With the recent pandemic forcing us to remain within our homes, we are kept from doing the things we loved to do. Back when things were more “normal”, we got to go outside and do most of our activities outside of our house. We go to work, meet up with friends, accomplish errands, and many other things that can’t be done the same way anymore.
However, lots of people still manage to make the most out of the situation. Being stuck at home also has its perks such as having more control of your time and being able to see your loved ones often. Additionally, this is the perfect time to invest in things that help with self-growth! Having the lockdowns were given moments of solidarity and self-reflection. Now, we have more chances of focusing on the things we want to improve on ourselves.
What better way to improve ourselves than starting a healthy lifestyle? Considering how dangerous the coronavirus is, we need to keep ourselves strong and healthy both physically and mentally. One of the best activities that help with physical and mental health is yoga!
Starting your home yoga practice
Practicing yoga will increase our strength, endurance, and flexibility and will teach us the ways of exhibiting a positive attitude towards life. These are exactly what we need to survive the negative effects of the pandemic. But, isn’t yoga usually practised inside a studio with other people and a yoga certified instructor?
That’s the thing—being stuck at home doesn’t make it impossible for us to engage in yoga sessions. You don’t have to travel to an actual yoga studio to stretch your way towards fitness. Thanks to the existence of technology and the internet, we can always start a routine at home. But how?
Why should you start a home yoga practice?
Before we make a jumpstart on the how-to’s, we must first establish the why’s. Why is it so important for us to start our home yoga practice? With us being so busy with a lot of things, is there enough time to insert this type of activity into our schedule? Do we have what it takes to practice the workout on our own? Do we even have the right equipment or resources to produce the same results as that of normal yoga classes?
All these questions lead to a single answer: yes, you can start your yoga sessions inside your home. But the reasons why you should do it comes in many forms such as:
- To improve the flexibility and mobility of your body
- To tone your muscles and increase strength
- To learn the proper breathing techniques that will help nourish the mind and body
- To release the tension
- To manage your stress levels
- To learn how to self-regulate and to self-soothe
How do you start with your home yoga practice?
We’ve laid out the steps on how you can begin your home yoga practice. Check them out below:
1. Establish your goals and intentions
Whenever we start a new activity, we have a goal in mind. It serves as the purpose of why we’re doing it in the first place. It can also be your motivation for you to become consistent with it. Your intentions could be that you want to stay in shape, you want to relieve stress, you want to enhance your healthy lifestyle or other things. Having a goal will give you the fuel you need to move forward.
2. Find a clean space in your home
Consider the fact that in this situation, there’s no yoga studio for you to go to. Therefore make sure to find a spot in your house that’s clean and spacious enough for you to practice your yoga sessions in. You will be stretching and moving a lot so you must have enough room to do it. Keep it tidy as well, because it’s not exactly ideal to practice a mentally and spiritually cleansing exercise in an untidy environment.
3. Supply yourself with the necessary props
Yoga sometimes involves the usage of props for support. Make sure you equip yourself with them to make your yoga practice more real and effective. You will be needing a yoga mat, bolsters, pillows, blankets, blocks, and straps. This doesn’t mean you will be using them all the time but having them with you at least makes you prepared.
4. Find the right yoga instructor/yoga studio to guide you
To become a good follower of yoga, you must find a good leader who can help you navigate your way around it. Fortunately, you can find an online yoga class in Singapore nowadays. You just have to choose the one whose teachings will resonate with you. Yoga may seem like a simple workout routine but it still requires proper step-by-step guidance especially for beginners.
How can you motivate yourself to be consistent?
Starting a new activity like this is great, but the challenge lies in becoming consistent. A lot of us face inconsistency problems but there are ways we can fight them! Here they are below:
Create a schedule
Create a schedule for your yoga practice. For instance, you can do it twice or thrice a week (for beginners). By doing so, you are already committing yourself to do it every week. You somehow tied yourself to it, making it less possible for you to bail. Creating a schedule also keeps you organized.
Prepare the night before
If you’re concerned that you might feel lazy to practice yoga the following day, try preparing for it a night ahead. Getting things ready will not only make things more convenient for you but will also make you feel as though there’s no turning back. You surely won’t be wasting all the time and effort you made to prepare for yoga day!
Formulate your flow
Sometimes, following a yoga instructor may also feel overwhelming and intimidating. If you are a beginner, you might be worried that you won’t be able to do the more complicated movements and then quit. However, yoga doesn’t have to be so advanced or fancy all the time. One of the great things about it is that it suits everybody—persons of all ages and sizes. You just have to create your flow including movements and poses that you’re most comfortable doing. Bit by bit, you will be getting the hang of it and then you can just upgrade your self-made routine.
Start your home yoga practice today!
This is the best time for us to work on ourselves and focus on self-improvement. Engaging in a healthy and life-changing workout routine like yoga would help with that. If you need the best guide in starting your home yoga practice, you can just go back to this one whenever!
Author Biography:
Ossian Rey is a passionate writer of SweatBox Yoga and a certified yoga enthusiast who writes related articles. Loves to play video games and chit-chat.
