Starting Your Home Yoga Practice
- baileymore
- Aug 22, 2022
- 7 min read
Stepping into a yoga studio or gym might be intimidating if you're new to yoga. It could also be time consuming between commuting to and from an establishment from your house or work place. Whatever the reason, it is totally possible to start or maintain your yoga practice from the comfort of your home!
Now, I do want to say that if you are just starting your yoga practice, it might be better to take the leap into a studio or gym to get guidance from instructors in real time which may prevent injury at home. There's also a completely different energy vibe in a group class! If money is a factor for you, I have found that a lot of yoga studios offer an extremely discounted rate for new students where it's only a two week or month long commitment for that price. I would start here before going straight into a home practice - you'll learn about alignment and meet some great people!
In any case, I'm going to talk about what I would consider 3 main things to get you ready for your home yoga practice...
Making your personal yoga space
What mat & props you'll need
How to pick guided videos and/or music
So let's jump right in!
Making your Personal Yoga Space
So this might be my favorite section about starting a home practice! I love the idea of giving different life to spaces in my home. Since we all have different spaces we live in, I'm going to just give general tips about how to transform a small section of your home into your personal yoga oasis.
You'll want your yoga space to be a place you're excited about. What is going to draw you to that spot to get on your mat? What is going to make you feel energized? What is going to make you feel relaxed?
First and foremost, your yoga oasis has to be big enough... at the very least it needs to accommodate your mat and then have a few feet of space all around. It's also probably safest if there are no sharp objects or breakables in the immediate area. Things can get a little wild in our practice sometimes! :)
I would recommend finding a space in your home that you know you can keep clear of clutter. I love decor and trinkets, but making your yoga oasis simple and clean will allow your mind to calm and your body to focus on your practice instead of your surroundings. However, make it completely YOU! Have those plants and trinkets and wall art if that's what your vibe is! But again, it can still be a clean and clutter-free space.
I would also recommend a spot by a window. Our bodies are in tune with the rising and setting of the sun, so having that awareness of where we are in our day can help guide our practice. It's also amazing to have a view of nature!
In all honesty, I can keep listing things that I think would help make your yoga oasis, but I truly believe it comes down to one of the first things I said... make it a space you're excited about. From there it'll become a reflection of who you are and create a sense of focus for your yoga journey.
What Mats & Props You'll Need
Picking your mat and the props you use may change over time with your practice and depend on your body's needs. It also obviously depends on the amount of space you have designated for your yoga practice.
The bare basics you'll need for your practice are a mat, 2 blocks, and a yoga strap - but to be honest, you could really just have a mat and use other household items for blocks and straps (like shoe boxes and neck ties). I'll break down what you may be looking for in each of these kinds of equipment.
Yoga Mats
There are so many yoga mats out there that it may be overwhelming to decide which one to pick or which one you would even like, so I'll describe some of the things I consider when shopping around for a yoga mat:
length
level of cushion
material
Standard yoga mats are about 24 inches wide and range from about 68-72 inches long. So if you're a taller person, you might want to consider a longer mat - some brands also make extra long mats. I am by no means a tall person, but I do love my longer mat which is just over 74 inches.
The level of cushion is usually a pretty big consideration when shopping for a yoga mat. A 4-5 mm cushion is the most popular - probably because that level of cushion provides enough comfort without compromising the stability it gives you. I personally have a 3mm (Lululemon), 4.7mm (Manduka PROlite), and 5mm (Alo Yoga Warrior Mat).
A 3mm mat will give you incredible stability and make you feel most connected to the floor; this is especially great for balancing postures and overall flow. A 4-5 mm mat is an excellent go-to for all types of yoga classes. They're thin enough to provide good support, but also have nice cushion for comfort. If you have higher sensitivities in your body - like in your knees or wrists - a higher cushion in your mat might work better for your practice. They are much more gentle on your body, except they make balancing more difficult and you may not feel as grounded. If you prefer thinner yoga mats, but want to address your body sensitivities, there are mini yoga mats of various thickness that you can use on top of your regular yoga mat to provide extra cushion under your knees or wrists.
