How to Develop Your Own At-Home Yoga Practice
Do you want to develop your own at-home yoga practice?
Taking classes at a yoga studio can be a great way to learn a yoga practice. It’s really the best way to get the details about this transformational tool called yoga. A daily yoga practice can help to keep you healthy, grounded and positive.
But once you are familiar with how to do the practice, it can be extremely empowering to develop your own at-home practice. This is really where you get to confront yourself, and learn the deeper aspects of what yoga has to offer.
Some people are not comfortable practicing with a group of people— especially on the heels of the pandemic where it's still a bit confusing in some areas. Should we practice with other people or do our yoga at home? During the pandemic, online classes became popular. But without the guidance of an online class, it is still possible to do your yoga at home.
How to Establish in Your Own Daily Yoga Practice
It can be really confusing to know where to start your own at-home yoga practice. But it's totally possible for you to start.
I recommend these three steps.
Have a Plan
That means first, slotting it into your schedule.
Do you have a place in your home that you can do it? Aometimes this can be a tricky thing. I have a little apartment where I have to practice in the foyer because it's the only place with a hard floor. It’s not ideal, but it works for now. So you have to find a place where you can do your yoga practice.
Is there a place in your do you have a community center or someplace that's with a hard floor that is comfortable enough for you to do your practice? And then find a time of day. I like to practice first thing in the morning. That doesn't work for people but, slot it into your day.
Planning also means having a structure for your practice. Are you going to do the whole primary series of postures? Are you going to spend some time doing a breathing practice practice at the beginning or at the end of your practice? Will you add meditation to the end of your practice?
Some days I will add an extra long period of either pranayama or meditation at the end of the asana (postures) practice. But it's good to have a plan when you go into your practice, rather than making it up as you go along.
If you need guidance to create that plan, check out my book, Ashtanga Yoga for Beginner's Mind.
There's tons more to say about that, but that's the simple version: create a plan, slot it in your schedule, then decide what practice you're going to do.
2. Keep It Simple
This means above all keeping your mindset simple so that you stay focused on what you're doing. You're not getting up to answer the phone, or to do the laundry or clean up something that you notice in your environment. You keep it simple in that you're just doing your practice right here, right now, and you stay focused on that.
For the duration of the practice and whether you have set a timeframe for your practice or you just have a plan for how many postures you want to do you commit to making that happen. You do this to the best of your ability because the second part of this, keeping it simple, is also to stay flexible.
I have a regular daily practice that I do, which is a simplified primary series from the Ashtanga Yoga Vinyasa tradition. But some days I show up there and I have a little more energy than I thought I did, and so I'll do a little more.
Sometimes I have a little less energy than I thought I did. At this stage of life, things happen. Maybe I rode my bike too far the day before or went hiking and their soreness and certain postures are just not really working out that day. Be flexible with yourself as far as how your practice goes. Give it your best shot, and if it doesn't work out the way you hoped, just move on.
Let go of expectations
Practice doesn't always go as we planned. Sometimes circumstances - or the body - won’t cooperate.
Maybe you have an emergency and you need to quit the practice early. Maybe you finish your practice as planned, but it just doesn't feel as good as it did the first time you tried it. Maybe you're bored, or distracted, or it just doesn't go the way you planned.
When you let go of expectations, you're essentially practicing compassion for yourself. You're can say, “Oh today's practice didn't work out exactly as I had hoped— but I did it.” That's the bonus of letting go of expectations - when you show up for yourself by doing the practice, it doesn't really matter what the outcome is.
There's something empowering about following through on your word, committing to yourself and your own wellbeing.
3. Give Thanks + Express Gratitude
At the end of your practice, you tap into compassion, a sense of kindness and peace, if you will. You experience it for yourself by not giving yourself a hard time if the practice didn't go the way we wanted, but also you can extend that compassion out to others.
You have committed to yourself and had the opportunity to experience peace and presence through doing your practice. And because. Now that you've restocked your stores of wellbeing, you can then share that with others.
So the last part of this process of developing your at-home yoga practice is to simply tap into the wish to share goodwill with others. There are many people in the world who don't have the opportunity to do a yoga practice. Maybe they don't have a home, so how can they do a yoga practice without a home? Or maybe they have chaotic home environments or are ill, or they just don't have the opportunity.
So we offer compassion to them. It's a way of giving thanks and giving back. Just think of it that way, and it's just a thought. You tap into that energy in your heart and you express it and share it with others.
May you be may your practice go well.
