A home yoga practice, in my opinion, is essential for you to truly experience the benefits of yoga. It helps you develop discipline, body awareness and confidence in your yoga practice. Of course, there are benefits to practicing in class with a teacher, but when you show up and spend time on your mat every single day, you gain the most insight and reap the benefits of a consistent yoga practice.
I’ll start tomorrow
Are you one of these people who say I’ll start tomorrow, and tomorrow never comes? What’s stopping you?
I hear you say
- “I don’t know enough to practice on my own”
- “I can’t touch my toes.”
- “I’m not flexible enough.”
- “I’m not strong enough.”
- “I’d rather get out of the house.”
- “I need a teacher for accountability.”
- “It’s too noisy in the house.”
- “I don’t know where to start.”
- “I don’t have time.”
- “I have an injury and don’t know what to do.”
- “I get distracted.”
Which one of these do you tell yourself?
What’s really stopping you from practicing?
I could also use more than half of these as an excuse not to practice yoga, but I KNOW the benefits always outweigh the doubts, fears and excuses your monkey mind will tell you.
What’s your Goal?
I’ve practiced yoga for 20 years. I started yoga to help with lower back pain after a fractured coccyx.
When I started looking for a class, I found 2 classes in the area. Yoga studios didn’t exist. So I practiced from a book I found, videos and DVDs on my own at home. That was what was available to me at the time and what I needed to do. I loved the way yoga made me feel. I practiced the same videos over and over again.
Things have changed, and I love that yoga is so accessible, but it does concern me that we’re moving away from the traditional practices, yoga is becoming trendy, and we feel we need to go to a class to get an authentic experience.
The Traditional Practice of Yoga
The Yoga Sutras are ancient texts on the theory and practice of yoga.
Yoga Sutra 1.14 translates to;
To achieve a strong foundation in our yoga practice, we must practice over a long time, without interruption, believing in it and looking forward to it.
You will reap the benefits from your yoga practice when yoga encompasses these three secrets;
- First, you have to practice for a long period of time;
- Second, your practice must not be interrupted—you must do it regularly;
- Third, you must do your practice with love and respect.
So when I hear from potential clients, students, and members who often say;
“I’d rather come to class.”
“I want to get out of the house.”
“I need accountability.”
I think of this yoga sutra and the western view and perception of yoga if this sounds like you, understand that the practice of yoga is not like attending an exercise class.
Let me explain
Yoga in the West is very different from how it was traditionally taught. While it’s great that there are so many yoga teachers and studios making yoga more accessible, we forget some of the true principles and benefits of the practice.
This is one of the reasons I decided to give up my studio. During the pandemic, I was able to teach differently, and I saw students move from one class per week to practicing multiple times, often daily, and the transformations in their well-being were incredible.
They can practice daily or multiple times per week without leaving home and adapting their practice for what they need. They’re more in tune with their needs, confident in their practice and feel the physical, mental and spiritual benefits.
I have students who have no physical pain from the lower back injury or recurring pain, and if they do, they have a handful of classes they practice to solve the problem.
Another student who used to feel extremely anxious, worried and stressed all the time now has a complete sense of peace around her. Things that used to stress her or make her feel anxious no longer bother her. She’s so in tune with what her body needs.
We think we need to practice for an hour in a studio like any other style of exercise. But yoga is not a form of exercise. It’s a spiritual practice. While it may start to gain the physical benefits (that’s where I started), there is more to the practice that you can only experience from showing up consistently. Yoga can be whatever you need on that day: movement, breath work, meditation, self-inquiry, restorative.
The research behind the efficacy of yoga
The Science of Yoga is improving. This study suggests the frequency and duration of home practice may be the key to reaping the most health benefits from your yoga practice. Frequency of home practice appears to be very important—more important than how long an individual has been practicing or how many classes one takes. The results of the study stated that “yoga is a useful intervention for improving health behaviours or life-style-related health conditions. It is not enough simply to learn how to do healthy behaviours. Rather, healthy behaviours must be incorporated into one’s daily life. While these findings suggest that individuals will only reap benefits from yoga practice that are proportional to the energy they are willing to invest in making it a part of their lives, the findings also suggest that they do not have to practice for years to reap the rewards.”
The study also emphasised that different aspects of yoga have different health benefits. Physical poses, breath work, or meditation are all essential.
Reap the Benefits of Yoga in the next 90 days
The study shows that frequency over duration is essential to experience the health benefits of a yoga practice. I feel ninety days is a good time to create a consistent habit.
I love the book Atomic Habits, James Clear, the author states.
“On average, it takes more than two months before a new behaviour becomes automatic — 66 days to be exact. If you want to set your expectations appropriately, the truth is that it will probably take you anywhere from two months to eight months to build a new behaviour into your life — not 21 days.”
James Clear
Join our seasonal membership and use the next 90 days to experience a new way of living. Explore our classes, programmes and workshops. I can’t wait to support you on this journey.
If you’re looking for more 1:1 support reach our at info@strengthandsoul.co.uk.
