Three Things to Enhance Your Home Practice.

So sometimes we don’t make it out to the studio, but we still want to practice.

Sometimes life gets in the way.

Sometimes we get in the way of ourselves.

So how can we practice yoga in a way the nourishes us, even at home?

Well there are a few tips that we have learned over the years that help to keep people consistent and practicing, even when life gets busy and things get challenging.

1.  Make your own sacred space.

This is probably the most critical step in achieving a consistent home practice.  You have got to find a space that you love going to.  My space has changed a few times this year, since COVID has brought things in-house a little upside-down. 

I used to have a lovely little office with two of the four walls as windows, a desk in the corner, and a small open space for me to practice.  Since needing to provide my children with a space for them to learn and be with their thoughts, we have moved a second desk into that space, essentially taking away my once small 5’x10’ haven for yoga and yoga business things. 

For awhile I was coming down to the studio itself (nobody else was here, why not?) and practicing early in the morning, like 5:30 am.  This was a nice solution, but I had a hard time getting motivated to come down to the studio when it was wet, cold, or the energy of the tea in the teapot wasn’t right <ahem, excuse, ahem>. 

So I found a new space in my house.  A small little room in my basement with two windows and a door to the outside.  And turns out, that is just perfect for me.  I bring down a rug and a mat so I don’t have to practice on the cement floor and unroll them each time I come down to practice.  It is still early in the morning, but I find that the motivation to come to my little unfinished room in the basement is much higher than getting in my car and driving elsewhere.  Make no mistake, this space is not fancy.  It is where we store our bikes,  There are kids toys in the corner and our second fridge.  There is the biggest spider I have ever seen outside a zoo in that room, but we have made friends. Every morning I go down there, for one hour, that space is mine.

 Let me encourage you to find your own sacred space.

Keep it tidy.  Even if it is just a small corner of the living room, set a candle there, always keep the floor clean, and make it your own.

2.  Create a ritual around your practice.

Here is my ritual:

I get up.  I go downstairs and use the restroom.  I pour a cup of warm water with a small lemon.  I drink half of it, refill it, and then go down to my yoga space. 

I light the candle.  It smells like sage and pine, a Christmas-y sort of smell that works well at waking me up in the morning.

I open the windows and door.

I unroll the carpet.  Then the mat. 

I sit and meditate before I begin my asana (the moves) practice.

Practice.

Savasana (relaxation).

 Now I have never been one of those people who can do the same routine every single day.  So this ritual at the beginning of my practice allows the routine I need to sink into practice with a clear and focused mind and a kind heart. 

Find your own ritual.  Light a candle.  Open a window.  Make some tea afterward.  And make the 20ish minutes you practice yours.  Even if you are watching a video or live-streamed class, there will be much more sacredness to the act if you do a small sometimes to make the time yours.

3.  Be consistent.

Seriously.  This is important.  Find one day a week to practice at home.  Find a time.  Write it in your calendar.  Add another only after you have gotten the first one into a routine.

One of the wonderful things about coming to an in-person yoga center like ours is that you have to arrive there by a certain time, and in that hour the time is yours.  No phones, no drama, no work.  Just you, your fellow yoga practitioners, and your teacher. 

At home, you will need to create the same thing.  Find a time that works in your schedule and commit to doing your practice at home during that time.  Let the time make sense.  Don’t pick right before dinner or when you are likely to have a commitment that would interfere.  Also, don’t be loosey-goosey about it either.  If you give yourself ‘between 2-4 pm’ there is a good chance at 2 pm you will look at the clock and say to yourself “I will practice at 3” and then by 3 pm be wrapped up in something else entirely. 

So pick a time.  A solid time.  And stick to it. 

(also don’t be a jerk to yourself if you are 10 minutes late). 

So there you have it, friends.  Three things you can do to create more consistency and ease as you practice at home.  There are a lot of resources out there for you to find to guide you through home practice, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention ours. 

 Sunlight Yoga Center also has an online yoga, meditation, and mindfulness studio called Sunlight Streams.  On there we have 80+ on-demand yoga classes and live-streamed classes, and for $43 a month, your subscription gets you unlimited classes.  The majority are timed out to fit your life at home, not just trying to replicate what you experience at a studio, we know those two things are different.  So do you.  So find 20 minutes, find your sacred space, find a ritual, and consistently go there. 

See you soon, in person, online, or both.

With gratitude,

Rebecca