Yoga Goals: 5 Tips for Tracking Yoga Progress

A lot of our yogis often ask us the best way to track their yoga progress.

This quick guide gives you 5 simple ways you can keep an eye on your yoga goals, whether that is to improve your balance, work on stretches for flexibility or strengthen your core muscles.

However, we must remember that yoga is a personal journey and each of our goals will vary from one person to the next.

There is no need to compare yourself to any other yogi and building up daily yoga practices, for whatever reason, takes time.

Though our yoga training and goals may vary, there are some simple ways that we have found that help us to monitor the success, improvement, and frequency of our yoga practices. 

MatMat has compiled a list of 5 ways that you can keep track of your yoga progress.

1. Photography. Taking pictures of yourself in a certain pose can be a great way of tracking your progress. 

 For the best yoga pictures for Instagram we recommend that you:

• Choose a neutral background so the focus is on you. 

• Mark where you have the camera.

• Mark where you are regarding the camera.

• Don’t wear baggy clothing so your pose is captured. 

• Preferably wear the same outfit in every picture. 

• Take the pictures when your body is warmed up to capture expression that is fuller (and also avoid injuries).

• Grab some inspo from the best yoga YouTube channels.

 

      2.Yoga Apps. There are plenty of yoga apps on the market that are trying to              help with yoga progression. 

 

For example, there is an app called TrackYoga which is very popular. MatMat has not tried this app and is in no way affiliated, but it has more than 500k downloads. The app offers yoga classes, guided classes, and personalized goals. TrackYoga is free to download and use.

 

If you’re looking for the best yoga apps, we already checked for you in our blog post Free Yoga Apps.

 

3. Yoga Journal. A journal dedicated to your yoga practice is a low-cost solution to monitoring your progression in yoga practices.

 

Take a few minutes after each practice to write down some thoughts about your practice and how you are feeling. Over time this will give you a great record of how your practice is deepening and affecting your physical, emotional and mental level.

 

It is easy to forget why and where you started after a while and a yoga journal serves as a fantastic reminder.

 

4. Measure Long Holds. Yes, we know, our arms start shaking in crows pose too!

 

Select a pose and have a timer ready. You can either time how long you can hold the pose in proper alignment or set a goal time (never push to the point of significant pain or injury). If you manage to hold the pose for the set time, up the time for next time. If you don’t manage to hold the pose, keep training toward this time.

 

Slipping during yoga practice? – Find out how to put an end to slipping on your yoga mat.

 

5. Measure Repetitions. Practice makes perfect and repetitions count your yoga progress.

 

Track the number of repetitions that you do through your yoga practice. You can track repetitions of a pose. For example, how many times can you flow from left side plank to right side plank, or for a flow where you track repetition till you reached your goal or maxed out.

What is the best yoga mat to do all of this? 

Well it’s ours, of course!

A little about MatMat: We are passionate about helping yoga-lovers to find the best products. If you found this article helpful, then feel free to sign up to our email list and we will let you know when new posts get released. If you love our cause, then we would be forever grateful if you’d consider buying a mat from us or if you’d like to follow us on our socials. Scroll to the bottom of the page and make sure you’re following us on Instagram and that you’ve liked our FB page. Do also feel free to contact us regarding this post, our business or anything yoga related via [email protected]. Mind, Body, Soul and the Planet - Namaste.