Yoga Home Practice How-To

If you struggle with mobility at the gym, you may want to consider adding yoga to your routine. If you’ve never tried yoga, I suggests you take a couple of classes just to get the feel of it. After that, anyone can develop a home practice. For example, I do 15-20 minutes of yoga each morning.

As with any new habit, it is best to start small and work your way up to your home practice goal. I had a yoga instructor who once told me that a home practice only needs two sun salutations and a gentle twist.

Those two sets of exercises move every part of the body and can be enough to quiet the  mind. With that routine, I only needed five minutes a day so I decided to try it. I didn’t have trouble sticking to five minutes a day and soon I started to add moves to address specific aches, (e.g. a stretch to mobilize my hips after running the day before). Before I knew it I was doing yoga for ten minutes and then fifteen. That’s all I need to stay mobile and centered most of the day.

Should you want some other specific routines, I’m going to include two of my favourites (day and night,) from Essential Yoga. Usually I don’t like republishing other yogi’s routines, but this book is now out of print and can be difficult to find and expensive to purchase. Try it out and feel free to send me a comment about your results. As with any exercise, if you have specific injuries or health concerns, it is best to consult your doctor and chiropractor before beginning. Namaste.