Mat Over Mayhem: 5 Ways to Survive Maycember With Yoga

by: Kristin Cambron Steele @mindfulmotionsyoga

"Why does this year feel even crazier than usual?!"

It is the question I have been hearing from students every day — whispered after class, said with a sigh before savasana, or blurted out while rolling up a mat.

And honestly? I feel it, too. Hard.

This Maycember — that unofficial season where May carries all the chaos of December — has hit especially hard this year. More pressure. More noise. More "just get through it" energy.

So what is going on?

Why Is Maycember So Overwhelming?

May brings a unique storm:

• 🎓 School year chaos: concerts, exams, graduations, end-of-year, everything

• 📈 Work pressure: Q2 deadlines, team transitions, pre-summer push

• ✈️ Travel & family plans: logistics, hosting, emotional labor

• 🌱 The emotional weight of change: shifting seasons, routines, roles

  
  

It's the perfect cocktail for burnout — mentally, physically, emotionally. Your nervous system is on overdrive. You might feel ungrounded, reactive, or just plain exhausted.

That's where your yoga practice becomes more than just movement — it becomes medicine.

How Yoga Helps You Navigate the Swirl

Yoga gives you something hard to find this time of year: a pause button.

Here's how:

🧘‍♀️ 1. It carves out stillness.

Even a short practice offers you a chance to come out of survival mode and into presence.

Try this: Legs-Up-The-Wall (Viparita Karani) for 5–10 minutes before bed.

🔥 2. It moves stuck energy.

Feeling scattered or anxious? A mindful flow helps you release tension and reset your focus.

Studio Tip: Wednesday night Ashtanga Fusion can be a total system recalibration.

🌬️ 3. It reconnects you to your breath.

When your breath slows, your mind follows.

Pranayama (breathwork) reduces anxiety and brings clarity.

Try this: 4-count inhale, 4-count exhale — anytime, anywhere.

🤍 4. It helps you come home to yourself.

Your mat becomes your anchor — a place to listen, release, and remember what matters.

💛 5. It reminds you to prioritize you.

When things get chaotic, self-care is often the first thing to go. We skip class. We sleep less. We say yes to one more social engagment, one more call, one more obligation.

What if yoga flipped the script?

• What if — instead of dropping ourselves from the priority list — we moved ourselves to the top?

• What if we came to our mat instead of volunteering long hours out of guilt?

• What if we chose rest instead of that extra sales call?

• What if we believed that caring for ourselves first made us better for everything and everyone else?

Yoga teaches us that self-care isn’t selfish — it’s sacred.

It’s how we fill up so we can pour out with intention, not depletion.

Final Thought: Make Your Mat a Sanctuary

Let this be your reminder: you DO NOT have to do Macember perfectly. Say NO to a few things that don't "fill your bucket," and place that recovered time into your self-care bucket. All you need to do is to keep coming back — to your breath, your body, your practice.

Your mat isn't just a place for poses — it's a place to pause... which is something you'll never regret.

Namaste,

Kristin