How to start a home yoga practice – for beginners

While most yoga teachers will advise you to learn the fundamentals of asana (yoga poses) in a live class before getting on the mat at home. Nothing can replace your home practice; it is the time when you can find your own rhythm. It is where the magic happens. Fighting traffic to make it to class and carving out a space for your mat amid the after-work studio crowds can sometimes be a less than Zen-like experience. So, starting a home yoga practice can ultimately save time, energy, and money. Twenty minutes of yoga at home is often more beneficial than driving, parking, and paying to practice for an hour at a studio.

There’s a lot to be said for taking yoga at a local studio. You receive personalized feedback from the instructor, you meet other yogis in your community, and you learn more about the practice from those around you. These are all important benefits, and they shouldn’t be ignored or taken lightly.
Going to classes obviously has many benefits, but I have observed many times that it is when people start to practice at home that the real progress is made.
Online yoga classes and digital downloads are bringing home more of the benefits of a live class. While an instructor isn’t physically there to observe your alignment and adjust your pose hands-on, multimedia is the next best thing.

For all its benefits, practicing at home can, of course, sometimes be more challenging than going to a studio. If finding time to squeeze your yoga practice in between work and family commitments causes you more stress than going to an external class, then that’s fine too. The key thing is that you just show up on your mat open– wherever it happens to be.

What equipment do you need:

Technically, you don’t need anything but your own body to practice yoga. One of the best things about yoga is that you don’t need much equipment. That being said, a mat and props can help make some poses more comfortable. There are a few key items that you should make sure you have in your at-home yoga space before you begin.

Yoga mat – A yoga mat is the most important piece of equipment you will need for your yoga practice. Most yoga mats are thin and have a strong grip to ensure you don’t slip or slide while practicing. When choosing your mat, opt for one that feels non-slippery and doesn’t roll up while you are practicing.

Yoga block – Yoga blocks are a very helpful tool for assisting you when doing stretching poses or where you need extra stability such as the Half Moon Pose. It can also help you reach the floor if you are not flexible enough to touch the floor in a forward fold.

Yoga strap – Like a yoga block, yoga straps can make poses more challenging once you are more advanced. It can also assist in making poses less challenging if you don’t have the ability to stretch or bend far without the assistance of a strap. You can use a yoga strap in many different ways, however it is commonly used in forward folds and other leg stretches.

How to get started:

Choose Your Space – You don’t need much space. It’s ideal to have a space that’s free of clutter, try to find a room where you won’t be disturbed during your practice. You want the space you choose to feel like it’s intended for yoga, so if you can, choose a corner or a room where you don’t do anything else. It needs to be large enough for you to lay down your mat and have freedom of movement.

Commit to a time – Make it achievable. Consider what works best for you, are you a morning person or an evening person? Could you squeeze in some yoga on your lunch break? As for the length of time to practice, go with what works best for you. The key is, it has to fit in with your life.

Avoid injury – Stay within your body’s boundaries and avoid pain, pinching and pushing. If you’re new to yoga it might be difficult to distinguish between pain and discomfort. Pain feels hot and sharp, whereas discomfort is more of a dull, nagging sensation. Stop if it’s inside the joint structure (knees, spine, hips, neck, etc.) Always warm up properly before attempting advanced poses and be especially mindful of the transitions between poses.

Plan ahead – Another advantage of doing a home yoga practice, particularly if you’re doing an online class and your time is really stretched, is you can decide which class you’re going to do the day before so there’s no decision-making when you get on your mat.

Enjoy it – When you’re starting out, practice a class or sequence that you enjoy so you’ll have an incentive to roll out your mat.

Set an intention – This simple suggestion ensures that you’ll use your time—no matter how short—constructively. Working on a specific practice or pose.

The benefits of a home yoga practice:

• There’s a huge range of teachers and classes online, plus, it’s also inexpensive.
• A home yoga practice teaches you to pay attention to your own body, without worrying what anyone else in class is doing. It encourages you to understand what you need on any given day and practice in a way that supports you physically,
• But if you don’t live near a studio, or you’re the on-the-go type who struggles to make time for a regular class, doing yoga at home can help you fit the practice seamlessly into your life.
• The more you practice, the better you’ll get at assessing how you feel, so when you first come to the mat, you can choose a practice that counterbalances whatever’s going on—mentally and physically.
• Make it as challenging or as relaxing as you’d like. You can choose the style of yoga that you do — whether that’s a super challenging strength class or a relaxing, slow flow. 

Sun salutations are a time-efficient way of practicing yoga because they thread together poses that involve different parts of the body. Sun salutes are also commonly practiced as a warm-up, followed by standing poses such as Warrior I, II and II — and ending with forward bends, twists and restorative poses.

How to stay motivated to do keep doing yoga regularly:

The logistics of setting up your home yoga space are simple. The hardest part for most people is simply finding the motivation – we can help with that too.

• Setting up a home yoga practice is only half the battle — now you must roll out your mat and do it.
• The second piece of advice is to sit down with your weekly calendar and begin to cross out any activity that is not serving you anymore.
• Practice with a member of your family or a friend. Being held accountable by others can get you to the mat when you are feeling lazy.

How to design a home yoga practice:

Establishing an independent home practice is a rite of passage for yoga practitioners. It’s the point at which you really learn to move at your own pace, listen and respond to your body, and develop greater consistency and frequency in your yoga practice.

While practicing yoga at home sounds easy enough in theory, even experienced practitioners can be uncertain about which poses to choose and how to put them together.

These tips can help you chart a course for your home practice. They also provide the means to keep your practice fresh.

• Choose poses you love – There’s a common perception that you should use a home practice to work on the poses that truly challenge you. If you want to build a consistent home practice, it must be fun. Start by choosing four or five poses that feel great, so you’ll feel compelled, rather than obligated, to roll out your mat.
• Pay attention in class – You could start taking mental notes in class and take what you’ve learned to your home practice.
• When to practice – To build a consistent home practice, you need to carve out a space for it— but the biggest challenge is finding the time.
• Start small – Instead of making a huge time commitment right off the bat, start by making small, sustainable commitments. You can also start by committing to practicing just one pose and let things grow organically from there. Let your body tell you how much it wants to move.
• Check in on your alignment as you go – If you’re new to yoga or new to practicing on your own, it’s a good idea to make sure you’re getting into positions that are safe. Don’t be afraid to rewind or pause an online class so you can take a second look at what your teacher is doing. If you’re flowing on your own without an online class, cross-reference your postures. If you want to watch your practice in action, you can practice in front of a mirror or record a video phone or camera. It’s an excellent tool for checking alignment. This is how I’ve refined my own postural alignment for years.

The only thing left to do is get started. But remember, as with everything, there’s a learning curve. Be gentle with yourself and accept where you are every step of the way. It’s a practice, so it builds upon itself. Your mind and your body are united as you flow through the poses. Connect with your breath and experience the incredible realm of yoga.