How to Write About Your Yoga Practice

Yoga and journaling are powerful practices on their own. Journaling has long been used in therapeutic settings because it has been shown to help people combat depression, improve memory, manage symptoms and after-effects of trauma, and so much more.

Writing is a great way to bring perspective to your challenges, get worries out of your head, and organize your goals. Anyone can do it! And yoga…well, you know. You’ve felt it.

In addition to their unique benefits—yoga’s got your strength and flexibility, journaling helps you improve your writing and communication skills—they share some benefits, too: they both help you reduce stress, improve your awareness, and give you a space to work on your relationship with yourself.

Doing either/or is great, but imagine what could happen if you combine these practices.

Bringing Yoga and Journaling Together

Writing about your yoga practice is an invitation to learn more—to be more. Have you ever felt a deep insight or inspiration while practicing, only to realize it had dissipated by the time you gave it some reflection? Did you ever free-flow your way to an especially energizing sequence, then be unable to remember it next time you wanted to use it?

Instead of losing touch with those subtle insights, reminders, and experiences you have on the mat, write about them! Use them to enhance your practice and your life. 

Before you panic about adopting another discipline, remember: there are still no rules. Journaling, like yoga, is a form of expression, and you can do it however you’d like. But we get it—sometimes that can be overwhelming, right? Where to begin if there are no rules?

No worries. We’ve got some guidelines to get you started.

30-Day Challenge: Writing About Yoga

For the next 30 days, challenge yourself to complete a yoga practice and write about it. 

Making note of what you did is a great way to get the words flowing, but in the best of worlds, your journal is more than a play-by-play. From there, explore how you felt in certain poses or record any ideas that occurred to you. Knowing you’ll be writing about it helps bring more mindfulness and awareness to your practice.

If you’re looking for more structure, consider using these 30 post-yoga writing prompts, one for each day of your challenge:

1. Why do you practice yoga?
2. What was your favorite pose today and why?
3. What happened on the mat today that made you feel proud of yourself?
4. What did you find most challenging today?
5. What happens in the space between your inhale and exhale?
6. When do you feel connected—to yourself, to others, to the universe?
7. What does mindfulness mean to you and how can you practice it?
8. What poses make you feel grounded, and when do you feel grounded throughout your day?
9. Before your practice and after your practice: what feels different?
10. What would you like to tell your body?
11. What do you think your body would like to tell you?
12. Think about a pose you avoid: why is that?
13. What did you let go of today, or what would you like to let go of? How would it feel to let go?
14. What are you grateful for?
15. What poses make you feel strong, and when have you felt strongest in your life?
16. What surprised you about your practice today?
17. What made you curious today? What happened on the mat that you would like to explore further?
18. What is your vibe today? What kind of energy are you taking into the world with you?
19. Is there a place in your practice—and/or in your life—where you’re especially attached to a specific outcome? What would it feel like to let go of the need to experience that outcome?
20. Were you kind to yourself on the mat today? How can you be kind to yourself throughout the day?
21. What made you laugh during your practice today?
22. What are your feelings about the word “challenge”? How does it feel to challenge yourself? How do you approach challenges in life?
23. What were your thoughts like while you were on the mat today?
24. What do you remember about your very first yoga practice?
25. What does it mean to be balanced?
26. Think about your favorite teacher. What is it about that person draws you to them?
27. Write about a moment when you were fully present and immersed in the now.
28. How do you practice ahimsa (non-harming) on the mat—and in your life?
29. How do you feel after practicing a particular pranayama?
30. What have you learned or felt during this 30-day practice?

Reflecting on 30 Days of Writing About Yoga

Whether you used the prompts in your journaling or not, it’s important to reflect on this experiment. How do you feel? What did you gain from 30 days of both yoga and journaling? What has changed in these 30 days? 

Give yourself some extra time to write on the last day. Is this something you’d like to keep doing as you move forward in your practice?