Never has home practice been more relevant, and possibly more important, than now. Regardless of the barrier to practicing in a studio- whether it be a pandemic lockdown, or just a busy life, there are numerous benefits to a home practice.
Of course there are challenges to practicing at home, however, if you set up your space, approach it with an open mind (not comparing it to in-studio practice), and stick to it for a while, it can become a very welcomed part of your weekly routine. In order to set yourself up for success, find a clean and tidy spot, free from distraction and with all props at hand. Make it like your own personal yoga shala!
Check out the article below to learn more about the well researched benefits of practicing at home.
There’s no place like home if you want to reap the most benefit from your yoga practice.
According to a recent study published in Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, frequency of home practice was a better predictor of positive health than how many classes a person attended weekly or how long someone practiced.
Researchers at the University of Maryland and the National Institutes of Health found that those yoga students who practiced at home reported more positive mindfulness, subjective well-being, BMI, fruit and vegetable consumption, vegetarian status, sleep, and fatigue.
“They were even more likely to eat their vegetables!,” Timothy McCall, M.D. a contributing medical editor for Yoga Journal, wrote in the Yoga for Healthy Living blog.
“The study bore out something else I’ve been teaching for years: when you combine the various tools in the yoga toolbox including asana, breathing practices, meditation and even study of yoga philosophy you tend to get even better results,” McCall added.
Combining different types of asana practice, such as vigorous and restorative poses also proved beneficial. And the study also found that older people experienced less fatigue than younger, but both improved with regular practice.
So not only is it better for your health to practice at home, but to vary your routine to include as many elements of the practice as you can.
The abstract is available here.
Article sourced from: https://www.yogajournal.com/tourblog/home-practice-promises-greater-benefits/
Composed by YJ Editors
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