Why you should be practicing yoga at home.
A few years ago, I discovered hot yoga and it completely changed my life (if you didn’t click on that link and you suffer from headaches, I highly suggest you read it). So, when I found out Yoga Innovations had an upcoming yoga teacher training program, I was beyond excited! Don’t worry PR clients, I’m not making a career change, I just want to deepen my own practice, expand my knowledge, and help others find how yoga can help them.
As part of the teacher training program, we have to complete an at home yoga practice each week and then journal about it. Well, when I was writing in my journal about my first home practice effort, I thought, what a wonderful blog post this would make, so here we are!
In all my years of practicing yoga, I’ve never practiced at home. Sure I would hang out in child’s pose after a long day or do some stretches if my body felt tight, but I never attempted to go through a vinyasa in my house, let alone a whole practice. I’m not really sure why. I guess I just figured I wouldn’t benefit me as much as going to an actual hot yoga class and that it would just waste my time. Depending on how crazy my life was, sometimes weeks would go by without me practicing because I simply didn’t have time to make it to any class.
While there is something to be said about getting your butt-kicked in a heated room with toxin filled sweat coming out of you amongst the energy of your fellow yogis, my first home practice benefitted me in a completely different way. I’ve conquered the quieting my mind in class, but trying to quiet my mind at home was some kind of other challenge. No one was here, nothing going on at my house was there to distract me and yet I was concerned with dirty dishes, a filled inbox and writing contracts.
When you go to a yoga class, not only are those distractions gone (physically, not always mentally), but you don’t have access to them. Once you’ve made it to a class, you can’t just get up and do a load of laundry. At home, you have to quiet your mind on another level. You have to accept and appreciate that this hour is truly for you and that you don’t have to be doing work or cleaning the house even though those responsibilities right there nagging at you.
What this made me realize, is that those aren’t the only responsibilities I have and in fact, the most important one (or what should be the most important one) is taking care of myself. I know that I need to keep myself together physically and mentally in order to be useful and helpful to everyone around me, actually doing that though is another story. Definitely something I struggle with, but I’m working on it! It was empowering to know that I was choosing yoga, I was choosing myself amongst on the chaos. I wasn’t running away from it to escape to class. It was all right there in front of me and I was still taking care of myself.
So, if you don’t think you have time for yoga today, think again. Grab your mat and find just a bit of space within the craziness of life for yourself.
Namaste =)
<3 Allyn
