage, but I don’t have extra cash for a massage. It would make me more stressed out to spend the money than to just not get it.

So, I’ve learned to treat myself on a smaller scale. Buying myself a kombucha after a long day, or treating myself to my favorite organic dark chocolate bar, or Whole Foods’ totally unreasonably priced, but oh so good guacamole. Or, sometimes I take an afternoon nap, because that, in and of itself, is one of life’s greatest treasures.

Regardless of how much money you can spend or how much time you can take away from work, find a way to treat yourself for the work that you put in as a yoga teacher everyday.

And at the end of it all, you will find yourself more fulfilled, fresh and ready to serve your community!

How do you take care of yourself? Send me an email and let me now your favorite way to take care of yourself!