Practicing yoga often is ideal but sometimes I find myself in a rut doing nearly the same thing every time. Doing what you always do in yoga renders both your physical practice and mental practice stagnant. A good way to get out of that funk is to pick a focus for your yoga practice. Spend a little extra time and energy on certain poses or themes and then focus on something different in your next practice..
Currently I've been focusing more on a couple different things. One, arm balances like the one shown above. It's called astavakrasana, or eight-angle pose and while it's not perfect (is any pose?) I am pretty proud of myself because a year ago I was still battling lyme disease and having trouble with my joints- my wrists especially. Arm balances are great to build core and upper body strength and it tests your concentration and balance as well.
Bound lotus
baddha parsvakonasana - bound side angle pose
The other aspect of my practice I've been focusing on lately is binding. Basically binding is wrapping your arms around your body in some way and grabbing on to something else. It just gets a little deeper into the pose and is great for massaging internal organs, straightening the spine, and opening the body.
I'd love to know- what have you been focusing on in your practice?