Tips to start doing yoga at home
have been going to yoga classes for a while now, you feel confident with the names of the yoga poses (asanas), you roughly know how to do a sun salutation and you notice how your body feels different on days when you don’t go to a class. If this sounds like you then maybe you are ready to start your own practice at home.
Self practice is the natural next step for people who enjoy yoga and want to try and use is as part of a daily routine. This is the exciting phase, it is where you can experiment safely outside of the classroom, hold the poses for as long as you want, give yourself intentions and really play with the poses.
In class we can often get lost in the sound of the teacher’s voice and leave the class unaware of what we actually did, as we get caught up in the flow. As much as the teacher will advise us to take our attention deeper and go inwards we can often spend a lot of the class looking at the person next to us, to gauge if we are doing it right, then the ego come in and makes us want to work ourselves, even if our body is telling us to rest.
Yoga classes are a great environment to learn, to get safe adjustments and develop our understanding in order to build confidence. As a teacher my aim is to give people the skill and confidence to do their own practice at home, because I know this is where the real magic happens. Self practice allows you to go to a deeper level, really explore your body. You can look inwards and remove the ego, listen to your body and focus on the poses you want to achieve. There is no sequence, no teacher deciding what you need for your body.
What you need to start a home practice
A yoga mat. You may decide to just lay down a towel but I find a mat is good to set your intention and space for the hour. It is good to use a mat, for extra grip in some of the poses.
A quiet space, remove any distractions, your mobile phone. Make some space, tidy any clutter away. If you have family or housemates just ask for an hour to be left alone. Create a special place with essential oils or a candle. (personal choice)
Turn your phone off. Turn your computer off. This is your time.
What sequence do I practice? How to start your yoga practice
When I started I had no idea what to do in my own self practice. I was from an Iyengar background so there was no set yoga routine, it changed every practice.
I bought the book Iyengar holistic Health with my senior teacher’s recommendation and I would flick through the book to poses which I wanted to try. They also have suggested routines if you have any health issue or feeling headache/stress.
A little tip is to set an alarm for the length of time you want to take savasana in case you fall asleep.