| Yoga classes and regular self-practice should go hand in hand. The ultimate goal is to be doing both weekly. Coming to class helps you learn new things, be aligned by the teacher, provides community, and gives inspiration. A home practice helps you cement what was learnt in class, improve at a quicker rate, and develop space for new learning to happen in your next class because you’ve digested the previous one through extra home practice. A home practice is also silent. No teacher to rely on. This is invaluable for your yoga journey, so that your practice becomes independent.
Starting a home practice can be challenging. Often one doesn’t know where to start, what poses to practice, or in what sequence to practice them in. The 3 main challenges facing home practice is: time management, distractions, and lack of knowledge of what to do. Here are some essential tips for starting or maintaining a regular home practice.
Ask: why practice yoga?
Why do you do yoga? What benefits do you feel after class? Is it strength, clarity, flexibility, stress reduction? Remind yourself of these reasons; write them down or refer this this mail when you’re uninspired.
Start small
Regularity trumps duration! A daily 10min practice seems manageable, right? 10 minutes is a great start to building confidence and routine in one’s practice. The truth is, consistency and the quality of the practice is more important than the time on the mat.
Limit distractions
Turn off your phone for those 10mins!!!!!! Laptop off, doors closed, dogs in the other room, kids at school. You’re giving yourself these 10mins, you may as well make them a quiet and calm 10mins.
Start simple
Keep your practice simple. Pick an aspect to focus on – maybe you want to work on standing poses. Pick 5 poses and practice those. Practice the same 5 poses the whole week to limit confusion and to save time on planning your practice.
Come to class!
Come to class with the intent of re-practicing what was taught that day. After finishing class, write down all you can remember from the class: poses, the sequence they were in, any specific instructions the teacher gave you, any props you were given for certain poses. Use this as your sequence for next home practice, or even for the next weeks home practice!
Get me to help you!
Bring your 10min sequence to your next class and I’ll be happy to give you a few pointers in the right direction, or help you plan your next week’s practice.
Savasana, savasana, savasana!
I’ve saved the most important point for last. DO NOT leave out savasana (the final resting pose). If you only have time for ONE pose, then practice savasana. If you are a beginner and have no clue where to start, then just practice savasana. Give yourself at least 2 mins out of a 10min practice to lie in savasana.
I hope that give you some inspiration to practice today. If you would like to receive more yoga tips and inspiration, as well as 15% off Back2Nature products, sign up to my newsletter.
Namaste,
Monique |
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