Yoga is a great way to relax, relieve stress and keep fit. However, not every person has the opportunity to regularly attend group classes. An alternative would be home workouts. And although many believe that they are impossible and ineffective, you can still get the most out of this idea. In this article, you will learn how to do yoga at home.
Bit of theory
Perhaps every modern person knows what yoga is. This is an ancient practice that came to us from mysterious India. It gives health to the body and soul of a person. Regular exercises can relieve insomnia, normalize blood pressure, relieve tension from the muscles of the body, teach you how to relax and breathe properly. In order to feel all these benefits on yourself, it is not necessary to immerse yourself in the philosophy of learning and spend a lot of time on training and meditation.
It is enough to follow the simple rules of proper nutrition, breathing, movement and thinking, and the body will find balance, harmony with the outside world and with itself, learn to focus on important things and phenomena.
There are eight stages of yoga. They, in turn, are divided into two parts. The first four steps are hatha yoga. The remaining four are related to raja yoga. It is the first part that can be mastered at home.
Rules for Beginners
Before starting the question of how to start doing yoga at home, we’ll introduce a few rules for beginners:
- Classes require systematic, so you need to set yourself up for regular practice.
- In order to start doing yoga on your own at home, you need to prepare the space. The room should be spacious, well ventilated, unfriendly. All asanas are recommended to be performed on a non-slip rug, barefoot.
- Classes are held on an empty stomach, or two hours after a meal. Nearby it is advisable to keep a bottle of water and a towel. Fluid intake during yoga practice is also an important point.
- During training, nothing should be distracting. Therefore, it is better to turn off the phones or put them into silent mode. For more relaxation, you can use quiet, unobtrusive music. It is necessary to concentrate as much as possible on internal sensations and breathing.
- Good mood and well-being are also determining factors for homework.
Contraindications
Yoga in physical realization is a set of exercises. And, like any gymnastics, it has its contraindications. Therefore, before setting a goal, how to start doing yoga at home, you need to consult a doctor. Contraindications may include:
- mental disorders,
- inguinal hernia
- postoperative period
- exacerbation of diseases of internal organs,
- viral infections
- heart disease, heart attack, stroke (first year),
- intracranial pressure,
- injuries of the spine, joints.
For women, classes during critical days and pregnancy are prohibited.
A couple of lessons from a professional or a video course
If there are no significant contraindications, all the rules are understood and observed, then another reasonable question arises with the condition. How to start doing yoga from scratch, if the arsenal is only theoretical knowledge. And yoga is a practice that requires the correct execution of movements, proper relaxation and breathing. Of course, if it is impossible to attend classes with an instructor, you can give preference to home training, but in this case it is also necessary to conduct at least a couple of classes with a professional individually. This is necessary in order to feel your body, your abilities. If this “mission is impossible”, then you can get by with video tutorials.
It is quite normal if from the very beginning some asanas will not work. Do not be angry with yourself, at the lack of flexibility and stretching. All this comes with time. Many video courses talk about this. The main thing is that during yoga you do not feel pain. Only relaxation and immersion in yourself.
Find like-minded people
To increase the effectiveness of training, you can become a member of thematic forums, social networks, virtual communities, where the same people ask how to do yoga at home, share experiences, and tips.
Perhaps you will be able to find such like-minded people with whom, in parallel, even online, you can do yoga, help each other, correct each other's mistakes.
In addition, you will know about yoga events in your city and be able to attend them, discover something new, meet new people.
Warn relatives
Many people ask how to do yoga at home if there is no way to retire. Interfere with children, relatives, in the end, the neighbors are noisy. All of these points can be easily resolved. For example, to conduct trainings when the children sleep. Or, if they are already over three years old, you can explain what yoga classes are, and agree with them about silence for 30-40 minutes. If this does not fit, you can use the game option. Children will stand nearby and repeat the movements behind you. Of course, this will decrease the concentration of attention. But children will soon lose interest in your activities.
It’s better to just warn relatives so that they don’t disturb while the lesson lasts. Well, the neighbors are not always noisy, so you can choose the time to put relaxing music and enjoy the harmony of body and soul, solitude with yourself.
