Are you wondering how to start a yoga practice at home? Don’t know where to begin? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. One can effectively practice Yoga at home with the right set of instructions. Yoga is more than a fitness regime. It is the intoxication of your mind, body, and soul. Yoga aligns your spirit and matter. Starting with the right set of techniques with a little direction would help you go a long way in your journey with learning Yoga.
Learning Yoga at Home Benefits
Flexible Timings – It is exciting to get enrolled for physical yoga classes but have you ever wondered if you will be able to commit to their timings every day of the week. Well, by learning yoga at home, you can have your session according to your schedule. For instance, whether you have just 15 minutes in hand or an hour, it is always a good idea to roll that mat and do some poses to keep you on track.
Self-indulgence – Without a teacher’s instructions, you can take your own time and learn yoga at home by being mindful of what your body has to say. You can do the Corpse pose for 15 minutes or do the Child’s pose five times. The more you dive into self-awareness and become attentive to what your body speaks to you, without any external instructions, the more you will connect with your mind and spirit.
Self-Knowledge and Growth – Learning yoga at home has its perks. As you develop inner awareness, you will be able to understand your needs mentally, physically, and emotionally. This way you can tailor the techniques to be best suited for you to meet your needs and extract maximum benefits.
Learn Yoga at Home for Beginners 101
Now let us take you on a detailed approach on how to start yoga practice at home.
- Setting up your space – Try and find a spot that is quiet, comfortable, and spacious. If you want, you can dive into a calming mood with some aromatic candles or incense sticks. Play some meditative, mild music to help center your focus.
- Research and learn – It is advised for a beginner to read about a few Yoga Poses to get started with. Well, if you are here, that’s what you’re looking for. Stay tuned -we’ll guide you with that.
- Warming up – Start with some quick warm-up exercises to get your body into the workout mode. You can easily find some over YouTube.
- Follow your Intuitive Mind – Once you get to the end of this article and dive into the world of practicing Yoga, your body will automatically guide you into learning more. Take the first step, just start yoga at home and everything else will follow. Most importantly, you will gradually learn to connect with your mind and body.
- Get signed up Online- Nowadays, you can easily enroll for an online session of learning Yoga at home. You can also connect with the Yoga practitioners community and understand the impact Yoga has on people.
Sun Salutations (Surya Namaskar)
- Life on earth does not exist without the Sun. Symbolically, this is a very ancient technique to pay gratitude to the Sun for bestowing its energy to the world. Commonly known as Surya Namaskar, it is the ideal way to begin your yoga session.
Instructions
- These follow a sequence of 12 powerful Yoga poses. Each round of Salutation contains two sets. This is best practiced in the morning on an empty stomach but one can also do it during the evening provided has an empty stomach for 3-4 hours.
- This routine covers all the major Yoga Poses. You can repeat this set as many times as your body allows. You can also pick up individual techniques from this set and do it for preferably three times, holding each one for at least 20-30 seconds.
- Now, let’s dive into how you can start to easily learn yoga at home with simple instructions.
1. Standing Prayer Pose (Pranamasana)
- Firstly, stand on your yoga mat with your feet flat together.
- Balance your bodyweight equally on both feet.
- Expand your chest and relax your shoulder.
- Breathe in and lift both your arms up from the sides.
- Exhale and bring your palms together in a prayer position in front of your chest.
2. Raised Arms Pose (Hastauttanasana)
- Breathe in and lift your arms above your head and extend backwards.
- Meanwhile, keep your biceps close to your ears.
- Try to stretch your whole body backwards with the effort of your heels to fingers.
3. Hand to Foot Pose (Hastapadasana)
- While breathing out, bend forward from your waist while keeping your spine straight.
- As you exhale, try to bring your hand down and place them beside your feet.
- Beginner’s Tip – Try to slowly reach down with your arms but if it doesn’t reach your feet, don’t push. Hold the part of your leg up to where your hand reaches.
4. Equestrian Pose (Ashwa Sanchalanasana)
- Breathe in and push your right leg back as far as you can.
- Look up and place your left foot on the ground.
- Hold this position for a while and look forward.
- Beginner’s Tip – Make sure your left foot is between both your palms.
5. Stick Pose (Dandasana)
- While breathing normally, push your left leg back.
- Then straighten your body, extending your legs.
- Try to keep your arms perpendicular to the floor.
6. Salute with Eight Points (Ashtanga Namaskara)
- Touch the floor with your knees and exhale.
- Rest your chest and chin on the floor.
- Keep your hips and abdomen off the floor, lifting the posterior body a little.
- Beginner’s Tip- The objective here is that the eight parts of your body including two hands, two feet, two knees, chest, and chin should touch the ground.
7. Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana)
- Slide forward and raise your chest upwards.
- Keep your palms on the floor. Your ears should be away from your shoulder.
- Look up straight.
- Furthermore, as you inhale, gently push your chest forward.
- As you exhale, push your navel down.
- Keep your feet together with toes tucked under.
8. Downward-Facing Dog Pose (Adho Mukha Svanasana)
- While exhaling, lift your hips and tail bone upwards.
- Push your chest downwards such that you create an inverted V-pose.
