Tips for Practicing Yoga at Home

Establishing a home yoga practice is a great way to keep your body and mind at ease. Yes, it can sometimes test your patience, and you might not be able to touch the floor during that first — or 15th — session.

But the beauty of yoga is that if you keep at it, you can eventually improve your physical and mental health.

How to start doing yoga at home

When you’re doing yoga for the first time, it helps to remember that it’s not just a physical exercise. It’s also a mental exercise that challenges your focus, concentration, determination and stamina. For some, it can be a spiritual practice, too.

“Yoga is about being in the moment. Not competing, not judging, but listening to our bodies,” says yoga specialist Johanna Goldfarb, MD, E-RYT 200.

“It’s about developing the practice of doing the best you can each day. Some days are balanced. Some days, we’re not as flexible. But each time you practice, you learn a little bit more about yourself and your body.”

Dr. Goldfarb recommends the following tips to create a home yoga space with the right flow.

Setting up your home yoga area

A dedicated yoga spot can help you get the most out of the exercise. Look to create an area that’s:

• Quiet to help you clear your mind and to focus
• Free of clutter to ensure there’s enough room for you to move safely
• Stocked with a yoga mat and props to help with balance and stability

“Having a beautiful view or pictures to look at can also help soothe the mind while you’re doing yoga,” says Dr. Goldfarb. “When holding poses and concentrating on looking in one direction, it really helps to have something beautiful to look at.”

Building your practice

Learning proper technique is essential for starting your own yoga practice.

“Take enough classes to learn the proper alignment in each position and avoid injury,” advises Dr. Goldfarb. “If you can’t get to a class, there are plenty of free, online videos and tutorials to watch.”

When you’re ready to create a basic yoga flow, it’s up to you to decide what poses you want to follow. You don’t have to do a 30- or 60-minute flow-based session every time. You can do a couple of yoga poses and meditate. You can stretch and do breathwork. Or you can meditate the entire time.

“The ultimate goal is to create a practice that serves you and your needs,” encourages Dr. Goldfarb.

For beginners, she adds that it helps to start by focusing on your breath as you loosen the muscles in your head, neck and shoulders. Then, move slowly through each pose as you work your way down your body.

Example of at-home yoga flow

An example of a basic at-home yoga flow might look like:

• Warm-ups: More advanced practitioners might start their practice with sun salutations. But beginners might want to start with simple breathwork. Take a couple of minutes to breathe through your nose and get in the right mindset with head and neck stretches.
• Standing poses: Mountain pose, warrior pose 1 and 2, chair pose and forward folds continue to warm up and prepare your entire body while also working on your balance and stability.
• Balancing poses: Tree pose, half-moon pose and more advanced balancing poses like downward dog continue your practice by deepening your stretches and targeting different areas of your upper and lower body.
• Floor poses: Coming down to your mat, poses like cat-cow, sunbird, boat pose, locust and plank help strengthen your core and back.
• Cool-down: End your beginner yoga flow with any comfortable pose that allows you to lie still for a couple of minutes. The goal is to focus on the present moment and breathe, bringing awareness to how you feel in your body. A popular way to do this is to lie flat on your back for savasana or with your knees bent and just touching.

“When your mind wanders, as it likely will, bring your attention back to how you’re breathing,” instructs Dr. Goldfarb.

Other poses to try at home

There are a ton of poses and stretches to work through once you nail down your beginner flow. Each will target different parts of your body while also challenging your mind, heart and spirit as you build on previous practices.

But Dr. Goldfarb cautions that advanced poses — especially backbends or inversions — should never be done alone unless you learn them from an instructor first before trying them, as these can lead to serious injury. If you’re determined to try a challenging pose, look for modifications until you know that your body is ready to handle the advanced version.

Other popular poses include:

• Triangle pose
• Upward-facing dog
• Warrior 3

The importance of alignment

Sure, you won’t have an instructor at home to offer assistance. But there are simple things that you can do to protect your body as you practice, starting with alignment.

“The basis of alignment is that your joints are in a safe physiological position,” says Dr. Goldfarb. “Ideally, your ears are over your shoulders and chin is parallel to the floor. Your torso is straight in most poses, but the lower back remains with a gentle curve, shoulders stacked over your hips.”

In mountain pose, for example, your hips should be lined up over your knees, and your knees should be straight, not locked, over your ankles.

Dr. Goldfarb recommends practicing poses in the mirror so you can see your alignment and adjust accordingly. And if you’re not sure of proper alignment for a pose, return to a class for further instruction.

Listen to your body

Remember, if something doesn’t feel right, stop.

“A gentle stretch is OK, but pain in a joint is a red flag,” emphasizes Dr. Goldfarb. “Stretch as you inhale and relax into a pose as you exhale, but don’t push yourself beyond your limits. As you continue to practice more, you’ll get deeper into these poses over time, never pushing.”