Building Your Own Home Yoga Practice: Five Simple Steps to Bring Yoga to Daily Life
While building a home practice can seem intimidating, these simple steps will help you feel confident even without a yoga instructor standing there leading you through practice.
Find a quiet spot. While yoga studios are an oasis of soothing relaxation, most homes are a little less so. But you don't need you own special room to practice. A corner of the kitchen where you can roll out your mat will work, as long as kids and pets can be kept away so you aren't doing Downward-Facing Dog while the dog licks your face.
Start simple. Think about the poses you do in class. Maybe even write a few sequences down after your next class. When starting a home practice, it's fine to mimic your weekly class. The benefits of daily home practice come even when you're revisiting old favorites - creating inventive new sequences isn't necessary.
Think short. Your first home practice might only be 10 minutes a day. For example, first thing in the morning, you start in Mountain pose to find your breath. After a few rounds of Mountain-Chair flow, you start moving between Mountain and Forward Fold for a few rounds before stepping back into Down Dog to stretch out your spine. Shifting forward to Plank, then to hands and knees, you enjoy flexing and extending the spine in Cat/Cow flow. Then you push back into Child's Pose and release tension in your muscles. Daily practice can be as simple as that.
Plan ahead. It's OK to write out what poses you want to do before you start your home practice. Or if you're more of a visual person, buy a deck of yoga pose cards. You can select the ones you want, lay them down in front of your mat and follow along. Yoga instructors usually spend many years practicing and learning which poses flow well together through their own practice before they begin teaching. Just remember to fully warm up your body before trying deep stretches to allow for greater depth in the poses.
Stick with what you know. It's tempting to try out that new pose sequence in your yoga magazine. They make it look so easy, with lots of instruction. But if you're just getting started, working with a trained yoga instructor on a new pose is a much safer way to go. So if you see something you'd like to try, ask about the pose next class. Your instructor might be able to work it into a future class, or schedule some one-on-one time with you to go over the pose.
Over time, you can increase your home practice sessions and reap the full benefits of daily yoga class in your own home. Daily practice can multiply the flexibility gains from practice, as well as relax the mind. By following these basic rules, you can have a safe, effective home practice.
