How to Create a Spiritual Yoga Practice That Aligns Mind, Body, and Spirit
Hi fam! Have you been longing to bring more depth, connection, and magick into your yoga practice? Do you crave a sense of inner peace and a deeper connection to your highest potential without having to be advanced in your physical yoga ? If so, welcome to the world of spiritual yoga—a sacred, intentional fusion of mindful movements and Spirit-led rituals that nurture your inner self.
This guide explores how to create and sustain a practice that resonates with your personal spiritual path. Whether you're a beginner yogi, a seeker of mindfulness, or a witch looking to incorporate yoga into your magickal practice, this blog will be your guide.
Together, we’ll explore setting intentions, incorporating chanting, and practicing yoga off the mat. Plus, you'll find five powerful ways to keep up your spiritual yoga practice daily and become a fellow yoga witch.
Sounds like a deep-breathing, heart-opening, om-azing vibe? Stick with me—I’ve got you! Today's blog post is going to deep dive into some of the core components of building a customized spiritual yoga practice.
BTW-- I'm just a white girl who has found that yoga brought me closer to myself, my body, and Divinity. These are some of the things that have helped me show up as the best version of myself, and cultivate a spiritual practice. I encourage you to seek out your local temples for a more profound understanding of this practice.
What is a Spiritual Yoga Practice?
Spiritual yoga is about so much more than just physical exercise. Although
asanas (yoga postures) and breath control (pranayama) are incredible for your entire body, the practice truly shines when it becomes a tool for spiritual growth and self-realization.
At its core, your spiritual practice should intertwine movement, breath, and intention to spark a deeper connection between your physical self and your higher self, or Spirit. It’s about moving beyond the material world and exploring your divine essence—your inner consciousness.
This type of yoga isn't about getting hot and sweaty in a 105 degree room, but rather focuses on more than balancing your physical movements; it invites you to balance your emotions, mind, and Spirit. Through synchronizing body, breath, and higher power, you can reduce stress, increase compassion, and explore your spiritual path with reverence.
Now, with that said, many of these concepts and and will be practiced on or off the mat. Many times I've used my one hour yoga flow to process some really deep and heavy stuff, and by focusing on breath to movement I'm able to release a lot of "the heavy" and return to the present moment. But also, sometimes we aren't afforded the time to practice yoga for hours on end. Please know that the concepts I'll be discussing can and should n be practiced off the mat as well for a fully balanced and integrative practice.
Setting Intentions for Your Spiritual Practice
Setting intentions is like planting seeds for growth in your life. When developing this practice, setting intentions can be as simple as visualizing a positive outcome for your day or a deeper connection with yourself and the universe. Even if you woke up on the wrong side of the bed, setting an intention that the outcome will be different is the magick that cultivates a great spiritual practice.
By setting an intention, you are directing your thoughts and energy towards something specific, which can help manifest it into reality. Remember what I said about waking up on the wrong side of the bed? It's up to you to decide how you want the rest of your day to go. Taking active steps towards changing your energy, your vibe (and truly believing your day will get better) is what's going to propel you in your mental health and spiritual journey.
So, take a moment before your practice to set an intention and see how it transforms your yoga experience, and allow yourself to be immersed in something different.
Practicing Gratitude...It really Works!
Don't hate me, I know this one is this one is a bit cliche, but practicing gratitude truly is a powerful practice that can bring us closer to our spiritual selves as it raises our energy and vibration. When we cultivate gratitude in our lives, we shift our focus from what we lack to all the blessings and abundance around us.
It's important to note that its not about being grateful for the big extravagant things like health and wealth, but even being grateful for getting a good parking spot or catching all the lights at work. I find that saying it out loud is where the magick really happens. Build that energy by using some enthusiasm
and saying it outloud. Somedays it's quite easier than others but if you want to change the energy for the day (and ultimately your life) you have to actually try.
On the yoga mat, this can be done through practicing mindful breathing while reciting things we are grateful for or simply taking a moment after our practice to reflect on what lessons we are grateful for and what we appreciate about our body and mind. Gratitude is a wonderful way to shift our perspective and bring more positivity into our lives.
Gratitude isn't just about being grateful for the things that are going well, but also being grateful for the challenges and adversity we are facing and the strength we are being offered Yes, I said what I said. It's about finding the silver lining and embracing the challenges as opportunities for growth. By practicing gratitude, we can cultivate a mindset of abundance and see all experiences as valuable lessons on our journey towards self-discovery.
Sometimes yes, we must elevate ourselves by giving live a metaphorical flip of the middle finger by choosing to be resilient, rather than being weak and falling into the pattern of embracing the victim mentality. This isn't to say that life doesn't absolutely suck at times, but, especially we are angry, sad, or being handed some really shitty cards in life we must always continue to practice gratitude.
Trust me, if we don't acknowledge our blessings, Spirit will remind us that it can always get worse, so count your blessings!
