Deepen Your Practice: 8 Steps to a Powerful Home Practice

Whether you are a dedicated yoga student or a yoga teacher, home practice is essential to your yogic journey. On a fundamental level, a home practice allows you to explore the avenues of yoga you are interested in. On a deeper level, a home yoga practice lets you work through any issues that plague you and help you rediscover yourself.

For serious yoga practitioners, all you may have to go on for home practice is what you have learned in group classes. Yoga teachers who have completed a thorough teacher training program have an advantage, as they know how to put together various sequences and the resources to review from their teacher training manuals. However, these manuals are not all-inclusive and are mainly used as a launching blueprint to help newly trained teachers.

Another consideration is inspiration. Sometimes, we question, “What will I work on in my home practice?” Yes! Even yoga teachers, like dedicated yogis, can step onto their mats and be stumped.

The Link Between Home Practice and Teaching Yoga

If you are a yoga teacher and do not have a home practice, it is absolutely necessary to start one. Not only will you be present in the physical practice of yoga, but you will excel in sequencing and embodying the sequence.

Many teachers can spontaneously whip up a sequence as they stand before a class. Is this wrong? No. However, having done both professionally, I believe having a practiced plan is the way to go. Through home practice, you can feel the sequence in your body as you teach, which makes you much more specific and detail-oriented.

That’s who I am as a teacher. I want to know what my students are feeling in the practice and how each posture affects the sequence as the sequence progresses. I often write a sequence, use it as a home practice, and then realize how many adjustments need to be made because something was missing or, energetically, the poses were misguided. However, my norm is to use my home practice to inspire my teaching. It works both ways. The constant is the home practice part.

Why Do Home Practices Fail?

Students and teachers typically fall off the home practice wagon when they can’t create the time for it and when it isn’t satisfying—Cat-Cow, Child’s Pose, Downward-Facing Dog, bored, walk away. Creating a powerful and satisfying home practice helps to keep you coming back to the mat every day. Power does not necessarily mean power moves or reaching the peak posture; enjoyable does not mean a sweaty, four-hour practice.

Powerful practices can keep you balanced, healthy, and interested. A satisfying practice fits into your life, fulfills you emotionally, and leaves you whole once you get up from Savasana (Corpse Pose).

Key Steps for Your Home Yoga Practice​

1. Choose a time and place as your dedicated yoga space in your home.

   Schedule your practice on your phone and set your alarm so that whatever you are doing is put on hold to make time for you. The length of the practice can vary, but the start time should be the same. You don’t need a huge space—a quiet, intimate space like a small corner of your favorite room or a hallway. This is your sanctuary to practice and breathe.

2. Start with something you are interested in.

   Do you want to learn more about pranayama (breath awareness)? Backbends? Inversions? Creative use of props? Being interested in something relatively specific moves you onto your mat. Bring your notebook and a pen with you too! Let’s choose Handstand (Adho Mukha Vrksasana) because it’s interesting.

3. How do you want to explore Handstand (or fill in your interest here instead of Handstand)?

   There is an emotional approach where you sit on your mat and journal about Handstands. They seem fun, playful, terrifying and never going to happen. I’m optimistic, etc. How about an anatomical approach to figuring out which muscle groups are working? A fascinating way to explore asanas (physical postures) physically is to find poses that mimic the Handstand. In this case, we would choose Mountain Pose (Tadasana), Upward-Facing Salute (Urdva Hastasana), Plank, Low Lunge, Downward-Facing Dog, Standing Split, etc.

   

4. You have written down a bunch of different poses that will help you form a handstand.

   Which ones do you use? Use all of them for longer practices, and choose just a few in shorter practices. Remember, your home practice doesn’t mean you will hit that peak pose daily. You are using poses that keep your body tuned daily to the possibility of moving into a Handstand a week from when you begin your practice, a month, five years, or longer. The beauty of a home practice is that there is no time limit.

5. Part two of choosing poses for your home practice

   Move from the easiest pose on your body to the pose that strains the body if you place it first on your list. I’m a Handstand addict. I practice them a lot, and I can do it on demand. However, if you ask my body which pose is more demanding, the Handstand or the Downward-Facing Dog, my body would answer the Handstand so that I would place the Downward-Facing Dog before the Handstand. How about Intense Side Stretch (Parsvottanasana) or Downward-Facing Dog? Parsvottanasana is more demanding, so once again, Downward-Facing Dog precedes Parsvottansana. Downward-Facing Dog versus Supine Big-Toe Pose (Supta Padangusthasana), Downward-Facing Dog is more challenging so Supine Big-Toe Pose goes first. With just these four poses, a mini-sequence would look like this: Supine Big-Toe Pose, Downward Facing Dog, Intense Side Stretch, and Handstand.

   Please remember that a mini-sequence like this would be for someone who has years of consistent yoga practice and has done Handstands in the past. For someone just starting to embark on the road to Handstand, a short sequence of Supine Big-Toe Pose, flowing back and forth slowly between Plank and Downward-Facing Dog, Intense Side Stretch, and either Legs Up the Wall or L-shaped Handstand preparation (Downward-Facing Dog with the hands on the floor and feet on the wall to create half a handstand. Hands are approximately one leg’s distance away from the wall). You can create various mini-sequences, a 30-minute sequence, and a 60-minute sequence that you alternate practicing for the month or year.

   

6. As you begin your sequence, be kind to your body as it warms up.

   Be sure to do the same as you end your practice, especially if it is long and vigorous. Try Cat-Cow, rolling the wrists out, spinal twist, Legs Up the Wall, and, of course, followed by Savasana.

7. You may not have two hours to practice, but that is just fine.

   It does not make you less of a yogi!! Throw out the illusion that practices must be at least 75 or 90 minutes long. You know your schedule best. Each day has a different practice length with a modified sequence according to your scheduled time. Schedule your practice, and yes, set your alarm. Take a few minutes to prepare and practice.

8. After Savasana, take a minute to absorb the essence of your practice.

   This portion of the home practice induces the satisfying part of why it is essential to have a home practice. This time for reflection allows you to embody the sensations after your practice, which may include feeling complete, rising to the challenge, or a sense of relaxation. This can keep you returning to your practice day after day.

Loving Your Practice

This process keeps your home practice fresh, logical, and satisfying. You might alter your sequences throughout your home practice sessions after making some discoveries or extra space in your body. You can keep track of your practice and use these notes while teaching to encourage and inspire your students.

As a serious yoga student, you can track your progress. Your sequences may evolve into more complex poses or inspire you to deepen your yogic knowledge through teacher training. There are many avenues to explore in a home practice. Get on your mat, get interested, and get to work. It is the most powerful and satisfying work you can do yourself.