Firstly I'd just like to say I have nothing against going to in person yoga classes, they can provide a great sense of community and belonging. However I found my own practice deepened so much more through my home practice so I'm going to share with you some of the benefits and tips to help get you started with your own home practice.
Benefits
🧘🏼♀️ Saves valuable time
Don't underestimate the amount of time you would save by not having to get yourself ready and travel to a yoga class, not to mention the additional cost of travel.
Your time is precious, if you go to an hours yoga class how much time is that actually costing you?
🧘🏼♀️ Wear what you want
This sounds so superficial but I'm sure we have all been there wasting time deciding what to wear to a yoga class and even needlessly spending money on items specifically to wear to yoga.
When you practice at home you can wear whatever you want. I can hand on heart say I do at least 80% of my Yoga practices in my pyjamas.
If you're doing a live zoom class you can always turn your camera off if you're feeling self concious.
🧘🏼♀️ Time
How much time do you really have? Have you had to compromise elsewhere in your life to go to a class?
I firmly believe that finding 10 - 15 minutes a day to practice is far more beneficial than attending a 1 hour class every week. Consistency is key to seeing any kind of progress whether that's physically, mentally or emotionally ( yoga has your back with all these things ) .
🧘🏼♀️ Consistency
I'll expand on my previous comments by saying that if you can practice at a time that suits you, for a length of time that suits you then you are far more likely to be consistent and reap all the amazing benefits yoga has to gift you.
With a home practice it may be more difficult to remove yourself from any home commitments ie. Kids, pets, partners, chores but you can absolutely tell your family when you intend to practice and that you do not wish to be disturbed during that time but you are available before and after that time - set a boundary for your practice.
I'm a single parent myself so I know how challenging it can be especially when children are younger and require more attention or supervision and equally when we have others to care for.
One option is to get them involved, let them practice with you, I can't begin to tell you how many times I've been climbed on to in tabletop or downward facing dog !
A big part of yoga is acceptance and you'll soon find you appreciate your time on your mat whether it's alone undisturbed or interrupted by your toddler wanting a horsey ride. Yoga builds resilience, patience, kindness and acceptance in equal measure.
🧘🏼♀️ The world is your oyster
Quite literally when you cultivate a home practice the world is your oyster. You can access classes from around the globe whether that's live via Zoom or pre-recorded on YouTube.
You can explore the many wonderful teachers out there and find a good fit for you. Some teachers offer recorded content, some live, some offer memberships ( which I'm a huge fan of as they offer so much value), some have online communities. There really is something for everyone.
I regularly attend classes on Zoom with some of my favourite teachers from around the world and when the time zone doesn't work out well I do the recordings instead. If I just stuck with attending local classes I would be missing out on all the amazing classes that actually resonate with me and are the style of yoga I need, nobody local offers this.
Creating your space
🧘🏼♀️ Where?
If you are lucky enough to have a spare room available you might consider using this as your practice space, I do not but I have two spaces in my home where I practice.
My first space is in the living room which I only really tend to use early in the morning before my daughter gets up. The second is at the foot of my bed, it's not as spacious but I have learned to work with the space and its MY space. I keep my mat there permanently only lifting it to hoover and I find this is what keeps me consistent. I very often go into my room to get something and end up on my mat for 5 minutes 😂 .
Having my mat rolled out and ready in a place I will see it often is like an invitation to practice, my mat calls to me.
🧘🏼♀️ What do you need?
All you really need is a mat or non slip flooring that's gentle on your joints.
You don't have to invest in yoga props ie. bricks, blocks, bolsters although it's great if you have these. I'm a big fan of using what you have so that could be cushions or pillows in place of a bolster, towels or blankets to sit up on or keep you warm in Savasana, large books for bricks etc use your imagination.
🧘🏼♀️ Make the space your own
There's many ways you can do this. Consider having a declutter of the space to minimise distractions.
Add things to your space which you find beneficial to YOU. You might light candles, burn incense, surround yourself with crystals, images etc.
Keep your props close by for ease.
Make some music playlists to listen to whilst you practice.
Just explore your practice in new ways, experiment until you find the perfect blend for you.
If you don't enjoy an experience try not to be negative about it, it may be that wasn't what you needed at that time but on another day it could be a whole different story.
You could use your space to meditate or journal, write about your practice and how it made you feel, what you enjoyed or benefited from, what wasn't as enjoyable for you.
I hope this was helpful and I'd really love to hear your experiences or tips so please leave a comment and let's share the love for a home practice ❤️
Caroline X
Thank you Caroline, that was really interesting. L