DO TRY THIS AT HOME

As I've surely said before, yoga teachers must be the only people who work to make themselves redundant... since the idea is to teach, encourage and inspire all our students until they are confident enough to practice on their own, at home (or anywhere they fancy)! Of course we hope that our students love our classes so much that they will come back anyway just for the shared yoga experience - or Satsang. It's also good for even the most experienced yogi to show up at class occasionally, just for a few alignment cues. Sometimes you can get a little complacent and develop bad habits, and a good teacher can remind you kindly when that's happening.

For those who feel you just wouldn't have a clue where to begin or just keep putting off the idea of practicing yoga at home, help is at hand. In fact a mere click away! (See below). Recently I contributed ideas on postures you can do at home or work to the British Heart Foundation magazine, Heart Matters. These are suitable for anyone of any level, including beginners, but they make a good starting point for anyone, a reminder that you can always fit in yoga to your day.

So what's the excuse? No room for a yoga mat? No time? So check out the piece on yoga you can do while sitting - at the desk or in the kitchen, so there's no excuse for not being fit!  See Rainy Day Desk Yoga

For some ideas of gentle yoga postures you can do at home - and some other exercises for good measure, see Get active indoors

And for those who need more of a guiding hand, or a bit more Satsang, I am running an afternoon workshop at Yoga Junction, Crouch End, London N8, with sequences, suggestions and tons of encouragement and handouts to inspire and nudge you into developing you own self practice at home! Hope to see you there! 

Yoga anywhere: Sadly we will not be out in the sun for the workshop in April,
but it might just inspire you to take your yoga with you wherever you go!

Reluctant yogi?

Is this you? ‘What a beautiful morning! I’ll get up, do some sun salutations to set me up for the day …’ Just as you make your way to the available clear patch of floor in your home, the aroma of coffee wafts up from the kitchen… and you’re lured off to relax with a read over breakfast instead.

Later that day: ‘Right, I’m going to set aside 30 minutes for a few heating twists before dinner.’ You slip into your yoga gear, decide what to practice and your friend/partner summons you to see something on telly or a friend phones, or child returns and before you know it…..you’ve missed the moment.

That night: ‘Tomorrow I will start my new yoga routine.’ You set the alarm. Drift off to sleep. Alarm rings. That time already? It’s cold, dark… blanket slides over head and there you stay for another hour, rushing to work and the other duties of the day without stopping to breathe.

Sound familiar? Home practice doesn’t have to be a ‘chore’ it is fun, it makes you feel really good! It just fits in… if you let it.

You can squeeze in a few joint warm ups, wrist and ankle rotations, gentle side lengthening postures and roll ups and roll-downs before your shower… before the coffee even goes cold! Shake off that groggy morning feeling with simple breathing exercises, or a few rounds of Kapalabhati to clear the head.

Later that day... Try sitting on the floor (or folded blanket to raise the sitting bones) with a lengthened spine, extending though your legs while watching TV. Then add some gentle seated postures. Janu sirsanasa and Maricyasana style forwards bends and twists and even a few gentle back bends, such as cobra. You'll feel less creaky than if you heaved yourself off the sofa. And if you are truly feeling exhausted, then put yourself into a supported restorative posture and give yourself a little breathing space.

The dark, cold morning scenario is tricky, but once you are up and moving, you will feel so much better. You can incorporate some spine lengthening postures and hip flexor warm-ups before you even leave the comfort of your bed (depending on the willingness of bed sharer!) Try half happy baby (or full) or supta baddha konasana (soles of feet together and maybe pillows under knees) or a few rounds of apanasana (hugging knees to chest on the exhale) and even gentle supine twists while lying in bed. Then you will be raring and warmed up ready for your sun salutations or just a few warriors to get you fighting fit for the day.

Need more inspiration and encouragement? Come along to a Developing your self practice workshop next month with me. I'll give you tips, ideas and some easy to follow sequences to fit in no matter what your schedule and mood!
Saturday November 22nd − 3pm to 5pm at the Yoga Body Centre in Clapton, north east London.
*See the Workshop link above for more details.

Self practice

Yoga teachers are probably the only people who aim to make themselves redundant! Or at least to encourage students to start self practising. Even really experienced yogis still come to classes for the social side or for inspiration, but a good teacher aims to encourage her (or his) class to do their own thing. So off you go then.

Not sure where to begin? OK, here’s a little checklist of things you need
to start self practice.
1 Will power!
2 Somewhere big enough, and clean enough, to practice.
3 Knowledge of what to do when, and how to do it safely…so postures to avoid at certain times of the month or with particular health conditions or injuries you have.

No 2 sounds trivial but is probably the most important in a way. Years ago in my BWY Foundation class, the instructor asked us to discuss the main thing that prevented us from getting up and doing sun salutations or some other yoga at home. One student sighed and said his flat was too small: “I can’t raise my hands above me or out to the sides, and there is no space to lie on the floor.” We all laughed at him… but I remembered that whenever I was in down dog at home I found myself examining the dust under the furniture and wanted to stop and vacuum. Clearly I wasn’t very adept at focusing within — or pratyahara — withdrawal of the senses, as it’s known in yoga!

 But you don’t need a lot of room. One of my students recently drove an ambulance to Syria and asked for some yoga sequences she could do, that didn’t require her to touch the floor as there wouldn’t be anything other than dust, and preferably things she could do in the confines of the ambulance cab! We worked something out (mostly seated twists, stretches and joint rotations). And as for the guy in the tiny flat — he took up meditation to create space in his life.

My kids were always good about letting me do yoga at home, though they would copy me, jump all over me or generally try to get involved. The only thing I couldn’t do with them around was meditate. But now they are teenaged, meditation has come into its own, to take my mind off the clock, wondering when they will be back from a night out!

Self practice can be just 10 minutes in the morning, seated twists at the desk, or pranayama before bed… and if you need some more ideas and inspiration, and you’re in London, funnily enough I am running a workshop Sunday November 10th at the Yoga Body Centre, E5. 12.30pm-2.30pm. http://www.yogabodycentre.co.uk/