I am a huge advocate for having healthy boundaries. I grew up being a ‘yes’ person a lot and it robbed me of being present, cursed me with anxiety and, over all, stole my peace.

Underneath my need to please mentality was the need to control how people felt and thought about me. In my previous logic, if I was the ‘perfect’ person than no one would bully me, argue with me or make my life problematic. I was wrong. My previous lack of boundaries led me to be a doormat for those who saw that they could use it against me in all areas of my life: family, work and romantic partnerships.

The foundation of Yoga and this practice helped me to set boundaries because I set aside 90 minutes a day for myself, my mind and my body- to be away from anything else. I implemented yogic beliefs like surrender, meditation and acknowledging that my body is a temple into my daily life.

As I began to ground myself in my daily practice, I started to stand taller and prouder of who I was- allowing me to set clear boundaries. Suddenly, my ‘yes’ was yes and my ‘no’ was no without guilt, anger or the need to please.

Here are 9 ways to set healthy boundaries:

1. Say what you need to say with confidence.

2. Take deep breaths before and after you speak with conviction.

3. Don’t take the other person’s response to your boundary personally.

4. Start to practice forgiveness so that you can speak from a grounded place and not anger or irrationality.

5. Let go of the need to be right.

6. Let go of the need to be wrong.

7. Understand that you can’t change the past but you can create your future by clear boundaries.

8. Let go of the need of the other person to understand where you are coming from and set the boundary for you.

9. Accept that it is okay to take care of yourself and let go of any guilt attached to communicating your boundary to another.