- Beginner’s Tip – Try to keep your heels on the ground. Stretch in your limit by lifting your tail bone.
9. Equestrian Pose (Ashwa Sanchalanasana)
- Breathe in and push your left leg back as far as you can.
- Look up and place your left foot on the ground.
- Beginner’s Tip – Make sure your right foot is between both your palms.
10. Hand to Foot Pose (Hastapadasana)
- While exhaling, bring your left foot forward.
- Make an effort to keep your palms on the ground beside your feet and stand up.
- Beginner’s Tip – On the contrary, if you cannot keep your palms on the floor, try to bend your knees to reach down.
11. Raised Arms Pose (Hastauttanasana)
- Firstly, breathe in and lift your arms above your head and extend backwards.
- Roll your spine up and push the hips slightly outwards.
- Keep your biceps close to your ears.
- Try to stretch your whole body backwards with the effort of your heels to fingers.
- Beginner’s Tip – Aim to stretch up more instead of stretching backwards.
12. Standing Mountain Pose (Tadasana)
This marks the final pose of one round of sun salutation.
- As you exhale, straighten your whole body.
- Secondly, bring your arms down and relax.
- Equally spread your body weight on your feet.
- You may stretch your arms up together.
- Beginner’s Tip – As you complete the set, closely observe and feel the sensations in your body.
Learn Yoga at Home – Bridge Pose (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana)
- Firstly, lie supine on your mat.
- Fold your knees keeping your feet flat on the floor.
- Keep your palms beside your body facing down.
- While inhaling, slowly lift your lower back, middle back, and consequently upper back off the floor.
- Roll in your shoulders such that your weight is supported with your shoulders, arms, and feet.
- Beginner’s Tip – Make sure your knees and ankles are in a straight line. Both the thighs should be parallel to each other and the floor.
Corpse Pose (Savasana)
To sum up, always end your yoga session with this final pose.
- Lie flat on your back and close your eyes.
- Keep your legs comfortably wide apart.
- Relax your knees, toes facing towards the sides.
- Place your arms alongside but a little spread apart from your body.
- Slowly relax every muscle of your body for at least 15 minutes.
- Breathe normally and after that slowly open your eyes when you feel relaxed.
- Beginner’s Tip – That is to say this asana is to bring your body to the utmost state of relaxation. As you do this, become aware of your body and it’s interaction with the environment.
How to stay motivated for practicing Yoga at home?
When you start to learn yoga at home, initially it is exciting because the learning process is fun. But what if, later on, it gets mundane and boring. How to stay motivated? Let us now help you figure that out.
Keep it simple but fun – You need not have an entire practice for 90-minutes and cover all the asanas. You can dedicate even the little time you have for your practice and experiment with different yoga poses to keep that spark of learning alive.
Explore your personal goals – List down your goals. When you understand what drove you to start learning yoga at home, and what are the improvements you would want to see in yourself, you will be motivated. For instance, do you want to be more flexible? Or do you want to gain some core strength? Well, when you list down your goals you will sharpen your focus and deepen your intent about Yoga.
Keep your yoga space lively – Play around with your yoga space. You might set it up in the backyard or inside your home. When you decide to start yoga at home, you can experiment around like using aromatic candles, incense sticks. You can also play some music of your choice that helps you focus and center yourself.
FAQs Regarding Learning Yoga at Home
Consistency is the key. Start off by doing Yoga at least three times a week. However, it is suggested to have a dedicated 90-minute session to Yoga and various other breathing exercises. But even if you can get 30 minutes or 10 minutes, be consistent in brushing up your learning by practicing every day. Cultivate Yoga as a routine of your life.
Well, you do know the answer to this if you stumbled upon this article. Maybe you are not that flexible but you want to be. Yoga is your way to go! Keep practicing, understanding what works for you, and just be consistent. You certainly will reach your desired level of flexibility.
People say that the best time to practice yoga is early in the morning on an empty stomach because you have lesser distractions and your body is pumped due to the good night’s sleep. But I would say that Yoga is just not for your body. It connects with your emotional and spiritual self. When you indulge yourself in this form of art, you will find that your body will call out to you for some asanas. But do make sure, you have an empty stomach for at least 3-4 hours.
Surya Namaskar is a beautiful set of asanas that collectively detoxifies, cleanses, tones, and stimulates every organ and muscle of the human body. In addition to this, it helps boost cardiovascular health, musculoskeletal health, and keeps the mind calm.
Editor’s Note | Learn Yoga at Home
These unprecedented times have made us more aware and responsible for our health. We get conscious even if we feel the slightest of discomfort. Good health comes with a lot of conviction and commitment to living a healthy lifestyle.
We know how daily exercises positively impact our well-being. Incorporating Yoga, on the other hand, just exemplifies the benefits mundane exercises could have on one’s body. Practicing Yoga in conjunction with some breathing exercises helps to keep the respiratory system healthy. Similarly, it helps to increase lung volume and lung capacity. Yoga also widely helps in strengthening the immune system. It keeps the body’s metabolic functions in check and ensures smooth functioning.
Now that we know the various ways by which we can be positively benefitted, we should learn yoga at home and improve the quality of our lives.
