I’ve seen it time and again.

A bright-eyed, ambitious, young teacher fresh out of her yoga teacher training is ready to take on the world. She just can’t wait to start teaching and says “yes” to every opportunity that comes her way.

For a while, things are amazing. Teaching yoga fills her days, and she gets to share what she’s most passionate about with others on a daily basis.

But then things begin to shift…

Pretty soon she’s teaching 15+ classes a week and is nearing the point of burn-out. Not to mention that her personal practice is a thing of the past.

She barely has enough time for the essentials like food shopping, let alone for an indulgent 90-minute vinyasa class.

Can you relate?

This is a common occurrence for so many teachers. We take on more and more classes and more and more private clients until our schedules are bursting at the seams; leaving little to no time for family, friends and yes, yoga.

But, even busy yoga teachers need to be students once in a while. It’s essential for our sanity, creativity and to remind us why we started teaching in the first place.

If you’re ready to reclaim your personal practice and restore a little me-time to your chaotic schedule, I’ve got four tips that’ll help you do just that!

1. Build it into your schedule.

If we want our personal practice to be a priority, we have to treat it as such. Put it on the calendar just like any other important task like teaching a class, attending your child’s soccer game or going to the dentist.

2. Be okay with it looking different.

When we first fall in love with yoga, we often fall hard; attending three, five, maybe even seven classes a week! Keeping up with that is near impossible once we start teaching—and that’s okay. But, that doesn’t mean we should throw in the towel all together. Getting onto your mat for even just 15 minutes three days a week will do wonders for your energy and sanity.

3. Teaching is not the same as practicing.

Remember, teaching yoga is not the same as practicing yoga. Sure, we may move into some postures, it may feel good and it may be in a lovely “yogic” setting, but teaching is outwardly focused. Our personal practice is inwardly focused.

4. Give yourself a break.

Our yoga practice will look different at various times in our lives, so don’t stress about it. It’s totally fine if you only get to one group class a week or even a month as long as you’re supplementing in other ways with home practice or a few YogaGlo classes or DVDs here and there. Yoga is a journey and there is no one “perfect” way it should look—give your practice permission to shift and change as you do!

Love elephant and want to go steady?

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Editor: Emily Bartran

Photo: Flickr