You’ve followed them on Facebook. You might even take their classes in person once in awhile if they travel to or live in your city. But how well do you know our YogaGlo teachers? We’ve created a new series, Ask a Yogi, so you can learn more about them by asking questions you’ve always wanted to ask.
From favorite poses and tips for beginners to deeper questions about how their practice has changed their worldview, our teachers will collectively answer a new question each week. If you have a questions that you’d like to “Ask a Yogi”, let us know in the comments or email us at hello@yogaglo.com and we’ll add your question to the list. Today’s Ask a Yogi question is:
What are your tips for establishing a home yoga practice?
- Elena Brower: Make a promise to yourself to do a few minutes each day, and KEEP IT. Must. Stay. Connected.
- Kathryn Budig: Find a space (if possible) that is ONLY dedicated to yoga. It’s difficult to focus, so if you have a room or space that is dedicated it’s easier to focus your energy. Remember that even 5 minutes is better than none and to not judge yourself. Somedays you’ll be on fire and others unable to move. It’s all good.
- Tiffany Cruikshank: Set realistic goals and stick to them then build slowly over time. I love the new features to schedule & track practices on YogaGlo, its a great way to stick to your goals and the great thing about YogaGlo is that you can pick any length that works for your schedule. The hard part with a home practice is not getting distracted by the things around you. I like to just pretend I’m in a class and its not an option to get up and do something, its my own little sacred space.
- Steven Espinosa: Start in increments. Often we think “I have to do a full practice everyday or else I’m not being dedicated!” I say, build it up slowly. Start by doing 10 or 15 minutes, once or twice a week. Then 15-30, two or three times a week. Soon your body will begin to respond naturally and want to do it more and more. Why? Because yoga feels good!
- Marc Holzman: 1) Your yoga space at home should be clear/clean/energetically light/sacred. If not, you’ll always avoid practicing there. Would you want to practice in a dirty studio with dust bunnies sliding up your nose? Home practice already requires discipline. 2) Don’t fight the space. Practice in the same spot regularly. The area that you carve out will start building a certain Shakti (energy) that will support you. 3) Make yourself work on poses you don’t like or find challenging. Know what you want to do before hand and write it down. Otherwise you will waste too much precious time in a place of indecision. With a set plan, there is always room to improvise and play. 4) Don’t skip savasana just because you are home! 5) Log on to YogaGlo.
- Amy Ippoliti: Create a warm spot in your home where you can practice. Keep a mat out if possible to entice you to practice. Use music to help motivate and keep you on the mat longer. Put your cell phone in airplane mode and leave it in another room. Commit to “the 10 Minute Gift”. By starting with a small, measurable goal, you’ll more easily attain it and likely practice longer. If you are not sure what order to do the poses, seek out workshops that focus on sequencing
- Tara Judelle: Schedule a time to practice, and stick to it like anything else in your routine. Listen to your body. Come up with a strategy for practice before laying down the mat, (IE, today I will focus on backbends, today I will see where the flow takes me. Stay on the mat for the length of time you scheduled). Give yourself a monthly focus (ie – this month I will work on Handstand). Invite people to practice with you.
- Christina Sell: 1) Be very clear about your motives. So many people struggle to establish a home practice because while they think they “should” practice at home, they actually prefer going to class or taking classes online. Doing yoga alone at home because you feel you “should” do it is not as motivating as establishing a personal practice for reasons you really care about. 2) Define for yourself what your home practice will be for 30 days. Be specific so you know you did your practice and/or know you did not do your practice. For instance, a specific statement of intention might be: “For the month of December I will take one 60-minute class on YogaGlo, one 90-minute class and one 30-minute class each week. Two times a week I will practice on my own for 15 minutes.” You can even make a chart to check off your progress each week. And remember to reward yourself when you meet your goal! 3) Do something, no matter how small AND give yourself credit for it. I always say that the 10 minutes of asana you do is better than the 2 hours you do not do. Yogis often suffer from minimizing their efforts and from “not-good-enough” syndrome. Remember: Any practice you do is better than none. 4) Invest in a timer. I use the Yogatimer app on my iphone. You can set a goal to practice for 15 minutes, set the timer and do poses until the time goes off. Or, use the repeat function to time your postures so you know how long to hold them. Start with 30-second timings and work up to 1-minute timings. 5) Make it fun. Personal practice is just that- personal. There is no yoga police and there is no wrong way to practice. If you like to play music, play music. If you love silence, stay quiet. If you like being upside down, work on inversions. The practice you will do the most is the one you enjoy the most so make sure you get yourself started with things you actually like doing.
- Stephanie Snyder: This is a question that comes up in teacher training often.The most complicated thing about a home practice is just getting on the mat. Roll out your mat and sit on it- the rest will come, you need no plan, no special outfit, no particular circumstance- you just need a mat and your butt sitting on it. In addition to the elegant get-your-butt-on-the-mat approach, it is helpful to have a “go-to” pose. This is one pose that you really like and is easy to flop into. For me its pigeon or straddle forward fold. Choose a pose that seems easy and feels good. Usually if you can get into that pose and hang out in it for awhile then the chances are really good that you may decide to do one more pose and then one more after that, etc.
- Jo Tastula: Create a sacred space for yourself. Perhaps a spare room, or even a quite corner within a room. Make the space clear of clutter and anoint it with things that bring you into a peaceful state such as a candle, special rug or an inspirational picture. I find if my space feels tranquil and inviting I want to practice.
- Harshada Wagner: Invest in “real estate”. Invest money. Invest space. Invest beauty. Buy a candle. Rearrange your room to make a really honorable, beautiful spot for your practice. Give it some permanent foot print- even just a framed quote on your wall or a little statue. Examine it’s importance to you, then invest accordingly.
