HOW TO START A HOME YOGA PRACTICE
One of the biggest challenges I see among my students or new yoga teachers is finding a regular self practice. We all have different paths that bring us to yoga, some of us will come down the exercise route and simply enjoy going to classes, some of us have been doing it since we were 5 or some of us found a more spiritual way in and the asana is a new addition to our practice.
The reason I think it's important to highlight your path is because it's helpful to define yoga in terms of your personal practice. What is yoga to you? And if your a teacher what do you teach? Essentially, we are teaching what we know in our bodies with the awareness that not all bodies are the same.
Here's a brief introduction to how I started my self practice, which I hope will offer some perspective on the above. I found yoga in my late 20's, in need of the headspace and mindfulness that I'd heard it was really good for, it became a weekly sanctuary going to class and I was inspired to teach early on. I was going through some big life changes and it sat well with me to persue this path, I didn't know too much about my why at the time, but I felt no resistance. I had no personal practice, I just enjoyed going to classes and hopped on a plane to Bali to do my training. My reading list was given to me about 2 weeks before the course so I hadn’t dipped into any literature on the subject either. I read both books the week before I left, so naturally everything came at once!
It wasn't until I was on my training that I realised yoga was so much bigger that the weekly classes I'd been attending, and to this day (and I'm sure forever on this path) there is always a feeling of 'the more you know, the more you don't know'. I started to connect some dots to experiences I'd had prior to finding yoga and realised that actually I'd been practicing it for quite some time but just not in the way that I'd seen it advertised. With a struggle at times to stay mentally grounded, I'd found some techniques that helped such as tuning my attention to the silence around me to find presence, or focusing on feeling sensations around my body to help myself to sleep. Little did I know at the time that these were actual meditation and awareness techniques that I later found in a mindfulness book.
This brings me back to self practice, considering your yoga path and how you arrived where you are today. I'm sure that if you really thought about it then perhaps you're practicing more yoga than you think. Yoga on the mat helps us practice yoga off the mat. For example, the way that I focussed awareness on my body to sleep, you can bring into any task that you do to stay present. So if you're finding it hard or putting pressure on your self to start a practice at home then you can start right now, first by checking in and questioning that reason, demand or frustration around the subject. We can spend so much time putting pressure on ourselves, and for what, for who? There's certainly an amount of action that we need to take to keep growing and moving in this world but lets let that come from a healthy place. Find a gentle breath to consider the emotional and rational responses to this and take a moment to accept yourself fully in the centre of your circumstance.
Quite often when I teach I ask my students to let go of any expectations that they may have of themselves for the practice, and to acknowledge and welcome what's present physically and mentally. I think it's also important to mention at this point that there's a difference between yoga practice and designated training time (if you do anything like inversions or handstand), there's one practice where you can be more disciplined (training) and one where you can let go and let it flow (yoga). Over time you'll start to notice that these two approaches to practice go very hand in hand and the more you can let it go in one, the more you'll find strength to pursue your passion in another.
Getting started isn't easy, and this is why I wanted to share my story because I found it incredibly challenging spending an intense 2 months learning so much new information, then arriving back in the UK expecting myself to have an instant self practice as well as start teaching, find a job that paid the bills and integrate back into my life here. Naturally, I found it so much easier to meditate and do a few sun salutations every morning on my quiet balcony in Bali, overlooking a turquoise lagoon. I come back to Bristol and am surrounded by city life, it's no excuse, but it's not easy! Start by letting go of any expectations that you may have of your self, your surroundings and your practice.
The first thing I recommend to people is to just sit. Sit on your mat. See what happens. Your body will probably tell you quite quickly what you feel like doing. If it's easy to sit then great stay there, if you feel like lying down for a bit then great, lie down. Perhaps your practice will turn into savasana for an hour and that's totally ok! Perhaps that's what you needed, permission to stop. You may also find that taking a 1 minute savasana at the start will give you heaps of energy and sitting will be much easier!
However you land (finding a tall spine if seated), start to observe the breath. No need to change anything, just observe and see how you're doing, how are you today? After a while start to find the breath in your belly with a gentle rhythm, matching the length of inhale and exhale, this helps balance the nervous system and you'll feel more centered and grounded. Perhaps then set an intention for your practice or a dedication to something or someone if nothing comes to mind. Sit as long as feels intuitive, or set a timer if you need a goal to stay seated, using a timer helped me to start a daily meditation practice.
After regulating the breath you can explore moving, and this is where it really gets juicy as there's been plenty of times where I've tried to move, and my body just wants to stay sitting! And that's ok! Keep your attention focused on the body and see if there's any parts you feel a sensation or tightness, bring awareness there with the breath and try moving it. Stretch it out, roll your joints, move with breath, and stay present. See where this journey takes you for a few minutes. You'll probably be amazed at how moving one thing then makes you feel like you want to move something else, it's all connected. Stay present and notice how you react to a sensation. This is a wonderful place where we can learn so much about our bodies.
How do I know what to do? Ok, so yeah that's where teachers, led classes and training comes in, and it's important to practice regularly under guidance to make sure that you're not doing anything that can lead to injury, but there does come a point with self practice that you just have to start feeling into it. Don't worry too much what it looks like, where your going or making a sequence, just be gentle, respond with compassion and find some shapes or poses that feel good in your body. Lucky for us our pain response likes to warn us early on if there's anything our body doesn't like, so take pain as warning not to go there, and seek professional help or guidance.
With regular sessions, however small, you will most likely start to build a sequence or ritual. Ritual is great, it helps us stay grounded and with purpose. Have a think about how many rituals you have in your life, like going to work, morning routines or making a meal that soothes your soul on a tough day. Imagine if your yoga practice could do that too, and all you ever need to do it is you! :)
If you want to find a sequence to your practice then here's 5 poses that are easy to explore in a variety of ways!
Table Top - Make circles, move through cat / cow or move in and out of childs pose
Downward Dog - Ground hands and feet, make leg / hip circles or move in and out of plank
High Lunge - Connect to your feet, perhaps try supporting your back heel against the wall, try taking a twist or pulse the back knee towards the floor for some strength reps!
Tree Pose - Play with your balance, try arm variations and maybe close the eyes.
Bridge Pose - Lift and lower gently with some spinal waves, lift one leg and then the other for strength, or try a more restorative version with a block underneath your sacrum.
Whether 5 minutes on the mat or 50, practice is practice, and your continuous efforts to show up is what counts. If you keep showing up, you'll start noticing the effects of your efforts and the rest is history! Always leave a few minutes for a savasana at the end for the body to integrate the new information :)