It is high time to bring a wellness practice into your routine.
You no longer want to compromise with your health, physical and most importantly, mental.
And although there is much buzz about Yoga as the best tool to de-stress, you are wondering how and where to start.
Is Yoga at home even practical?
The internet is full of Yoga videos but you are scared that starting something new un-assisted, may cause more harm than good.
And you are right.
So, let me take you through 3 essential steps on how to start yoga at home for beginners.
STEP 1. See how it aligns with your ‘why’
Every fitness or wellness discipline has its own USPs, as we call it in the modern day. Essentially things that make it stand out from the others. The first step must be to see if those unique propositions align with your WHY.
The basic nature of a yoga practice
Once you understand the basic aim of a discipline, you naturally understand whether it matches your temperament.
Therefore, let us be very clear on the fact that Yoga is a spiritual practice.
Most people may not know that when they come to it through Asanas, but if you keep practicing in the right manner, the layers reveal themselves. In fact, two-thirds of yoga students and 85% of yoga teachers eventually have a change in their primary reason as to why they practice Yoga.
That said, while you decide to stick to it just as a wellness regime, you absolutely can. And you will reap the immense benefits of body and breath practices like Asana and Pranayama.
However, the science itself is designed to align us with the ultimate itself. Every limb of Yoga has the potential to fulfill you inside out – body, mind, and soul.
You may choose to come into Yoga to lose weight, or simply to include some exercise in your regime. But be sure that it will be touching every aspect of your being if you give it enough time and attention.
Nature of a yoga class
The most important elements in a yoga class, if you are sticking to the original form of Hatha yoga are breath and awareness.
Yoga is a science to raise your awareness about the body and mind to such a high level that the inner joy inside you unfolds itself. This is the reason Yoga is so effective in managing mental conditions, and the breath is the most effective tool to achieve this aim quickly.
So be prepared for a rhythmic mindful practice with deep breathing and not jumping from poll to post aimlessly. It is going to take patience and faith. The speed of your movements should not overtake the awareness of your breath at any point in time in Yoga.
Since it is a spiritual practice, tools like the sound of Om to chanting a mantra can be a part of your class and you should be open to it. They are not against, or for any religion, but purely scientific tools to deepen your practice.
Online live class vs free videos
Asanas are a matter of disciplining the mind through the body. And as we approach the body, the first thing that needs to develop is awareness – of the body itself.
Body awareness develops slowly as it takes us time to get our bearings when we first get to Asanas. I have seen many students doing something completely different than what is being instructed. That is why the corrections made by the teacher can make a huge difference.
It is just like posture correction in general life; I didn’t even know I had the habit of walking with my left shoulder slightly lifted as if I am carrying a purse all the time, even without carrying it… Until someone pointed it out.
The cues and tips given to you by the teacher in a live class are completely different learning than from a recorded video. Once you develop body awareness together with a fair amount of knowledge in the subject, you can start learning some Asanas through videos.
However, personally, if I want to learn a new sequence or get better at arm balances or backbends, I would always choose to learn from a teacher. For advanced Asanas, a teacher’s observation and instructions become even more important to avoid injuries and side effects.
STEP 2. Set up the basics right
Once you have decided that Yoga suits your temperament and requirements, you want to set up a Yoga at home practice. Start with setting some basics right, which are indispensable to have a productive practice – time, space, and gear.
Setting up the space
There is huge importance in choosing the right space in Yoga and once chosen, sticking to it. As this is an energy practice, ideally we do not want to move away from the space we start practicing in.
As we talk about yoga at home, all of us may not have the luxury to choose an ideal space. However, we still can make the spaces available to us conducive to our Yoga practice.
Ideally, you should not use fans or ACs while practicing. But, if you lack a well-ventilated space, and it becomes uncomfortable, put them at a minimum to avoid suffocation.
