The Advantages of A Home Yoga Practice
Want to try Yoga but are not considering an in-person class yet? Read on to know the advantages and benefits of a home yoga practice and why I love it so much.
I have been doing yoga at home for over 10 years now. Adding yoga to my daily routine has done a lot for my personal growth. It started as a means to move my body and alleviate body aches when I was pregnant 10 years ago, and now my daily home yoga practice is a vital part of my life.
While I have not attended an in-person yoga class just yet, I can say that for the years I have been doing yoga at home, my love for it continues to grow. My need to know more about it and to go deeper in my practice just keeps getting stronger.
The Advantages of A Home Yoga Practice
Practice whenever, wherever. Of course, that is the main beauty of it, right? The fact that you make your own schedule as your life permits. Personally, having little kids made home practice my best option. You can practice very early in the morning while everyone is still asleep ( that’s what I do), or during their nap. The main advantage of home yoga is that you get to set your own schedule.
Choose a practice that your body needs at any given time. One of the things that yoga practice has taught me is to listen to my body. Attune to what it needs and provide to it the kind of movement it craves at any given time. When you practice at home, you get to decide the kind of yoga your body needs each day. Some days you feel like challenging the body with a power yoga class. Somedays, all it needs is to open up or stretch your muscles. Some days a relaxing flow, some days a strong one. So whatever your body needs, you can decide each time you set yourself on the mat.
Feel the poses more. Instead of focusing on perfecting the shape, which is never the intent of yoga, whether home practice or not, you are able to give yourself more time to feel your body with each pose, how it responds, and how it is different each time.
More time to acquaint yourself with each pose. Especially if you have only started practicing, I take my time to get into a pose and out of it. In any yoga practice, your body is your own guide, all the more when you practice at home.
The beauty of practicing in real silence and solitude. This is probably my favorite one. I love the silence and the calm that comes with practicing yoga when the day is new, and no one is up to needing anything from me yet. To me, that hour is my golden hour, my precious time to myself. When you practice yoga at home, you can build for yourself a wonderful daily ritual that replenishes and soothes you right in the comfort of your own home.
Mostly free. There is a vast library of free yoga on YouTube. Also, there are wonderful yoga books complete with yoga routines and instructions on basic yoga poses. If you are up to paying for a subscription there is a lot to choose from as well. My personal favorite is Find What Feels Good, and Boho Beautiful.
Home vs In-Person Practice
Yoga, whether at home or not is an incredible tool to improve yourself, mentally, physically and spiritually. Home yoga does not replace the experience of being in an actual yoga studio or the convenience of having an actual instructor guide you through a pose. But if going to an actual class is not for you at this time, or ever, a dedicated home yoga practice is not less, in fact, it is a wonderful journey that you can take in the comfort of your own home. You will be surprised at how, in time, you can get deeper to know more about yourself and how your outer world is an actual reflection of what is inside.
Is yoga for you? Find out what made me fall in love with yoga here.
Are you ready to dive into a wonderful home yoga ritual? Read about my favorite yoga channels and apps here.
