How to Develop a Habit of Doing Yoga at Home
I don’t do yoga, but when I meet people who are serious about yoga, they always talk about their “practice.” Basically, if you really enjoy it, you don’t have to wait for a handy tutorial or new release from your favorite yoga YouTube channel. You work on what you want, where you want, on your own terms. If you’re joining our December yoga assignment, perhaps now is the perfect time to create your own home practice.
Set the time and place
As with any habit, knowing the time and place to practice yoga can help you actually do it. Do you have a yoga mat and accessories and the perfect place to put them? Do you like doing yoga in the morning when you are fresh, or in the evening to relax?
If you want to do yoga consistently throughout the day (or week), find a place for it. Organize your day so that you always have 20 minutes before breakfast, shall we say.
Give yourself plans and structure
First, think about what you like about the yoga lessons you have already taken. Do you like sun salutation sequences where you start to get up, go down to earth, and go up again (and again)? Or would you rather spend time in standing or balancing positions, slowly working out the pose and giving yourself a lot of chances to get it right?
You don’t need to know from the start where your yoga class will take you. It’s okay to start with familiar tricks and follow your instincts. However, it can help to think of certain movements or sequences as ideal for warm-ups (perhaps some cats / cows or slow sun salutation) and others as good for the end of the activity (inverted movements and corpse pose are common choices) …
The Yoga Journal has a guide to choosing the positions that work best for each part of your workout. If you have a few thoughts – and no, taking a notebook with you on the mat isn’t a trick – you can build a flow on the fly by choosing your favorite moves from each section.
Have fun
If you hate canine dogs, don’t do anything. If you enjoy doing difficult poses for balance, such as a crow, surround yourself with pillows and do so. You are on your own and you can decide what works best for you.
You can play your music as you workout, move as fast or slow as you like, or even add a yoga video for when you don’t feel like planning your daily routine. Time is yours – enjoy.