Self-Reflection
Yoga is not just about physical movement, it's also about going inward and connecting with our true selves. Taking moments for self-reflection during our practice allows us to check in with ourselves and see how we are truly feeling physically, mentally, and emotionally. This can help us identify areas that need more attention or areas where we need to let go and surrender, because we often times all we can do is surrender to Divinity so it's better to let go than to hold on too tight.
Self-reflection can also help us gain a better understanding of our thoughts, emotions, and patterns, allowing us to cultivate self-awareness and make positive changes in our lives. As we continue our yoga journey, it's important to incorporate moments of self-reflection into our practice for overall growth and well-being.
I have some great posts on shadow work so I won't go into too much detail, but if you're unfamiliar with the concept, it's basically looking into concepts within ourselves that we tend to hide from ourselves, our shadows. This is a great tool in the healing journey but also building self-awareness so we can connect to our highest selves. By aknowledging our darkness we can learn to free ourselves of the toxicity that is associated with those wounds and make room to attract greater and better.
Connecting with Your Higher Power
Yoga is a spiritual practice that invites us to connect with something greater than ourselves, whether it be the universe, nature, or a higher power. This connection can bring us a sense of peace, purpose, and belonging. You can deepen this connection through incorporating prayers or mantras into your practice or simply visualizing yourself surrounded by loving energy as you move through your poses.
Often times during a yoga practice where I have a really hard time connecting with Divinity, I will give this divine energy a specific color, and visualize a tether from the heavens connecting to every essence of my being forming a protective orb around me. This visualization works great when I have a hard time grounding and feeling overencumbered with what's going on in life.
If you work with a specific higher power, feel free to call them into your practice just by simply aknolwedging them and asking for their guidance or reciting their prayer. I could do a whole post about calling in various deities and creating a very interpersonal yoga flow. But, for now, just consider the act of calling in your higher power to your practice for an hour.
If you're struggling with something, ask them for gudiance at the begining of your practice. Allow each breath and movement to be in flow with your patron deity and if you get off course, just redirect your energy by simply recofusing or chanting. The longer we're able to sustain a direct connection with divinity, the more divinity will effortlessly guide us throughout our lives.
The important thing is to find what resonates with you and incorporate it into your yoga routine.
Practicing Yoga for Spiritual Growth
Now that we’ve established what makes practicing yoga special, how can you incorporate it into your life? While a traditional yoga class focuses on physical postures and fitness, a spiritual practice weaves in mindful rituals and practices. Here’s how you can create your own spiritual yoga practice:
1. Set Intentions for Your Practice
The practice of yoga takes on transformational power when guided by intention. Before stepping onto your mat, ask yourself what you hope to cultivate—inner peace, clarity, or perhaps self-discipline? Hold that intention in your heart as you move through each posture or breath.
I also encourage you to set an intention for someone else. Often ties we get so caught up in ourselves, our problems that we get lost in our ego and disconnected from society. Setting an entire yoga practice to someone in need of good and healing energy is a great way to expand your consciousness to others and stay connected to divnity.
2. Explore Chanting and Mantras
If you’ve attended many yoga classes, you may have heard the class begin or end with sacred chants. Chanting isn’t just about singing words—it’s about invoking energy, Spirit, and connection. Typically you want to do a mantra 3, 11, or even 108 times, but ultimately do what calls to you.
The secret sauce is working with mantras is not reciting them robotically, but playing with the inflection, tone and intensity of your mantra, as if you are dancing with the words. This creates a personal connection with the words vibrating throughout you and really builds an incredible energy. Below are some mantras I work with:
“Om Gam Ganapataye Namaha”
This one’s all about invoking the energy of Ganesha, the remover of obstacles. Think of it as a spiritual bulldozer for those days when life feels like it’s throwing roadblocks your way, helping you push through challenges with a little extra determination.
“Om Namah Shivaya”
This chant translates to “I bow to Shiva,” honoring inner self and divine energy to align your Spirit with your practice and connecting with the spirit of Shiva, Hindu deity known as the destroyer of evil, the master of time, patron of many yogis.
"Om Shanti Shanti Shanti”
This one’s all about peace—peace within yourself, peace in your surroundings, and peace in the world. It's super simple and soothing, like a deep breath for your soul. Whether you do it 108 times or
Chanting mantras like “Om” or hymns from the Bhagavad Gita can elevate your experience of yoga into a deeply spiritual one. Experiment with these or create your own chants that reflect your spiritual values.
3. Take Yoga Off the Mat
As we know, yoga isn’t just physical postures, and it’s a way of life and an ongoing spiritual discipline. I've mentioned a few concepts like gratitude and self reflection for off-the-mat yoga, but it's such a small starting point. To really understand the concept of yoga as I way of life, I would highly reccomend checking out the Yoga Sutras of Pantajali which is ancient text of 195 sutras—basically bite-sized tips for leveling up spiritually while keeping it real in the chaos of everyday life. It makes for a great audiobook!
