I enjoy the people I work with so much, that sometime it is hard for me to do an at-home yoga session. I love being with my clients. I love the energy, the music, and the people I’ve come to know and chat with before and after class. But sometimes I don't have time to run to a class or work in a group.
1. Find a space in your home or apartment that you’d look forward to practicing in. Maybe it’s by a window, maybe it’s a cozy den, or maybe it’s right next to your bed so you can roll out of bed in the morning and get right to it. Having a “yoga spot” can help you get over to your mat and practice.
2. Make your space relaxing and comforting. Make your at-home yoga studio a retreat. Light a candle, dim the lights and try to make it a relaxing experience.
3. Find a yoga video you love. Everyone has a favorite teacher or teachers. If you are lucky, they’ve made a video. There are hundreds of teachers at your fingertips when you search online (Try MyYoga), so you’re likely to find one that fits your needs. Having a go-to teacher or a favorite class can be a great way to make you want to practice.
4. Memorize some of your favorite flows and start to practice on your own. Doing yoga without being led is a completely different experience than following along with an instructor. You get a better sense of how the poses feel throughout your body. You may even start to notice which transitions you enjoy and can start to build your own flow. Plus, you get to move at your own pace, which can be a real treat, especially if you want to enjoy child’s pose just a little bit longer.
5. Make it your own group. Turn your at-home yoga sessions in to your own class with friends and family. Invite the girls over!
6. Take advantage of your couch and practice inversions. A lot of people fear inversions because they fear falling and getting hurt. I’ve found that practicing in front of my couch takes away all of my fear because if I fall over, I just land on my couch. When you practice against the wall, you never really get to chance to practice balancing because if you go too far you hit the wall. Practicing in front of your couch allows you to get the sense of being in the middle of the room, without actually being in the middle of the room. (Note: if you’re new to inversions, you’ll want to practice with a teacher for your beginning attempts to avoid injury, our new yoga instructor can help!)
Like anything else, practicing at-home yoga is a habit that can be built. So roll out your mat and get your stretch on.