Morning exercises are the most effective
If you are seriously thinking about how to do yoga at home, for beginners it is better to choose the time in the morning. The body is not yet accustomed to a certain load, so it will feel lighter and more cheerful in the morning. And such a charge is the best start to any day. She will set you up correctly and help you gather your thoughts, balance your emotions. In the evening, fatigue may appear, the desire to just lie down, watch a movie and relax after a working day.
An exception can only be for people-owls, in which physical activity increases in the late afternoon. They stay up late, so training can be done 2-3 hours before bedtime.
Reward yourself
It is very difficult for those who really think how to start doing yoga at home correctly to find motivation. In this case, you can use the old method of rewards. This will help develop a fast and reliable habit and need for training. After each lesson, you can use any trifle as a reward for yourself: an element of cosmetics or some goodies. The main thing is that it pleases you.
Yoga classes can also include access to the spa with appropriate relaxing treatments. This will be both a pleasant reward and a useful continuation of the practice of relaxing and focusing on one's own sensations.
Useful Tips
- Yoga is the same gymnastics, only deeper and more meaningful. In order not to harm yourself, you do not have to go as bad as you can and try complex asanas right away like a headstand, twine or bridge. First you need to try something simple, something that is subject to your body, and only then move on to more complex elements.
- Begin with a warm-up. Just do not make sharp and intense movements. This part of the training is smooth in yoga and is accompanied by deep breathing. It is important to gently stretch all muscles, joints, ligaments in order to exclude injuries when performing asanas.
- Yoga for beginners includes simple elements aimed at strengthening the muscles of the back and abdomen, arms and legs, as well as balancing. When constructing a program and deciding how to do yoga at home, it is important to pay attention to such asanas such as "Stork", "Tree", "Bow", "Dog face down", " Baby's pose ", etc. Indians themselves are the basis of any activity yoga is considered "Greeting to the sun." This is a simple bundle of exercises, which includes elements for stretching, and for strengthening muscles, and for developing flexibility of the back.
The main thing when doing the exercises is not to rush, do everything meaningfully, thoughtfully, at the same time monitor breathing and movement. Only such a synchronization of mental and physical activity provides the effectiveness and beneficial effect of practice.
Reviews
In the question of how to do yoga at home, beginners are not alone. Currently, more and more people are joining this practice or are willing to join. However, not everyone has the opportunity to do so. Not enough time or money for individual or group classes. There may be more reasons, but the essence is one. People are eager to do and want to know if yoga can be practiced at home. Of course! But here no one will stand above you, show how to do it right, how to breathe, draw up a training program. All this work will fall on your shoulders. And you need to be prepared for this.
On the Internet, you can find more than one informative story, reviews of those people who have already overcome the question barrier and found answers by implementing the practice of yoga at home. Of course, they do not recommend or impose their position. However, their stories can be examples of patience, determination, self-discipline.
You can also find useful information from these reviews. For example, it is better to conduct classes for beginners three times a week for half an hour. Then, when a need arises, you can increase the number of trainings. Also experienced self-taught yogis provide useful links to video tutorials. Among these, one can note the recordings of Karina Kharchinskaya, Louise Ciar, Rachel Zinman - professional hatha yoga instructors whose personal channels can be found on YouTube.
For those who are interested in how to lose weight doing yoga at home, there are useful articles and reviews on nutrition. As well as a complex of asanas that effectively affect the metabolic processes of a person, contributing to increased muscle tone and weight loss. Is this not motivation for the fair sex? Without exhausting yourself with strict diets and hard training in the gym to achieve ideal forms, and even with benefits for the body.
Conclusion
Doing yoga is necessary and beneficial. Even many many adherents of traditional medicine concur in this opinion today. It is difficult to list all the useful properties that this practice has. Of course, there are contraindications. But even with the right approach, they can be circumvented, smoothed out without harming oneself.
In this article, we got acquainted with simple methods and features of the decision, how to do yoga at home, how to motivate ourselves to health and success. However, do not limit yourself to four walls. Sometimes you can practice yoga in nature. This will make your stay deeper and more effective.