What to Practice at Home

So you hear about other people practicing outside of class but you don’t think that it is not for you, the elusive, mythical “Home Practice”.

To encourage my beginning students to practice at home, I ask them to practice 1 or 2 poses from class every day until they attend another class. It is not necessary to attend class every day, but daily practice is highly encouraged.

Some students may not be able to attend class at a regular interval; it could be weeks between classes but at least they have been practicing a couple of poses until they return.

Different people have different reactions to the same pose. Use your home practice to truly discover how you react to the poses.

The fourth Niyama, Svadhyaya, the education of the self; drawing out the best that is within a person. Don’t go by what you have read in a book or told by others.

One person may find Sirsasana (headstand) to be relaxing, mind clearing and restful. Another person may be stressed by the thought of Sirsasana (headstand) finding the pose creates anxiety and fear.

Just like some people can drink coffee after dinner and fall asleep and others cannot drink coffee past noon without being up all night.

Practice mindfully; think about what you are doing, how your body and mind react to the poses. This is much easier to do when alone without the distractions of the teacher or classmates.

Many times a teacher will give a student a sequence or group of poses to assist with relieving an illness, pain or injury.

Patricia Walden said “Don’t practice therapeutically, only.”

Sometimes one’s practice will become very narrow, consisting of only a handful of poses. A couple of times a week practice other poses in addition to your therapeutic sequence. Don’t be afraid to practice alone. Have fun. Discover. Explore. Expand. Develop. Open up.

More about Svadhyaya - Light of Yoga – BKS Iyengar pg. 38

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