Chapter 12 : Yoga Exercise at Home

Yoga at Home – How to Get Started with Your Yoga Workout

If you have decided to start participating in yoga as a way to get fit, then you have chosen an ideal exercise. Not only is yoga great for your body, but it can be a wonderful stress and relaxation method. Yoga has been shown to be extremely helpful for many health issues including Asthma and back pain.

Your Yoga Room

To get started with yoga at home you want to set yourself up a yoga area or yoga room. This will be a quiet place that you can exercise in without being disturbed. The basic equipment you will need to get started with includes:

  • Yoga mat
  • Yoga DVD or Book
  • Towel
  • Bottle of Water

As you become more advanced you might wish to start using yoga blocks and straps in your routine.

The Basics of Your Yoga Workout

When you first start practicing yoga you should concentrate on learning the basics first. This includes how to hold each pose and very importantly how to breathe correctly. At first these are the only two things that you should be focusing on.

When you have the basic yoga poses down then you can start adding additional movements. At this time you can start including some form of yoga meditation if you wish. Many people like to include this at the end of their yoga session. Meditating helps you to relax and rejuvenates your body before heading back to your daily schedule.

Setting Up Your Yoga Schedule

When you first start your yoga workout you should only spend a few minutes on each

pose. If you can't manage very much at first, don't worry, your body will adapt quickly.

During your first week try to practice yoga for 15 minutes each session and aim for two to three sessions each week.

As you become more accomplished then increase this time to 30 minutes each time.  A good routine to follow is one that includes lots of stretching. Then you want to get into poses and hold each one for as long as you can. The seconds will turn into minutes if you keep persevering!

In  time  you  can  then  add  a  session  where  you  do  standing  and  seated  poses separately. You can practice yoga every day if you wish. If you go this route then use three days a week to do a shorter yoga workout. Then aim for a longer and more intense workout on the other four days.

Because you are practicing yoga at home, you don't have to worry about missing classes or taking a shorter class. Do what your body feels comfortable with as much as possible. Don't feel bad about taking a day off, rest up and relax by taking a hot bubble bath. Then resume your schedule again.

Once you have your home yoga area set up, use it to your advantage. Why not see if you can get your spouse or boyfriend to workout with you? Yoga for men is on the rise and they might just discover how much they can enjoy doing a yoga workout with you!

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