The Yoga Sutras teach us to practice non-attachment (vairagya), compassion, and self-discipline beyond our mats. Find ways to make every moment of life apart of your regular yoga practice—whether that’s being kinder to yourself, practicing non-attachment to outcomes, or meditating to reduce stress.
4. Include Meditation and Breath work
Breathing exercises (pranayama) and meditation are powerful tools to connect to your higher self and create presence. Conscious breathing brings awareness to your physical body while quieting your mental chatter.
Meditate after your physical movements to reflect on your practice and tune into Spirit. A simple breath exercise to try? Box Breathing, is an excellent way to calm your thoughts and recenter.
Psst- Check out my whole breath work series on my youtube channel for easy breath work techniques to help you chill out.
5. Recognize and Honor Your Spiritual Journey
Your spiritual yoga practice is unique and sacred to you. Trust the process and celebrate small milestones. In fact, sometimes my best yoga practices are when I take a step back in my physical practice in order to build strength. At the sake of being super cheesy it really is about the journey and how you get there, and not just the destination.
Just like with spirituality, it's not about jumping ahead by by Yoga isn’t about achieving perfect balance or enlightenment overnight; it’s about growth, presence, and connection—one breath at a time.
5 Ways to Keep Up a Spiritual Yoga Practice Daily
Spiritual discipline requires consistency. Here are five ways to keep showing up for your practice, day after day.
Create a Yoga Altar (And use it!)
Set up a space dedicated to your practice. Include items that inspire your Spirit—crystals, candles, or meaningful symbols. I've got tons of resources on creating an altar all over my blog and how I journey with my altar through meditation and sitting still with it.
Touch it, change it up seasonally, meditate in front of it, light a candle and connect with your sacred space. This is a huge component of maintaining that connection with Divinity. I love working with my altar and aside from actually practicing yoga flows this is probably my number 1 tip towards building a spiritual connection.... work with your altar often!
Journal...Everything
Keep a yoga journal to reflect on your growth and spiritual experiences. Write down your mantras, intentions, and any insights from your practice. You can also use journaling as a form of meditation by focusing on your breathing while writing. Not sure what to journal? Try PIES by journaling where you are Physically, Intellectually, Emotionally and Spiritually.
Attend a Yoga Retreat or Workshop
My journey of spiritual enlightenment began the first time I went to a yoga retreat and my life has never been the same since. Take time to immerse yourself in your spiritual yoga practice by attending a retreat or workshop led by experienced teachers.
This will allow you to deepen your understanding and connection to the practice, while also rejuvenating your mind, body, and spirit while connecting with others who are on the same path!. Be sure to subscribe to my blog for upcoming witchy yoga retreats and drop a comment if you'd like to go to one!
Align with the Moon Phases
Use the cycles of the moon to guide your practice. For example, practice grounding asanas during the new moon or expansive postures during the full moon. This is where yoga meets witchcraft, and the journey of the yoga witch, begins. :) It's probably my favorite part of my spiritual practice because you learn how to effortlessly flow through life.
Join a Community
Many yoga classes offer a spiritual or mindfulness focus. Finding a class or an online group of like-minded souls can help you stay committed and share gems of inspiration with other yogis. Nothing beats dynamic discussions on spirituality, and getting together under a full moon and manifesting our dreams together.
Want to be apart of a community? Subscribe to my blog and Youtube so we can grow a wonderful community together.
Final Thoughts
Incorporating spiritual practices into yoga is what really makes yoga worth practicing. The journey of self awareness and self discovery in order to cultivate an enjoyable way of living all starts with one big, slow mindful breath.
Practice daily, practice gratitude, and challenge yourself to grow into a version of yourself you never thought possible. If you'd like to learn more about the witchy side of yoga and how merge yoga and witchcraft for my spiritual practice, check out this blog post for further resources. Until text time. Namaste.
FAQs About Spiritual Yoga
What is the most spiritual form of yoga?
Kundalini Yoga is often considered one of the most spiritual forms of yoga. It incorporates chanting, breath control, and meditation to awaken the energy at the base of the spine and connect you with your higher self.
Is Yoga Teacher Training Necessary for Spiritual Development?
It depends on your personal goals and intentions. While teacher training can deepen your understanding of yoga and spirituality, it is not necessary for spiritual development. However, you will learn concepts such as the Yoga Sutras, the 8 limbs of yoga, among other yoga philosophies.
How Do I Incorporate Witchy Elements into My Yoga Routine?
You can use tarot or oracle cards to set intentions before your practice, meditate with a favorite crystal, or even recite a spell or affirmation during your flow. Aligning your poses with the elements—earth, water, fire, and air—can bring a whole new magick to your mat. Be sure to subscribe to my blog and youtube channel for more yoga witch tips and witchy yoga flows. xox
Comments