Make sure there is enough distance between you and the device you are using to access the class, so your teacher can see your movements in entirety. Not only do you want to see the teacher’s movements completely, but they should also be able to see yours. It is extremely important for beginners, so teachers can make appropriate corrections where required.
Invest in the right gear
You do not want your hands and feet to keep slipping or your joints screaming while you support them during the practice. Having the right Yoga mat can make all the difference to a productive practice.
Invest in a mat with a firm grip and enough thickness to support your joints. As a yoga practitioner, choosing a mat that harms the environment is not a choice for me. So, I did enough research on this subject and found an appropriate eco-friendly mat (100% recyclable) that is also nominally priced.
Cotton durries and straw mats etc. do not work best for this purpose on their own unless you are using an anti-slip mat below them.
It may take you some time before you find the right one for you. Or you can simply start with my recommendation that comes after a lot of trial and error and keep looking for your perfect mat.
Understand the importance of time
The practice of Yoga is conditioning the mind through time, space, and movement. Hence just like the place of our practice, we also should stick to one time for the practice.
That said, certain hours in a day are more conducive to a Yoga practice than others. A broad category would be morning & evening 6 to 10. Amongst that, morning time is the best in terms of freedom of any kind of practice you want to do – slow, medium, or intensive.
For evenings, I recommend slow practice only and you must strictly regulate your food intake during the day. Hatha Yoga practices when done without care and proper knowledge can also have severe side effects.
Choose a time and stick to it.
Step 3. Get familiar with the basic elements of a yoga class
Before you attend your first Yoga class online, it will be good to have a basic understanding of the most common features of a Yoga class. Let us go ahead and do that –
Get your rhythm in sync with the sun
You can be sure that Surya Namaskara will be a part of any Yoga class. Also, once you know the traditional Surya Namaskara sequence, you will be comfortable with the basic forward and backward bends.
The twelve Yoga Poses for the traditional Surya Namaskara (Sivananda style) are –
- Namaskar Mudra
- Hasta Uttanasana
- Padahastasana
- Ashwa Sanchalanasana
- Kumbhakasana
- Ashtanga Namaskara
- Bhujangasana
- Parvatasana
- Ashwa Sanchalanasana
- Padahastasana
- Hasta Uttanasana
- Namaskar Mudra
Make yourself familiar with Surya Namaskara by practicing it a couple of times each day before you join an Asana class and you are good to go!
Get your Om and Namaste right
If you do not want to feel like a complete outsider in a Yoga class or are ready to dive into the art head first, familiarize yourself with some Yoga language.
‘Om’ is the primal sound – the sound of the creation or what we know in science as the big bang. There can be many opinions on how to pronounce it right, but normally in Yoga classes, people stick to ‘Om’ as it is. It regulates the breath and brings a sense of calm and focus to the, exactly what we need as Yoga practitioners.
Namaste or Namaskara has a lot of meanings, but the simplest is ‘I bow to you’. It is a bowing down to the oneness in each one of us, and therefore, is the perfect beginning and end to every Yoga session.
The right teacher makes all the difference
Last but not least is finding a good teacher.
A good teacher can take your practice to another level gradually and a bad one can ruin parts of your body and mind. Yeah, no kidding.
Therefore, make sure that you are learning from a qualified yoga teacher with at least 500 hours of training below their belt. Also, the experience of the teacher matters, but his intention matters most, so pay attention to the intention.
Take hints from the kind of life they are living themselves. That is enough proof in most cases as to how much benefit they have derived from Yoga. If you know someone and their journey, that is always the best.
Conclusion
Now you know how to start yoga at home for beginners and with live online Yoga classes you do not have to compromise with your health anymore.
Go through this post as many times as you want, and if yoga aligns with your why, set up your basics and start brushing up on the essentials.
Make sure to practice with a qualified teacher and don’t forget that consistency is the only way to garner results, irrespective of the teacher.
Most importantly, whenever you keep slipping, remember why you began in the first place.
I wish you a lifetime of wellness!