Easy Ways to Deepen Your Home Practice
First off, congratulations for taking these steps to want to continue to bring yoga into your life, especially your home life! As a teacher, I understand how difficult it can be to start and deepen your at home yoga and meditation practice. Because I too have struggled with my own home practice, I decided to compile together a list of things you can do in order to invite a more constant practice into your life. It is so important to have a nice, tranquil area for you and your practice so keep these things in mind while you venture out to create your sanctuary!
Creating your space
Find the Location
Ideally, if you can find someplace in your home, that is the most comfortable and private. While looking around, find an area that you can have, uninterrupted, and out of the way so nothing can change the energy of your second home. It does not have to be a large an extravagant place — just something you can call your new sanctuary. I personally use this little nook by my bed and it works perfectly.Create an Altar
I can’t tell you how to do this, because everyone is incredibly different, but some things to keep in mind are a small table, a nice cover for the table, candles, incense, music, a statue (if you follow any specific religion), soft lighting and anything else that makes you feel cozy. With my altar, I always have several crystals, candles, and a few goddess statues to remind me of my own inner goddess nature, and to restore peace and tranquility within my own world.
You created your space, great! Now what?
Create Boundaries
And hold yourself accountable to them! If you have a beautiful family, ask them to respect your time. And make sure you respect it too by putting your phone away. It is incredibly easy to be distracted by outside forces so if you tell yourself it’s yoga-time and whoever you live with knows that, it becomes so much easier. Simply communicate! And create time and space for yourself. I personally live alone but I make sure to hold myself accountable for the benefit of my own practice.
Be Kind To Yourself
Just know that even if you get on your mat for only five, fifteen, or thirty minutes…that is way better than no time at all! We have the tendency to hold ourselves to unrealistic standards — especially if you’re a parent, sometimes you only get what you get, and that is fine! Maybe invite the children next time? But otherwise just watch your mental script. If you didn’t get on your mat when you wanted to, that is fine. Make time for later in the day. But don’t allow that to spiral into a bad habit where you never return to your mat. I had a hard time with my consistent practice because I would allow my mind chatter to push me off my mat! How silly!
Once you complete these simple steps, I hope that you noticed how easier it might feel to want to step on your mat. It is all about creating that space for yourself — so now that it is there, don’t let it go! The simple secret to how to deepen your at home practice is to just do it and create a space where you feel comfortable to go to all depths of yourself!