The material of your yoga mat may also be a consideration when shopping around. I won't go into too much detail about the different kinds of materials (maybe in another blog post!), but I'll just name a couple to get you thinking. Sustainably resourced rubber and cork mats are becoming increasingly popular because of their more environmentally friendly characteristics. They will provide excellent grip for your practice. Other synthetic rubber materials are popular, but the other thing to consider is the texture of the material. My Manduka PROlite mat is textured and has pretty decent grip. But my Alo Yoga Warrior Mat and Lululemon Mat are smooth surfaced mats and have amazing grip! So even though texture is something to think about, I believe the material might be more significant. If you find that your mat is very slick and provides little to no grip when you start sweating, consider a yoga towel for your mat! I use a mini one for my hands sometimes and there is definitely zero slipping when I use it.
Yoga Blocks
As far as I know, there are two different kinds of popular yoga block materials: cork and foam. I personally have both kinds and use both kinds, though I usually don't use both kinds in the same practice. The standard size yoga block is a 4"x6"x9", but there are also smaller ones and others that come in various shapes. I'll break down what I consider the pros and cons to each kind.
Pros & Cons to Cork Blocks...
Pros | Cons |
provides more stability & weight | heavy to transport |
durability | more porous - this makes cleaning more difficult |
more eco friendly | less comfortable to use in some supported postures |
Pros & Cons to Foam Blocks...
Pros | Cons |
lighter weight & more comfortable for supported poses | less durable - prone to scratching and "chipping" |
cost efficient | not as stable - potential to fall out of balancing postures if pressing a lot of weight into them (especially on carpet) |
easy to clean | can become slippery if you sweat a lot |
I use my cork blocks most often because I love the support they give and allow me to explore strength building by using them as weights.
Yoga Straps
While this prop isn't totally essential for an every day kind of flow practice, I love having my strap close by to help deepen stretches, provide support for arm balances, and assist with complex asanas. Straps come in different lengths, but honestly I would recommend longer ones regardless of body type/height. The most common straps consist of a two ring buckle at one end that allows you to create small or large loops. There are also straps that have loops all along the length of the strap. I would recommend starting with a pretty standard strap and exploring different ways to incorporate it into your practice.
How to Pick Guided Videos and/or Music
While I'm a total advocate for simply just exploring your body and having unconstructed fun on your mat, a little guidance is nice from time to time.The internet is insanely saturated with yoga videos so sometimes finding ones that you like is very overwhelming. But keep in mind, yoga is a journey and part of that journey could be exploring different kinds of classes as well as different instructors.
A lot of yoga studios are now offering either live virtual classes or have a library of on demand classes that you can sign up for on a monthly basis. So if you've been to a studio and really enjoyed the classes, check their website to see what online offerings they have. This is also true of individual yoga teachers who may have their own business.
Other subscription services I've tried (and liked!) are Alo Moves and Peloton. Both platforms have a wide variety of types of classes with many different instructors. The monthly cost for these services is very reasonable and you get more than just yoga classes from them. There are also meditation classes, stretching classes, strength building classes, and classes for overall fitness.
If you're looking to spend zero dollars, then YouTube is the place to explore. A simple search of either the kind of class you're looking for or the length of the yoga class you'd like will give you a plethora of options!
Now, most of these online classes will already have music to accompany the video. But if you like a more freestyle practice, music streaming platforms (like Spotify, Apple Music, or even YouTube playlists) provide already curated playlists that you can use as a background tone to your practice.
I make all of my playlists for my classes on Spotify. Here's a link to one of them!
I hope these things allow you to jump start your home yoga practice and that you find excitement and peace in the space you've created. You never know, maybe people you live with will feel inspired to join you on your yoga journey!
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