How to Start a Yoga Practice At Home

Many people are interested in incorporating in yoga into their exercise program. This is a great idea. Yoga can be done from the comfort of your home. You can gain the benefits of yoga if you learn the poses well. Yoga incorporates mindfulness, flexibility, strength and breathing control. Yoga can help you clear your mind and improve your strength at the same time.

Motivate Yourself to Exercise

Many people skip this step. They get an idea that they will exercise at home, and they start out and do it for a few days, but then they fall back into the old habits of skipping their exercise. When you take the time to learn some of the benefits of yoga, it becomes more important to you.

Health Benefits of Yoga:

• Increased flexibility
• Increased strength
• Strengthens underused muscles
• Calms the nervous system
• Improves sleep
• Learn breathing control

More ways to motivate yourself:

1. Self-hypnosis
2. Positive Affirmations
3. Reminders around the house

Learn the Basic Poses

Master 4 or 5 poses that you can do anywhere. Then you won’t need to rely on a video or web tutorial when you are doing your yoga practice. You can go through the sun salutation when you are traveling in your hotel room. You can take a five minute break from your desk and use the cat/cow stretch to release the tension in your back from sitting and working. These are some of my favorite yoga poses that can be done almost anywhere and are a great place to start learning yoga!

Downward Dog – STRENGTHENS The arms and Shoulders. Stretches the hamstrings.  

• Sun Salutation – Stretches all the major muscle groups of the body. It also opens up the chest. The Sun Salutation is a series of poses that many use to start the day. 

  Cat-Cow Pose

• Tree Pose

Set Aside a Time For Your Yoga Practice

If you don’t schedule it in, it won’t get done. For me, the best time to make sure I get exercise in is the first thing in the morning. Later in the day, I tend to start procrastinating or re-prioritizing things. Some people are able to set aside an hour at the end of the day. Due to the fact that exercising tends to make me more alert and wake me up, I don’t practice in the evenings. However, you will figure out what works best for you.

Ideally, you want to schedule in at least half an hour of yoga to get the health benefits of yoga. Anything less than half an hour isn’t going to have much impact on your health.

Get the Equipment

Luckily, there isn’t much that you need to practice yoga! Here are some of the basics:

• Yoga Mat[easyazon_image align=”right” height=”91″ identifier=”B00FO9ZRYG” locale=”US” src=”https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41L-NxBBJuL._SL160_.jpg” tag=”mcurle08-20″ width=”160″]

Yoga mats are very helpful during yoga poses. The prevent you from slipping while holding a pose. Yoga mats prove a slight bit of cushion and some resistance. They are commonly referred to as sticky mats or non-slip mats. You can purchase yoga mats at your local fitness store or online.

• Blocks

[easyazon_image align=”left” height=”160″ identifier=”B01GDKHN96″ locale=”US” src=”https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/414aIoogtHL._SL160_.jpg” tag=”mcurle08-20″ width=”160″]Blocks help you to modify poses when you are just starting out. This helps you to properly perform the pose without losing good form. Blocks assist you in getting the most out of a pose and getting the body into a safe position.

• Straps

Yoga straps can be used in seated postures around the feet to increase the stretch.[easyazon_image align=”right” cart=”n” height=”85″ identifier=”B00XB0DVJS” locale=”US” src=”https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51H5Rw6ILeL._SL110_.jpg” tag=”mcurle08-20″ width=”110″]

Just Do It!

Now that you know the basics, you can get started doing yoga at home! Eliminate your excuses and get your yoga on! Remember, you won’t see the benefits of exercise unless you start doing it consistently. So, make your yoga practice a habit.

Focus you mind on the benefits that you will see from your daily yoga practice when you start to feel resistance to exercise. Think about how great you will feel when you have finished your yoga workout. This will improve your resolve to continue and get it done.