By: Laura Peill – (Check out her blog Chronicles of Passion & Facebook)
Yoga can be an effective part of a healthy lifestyle, offering benefits for both the body and the mind. And when it comes to detoxing, it is an incredibly valuable way to help your body naturally detox and eliminate excess toxins whilst improving digestion and the efficiency of your body systems.
I have been a fan of yoga for a long time. My practice has kind of changed with me as my life has changed. Back in university, it was twice weekly, consistent and routine, like the rest of my school schedule, and then while I was travelling, it was more sporadic and flexible, much like my travelling life. Now, back home and settled again, I was seeking to resume a regular yoga practice again. But it wasn’t happening. Between work and other commitments, the available class times at the studio and the cost, sometimes it just wasn’t practical. And then I started practicing yoga at home: just me and my mat and my online yoga videos, or my own teacher – myself. And gradually, this became my yoga routine – a 3-4 times weekly occurrence for myself where I didn’t have to go to any studio, or fit it in at any specific time, or do it for any specific amount of time. I could do it whenever I wanted. And it didn’t matter that sometimes I did it in my favourite, you-can-totally-see-through-these-when-I-bend-over-tights.
If you’re struggling to fit yoga into your fitness routine, consider starting your own at home practice.
Here are 6 reasons you should practice yoga at home:
1. It’s there when you need it
Isn’t part of the point of yoga to be able to offer an opportunity to relax, clear your head, free your mind from negative thoughts and muddled intentions? To be able to set a new intention and put aside all the things that are consuming your thoughts? The thing about going to a studio, is that this has to happen at a specific time dictated by someone else – whatever time the class was scheduled. And the thing for me is that I need it to happen right now. Practicing at home, means I can do just that, and clear my head and mind when I decide that I need it most.
2. No excuses
It’s raining out, it’s too far to walk, I don’t have a drive, none of the classes work with my schedule. When you have to go somewhere for a class at a time that someone else chooses, it’s easy to come up with heaps of excuses of why you can’t make it happen, legitimate or not. Guilty. Practicing at home, there’s no excuses – you and your mat are already in the same room in the right place at the right time. Your time.
3. It’s on Your own Schedule
As much as I love yoga, sometimes I just don’t have the time to commit to a 90 minute class. And to be honest, sometimes I don’t want to go to a class that long. By the time I get ready, get to the studio a little early to sign in, do the class and get home, it’s a two hour affair. I could do a 60 minute at home class and it would be a much better use of my time. Not to mention, I can do it on my own schedule and if I don’t have much time, I can squeeze in a shorter class – like while I’m waiting for dinner to cook, or between work and coaching. The brilliant thing about an at-home practice is you can do it whenever is best for you!
4. You can wear whatever you want
Have you ever skipped a yoga class because all of your clothes reeked from doing hot yoga in them last week, and were buried somewhere deep in the laundry pile? I know you had the best of intentions to do them on the weekend. I did too. It didn’t happen. But the good news is, that when you practice at home, you can still wear your stinky clothes. Or not. You can wear whatever you want in fact. Or nothing at all. You can even wear the same thing two days in a row. I won’ tell! After all, the only person who will see you is yourself.
5. Save money
Don’t get me wrong, I am a strong believer in spending money on keeping myself healthy, including healthy food, health products like superfood powders and chia seeds, and my cupboard is filled with so many high protein, gluten free flours that sometimes I lose track. But I’m also the biggest fan of saving money. And since starting my own at-home yoga practice, I have literally saved hundreds of dollars. Plus, now I get to go to more drop-in community classes at the studio, which I never went to before because I had already prepaid for classes. Yoga, plus giving back to the community – it’s a win in my books!
6. Take more risks
I don’t know about you, but I never really attempted crow pose, inversions or any pose that would potentially end badly, with me tumbling to the floor, when I was going to yoga at a studio. I know it’s all about doing everything to the best of your ability, and we are all at different levels and no judgment and so on, but honestly, when you’re in a packed yoga class and every one can see you through the mirror at the front, it not exactly the most confidence boosting situation for me to try a headstand. When I’m all by myself in my living room though, nothing is too crazy to try and I can now do crow pose and am well on my way to mastering a handstand. When nobody’s watching does anybody know how many times you fall over?
I will always continue to go to a yoga studio for some of my weekly practice, not only for the professional support and teaching, but also because doing hot yoga at home is a little difficult to make happen. But I’m also pretty happy and proud of this at-home yoga studio I’ve created. And I’ll keep going to that one too!
Also see:
Top 5 Yoga Channels on YouTube
Imy says...
Thank you! I’m wanted to take yoga class but it guess it’s useless
June 24, 2022