You can experience the benefits of yoga rather quickly. In fact, you might even feel a difference after just one class, according to Byrdie.com. That explains why so many people stick with it for so long.

Whether you’re a life-long yogi or new to practicing yoga, you may have experienced some trouble, or maybe hit a plateau in progress. But there’s no reason to stop when there are so many things you can use to press on. Try incorporating these tricks, tech and tools into your practice to continue down the path toward your yoga goals.

Shape Your Future By Setting Goals

The first step toward progress is determining goals for yourself and your practice. Meet one goal and then the next and before you know it, you’ll be much farther along than you had originally hoped. Don’t start off with the ultimate goal of yoga either, which according to EvenMoreAboutYoga is attaining inner peace and “spiritual insight.” Instead, start off with small goals and work your way up. Use the tools around you to help meet these goals, too. For example, if you set a goal to practice yoga every day for a month, download a mobile app like Daily Yoga to keep track of your sessions and gain access to hundreds of programs for your level of difficulty.

With apps at your fingertips, you can practice at home, on vacation, anywhere. Your phone can easily become a yoga hotspot, but you need to make sure your data plan can support your habit. If your current plan has expired and your device is lagging, look for a new provider with offers that can also help you find the latest model phone with more storage and an unlimited data plan. That extra storage and extra data can open up a whole new world for yoga on the go.

Assess Your Progress & Yours Alone

There’s nothing further from inner peace than focusing on external stimuli, like your classmates and their progress. Comparing yourself to others will distract you from your goal and incite negativity from within that will eventually spill out into the world. It takes work, but you can stop comparing your progress, body and life to others.

To really focus on your asanas, reduce distractions by investing in good, quality yoga equipment. If your clothing or equipment is worn out, replace them. A firm mat provides grip and support that’s necessary with many poses. Your mat should be a special place, where you can disconnect from the outer world on a fundamental level.

Stop Zoning Out

Meditation and zoning out are two completely different experiences. When you meditate, you’re able to still take in the things happening around you but without judgment. Zoning out takes you away from what’s happening.

Both are good for different reasons, but you should aim to meditate when you have periods of time that you can dedicate to it. If you have difficulty with meditating, employ guided meditations from YouTube or look to apps for help.

Also, look into streaming music that’s been made for the purpose of meditation right from your new phone. Use the timer widget available on all smartphones to keep track of the time you devote to meditating, and write the results in your notes to read later on. You’ll want to see how far you’ve come in your yoga journey, and your phone can be the hub of all yoga in your life. By incorporating different tools and methods into your workout, you can keep it feeling fresh and stay motivated at the same time.

Image courtesy of Pixabay.