Home Yoga Practice Tips For 2018

by: Stefan Simonovic

Source: Flickr

The reasons to do yoga at home are numerous, from dreading the cold weather outside or crazy Monday traffic to penny pinching for a new car and cutting unnecessary costs, such as a gym or yoga studio membership. All sorts of women do yoga at home or at work, including stay-at-home moms, busy executives, mature singles, freelancers who basically live inside their homes, and anyone who has enough space and will for it. Whatever your personal motivation, we hope to improve your yoga experience by offering our tips for practicing at home this 2018 and any subsequent year for as long as you find satisfaction in it.

#1: Find The Right YouTube Videos

Not all home yoga YouTube videos are created equal so you need to do your research to figure out which ones are worth your time and effort. Try them out to see if you like the selection of exercises, and the pace at which they're being done so you don't have trouble following along. Also, you'll need to assess the difficulty level to prevent boredom or injury. It would help if you could relate to the virtual instructor in some capacity, and find the things she or he says motivational enough because working out at home often turns out to be short-lived as most of us find it hard to stay committed unless we have a trainer right by our side.

#2: Watch What You Eat Or Drink

Just like you wouldn’t eat 1.5 to 2 hours before going to the gym or to a yoga class, you should mind what and when you eat if you want to do yoga at home. It’s so easy to get distracted by the pace of daily life and all the things that need to be accomplished in a single day that we run the risk of treating working out from home like any other chore, which is a mistake. Doing yoga at home has the same effects on your body as a live instructor-led yoga class would, so you need to prepare for it properly. Don’t eat any foods that fall heavily on your stomach, and make sure you’re hydrated. Don’t rush through your practice, meaning set aside enough time to fully relax and treat your body to at least 30 minutes of yoga.

#3: Pick The Right Spot At Home

When they first walk in, most people assess a yoga studio by what it feels and looks like, and by how well the energy flows through it. It would be best if you could find a place in your home where you feel the most comfortable, such as your favorite nook, to do yoga. Your nook needs to have peace and quiet, and be spacious enough so you can do all your postures. Turn the lights out, leave a small lamp on, and light a candle or an incense stick to recreate a complete studio experience.

#4: Get The Right Accessories

A good, non-slip yoga mat is the first thing you’ll need for a satisfying practice. Getting a few blocks is also a good idea, but you can also use a stack of books instead as long as they don’t discourage you from your practice. A bolster is also a nice thing to have, but these are by no means necessary to do yoga at home or anywhere else. They serve to make your practice more enjoyable, but the most important aspect of doing yoga at home is to keep the motivation up and persist in your practice, and if investing in accessories will make you commit, so be it. At the same time, being creative and frugal works just fine too, and you can even use a piece of carpet instead of a mat provided it's not slippery.


About the author:

Stefan is a writer and a blogger in his spare time. He also works for First Beat Media, a company that mainly focuses on the online dating niche and similar services.