Developing your own yoga practice at home can be a great step in your yoga journey.
Realising that yoga can be done anywhere and anytime can empower you and give you a newly found freedom to explore. Creating your own yoga practice can be intimidating at first, if you are used to attending classes or online yoga instructions, but establishing it will allow you to move at your own pace, listen to your body and respond to your mood and your needs. Here are a few tips to give you some confidence to get started.
1. Familiarise yourself with basic building blocks of sequencing. Although sequencing can be a tricky art, getting to know the basics will make it easier for you to start flowing through poses at home. You can follow the sample sequence below as a starting place from which you can start tailoring a practice to suit your needs. This will make it easier for you to create a routine without getting overwhelmed. You can vary poses in each category, and as you feel more comfortable, expand your asana vocabulary and play with making the sequences shorter and longer.
1. Opening poses
2. Sun Salutations
3. Standing poses
4. Inversions
5. Backbends
6. Twists
7. Forward bends
8. Closing poses
2. Start with a quiet space to bring you inwards and create stillness. This will allow you to assess your mood and your body and understand where you want to take your practice on a particular day. A short meditation, a conscious Sun Salutation or a few minutes in corpse pose will give you the clarity and focus for the rest of our practice.
3. Match the practice to your mindset. Being consistent does not mean our practice needs to be the same every day. Adjusting your routine according to how you feel will help you to keep practicing even when you feel tired or stressed. Get creative and listen to your heart. Your practice could include meditation or gentle pranayama. Choose a more restorative practice or opt for a vigorous one if you feel energised.
4. Choose the right space and the right time, where you will be away from distractions. Choose a room that will allow you to create the right environment and mindspace for your practice. It doesn’t need to be a large area, any piece of floor big enough for your mat will be enough.
5. Consistency is a crucial element – build a regular home practice. If that means taking a few sun salutations each morning, you can start there and build up over time. Let it become an essential part of your day and pay attention to how it might affect the way you feel and go about your day. Even 10-15 minutes can bring more focus and space into your day and ground you for the activities again.