Cultivating a Home Practice: 12 Tips to Get You to Your Yoga Mat

An hour of yoga a day keeps the doctor away, or so they say. But most of us have days where it’s just not that easy to find the time, energy, or motivation to get to the mat. 

Blogger Erica Rodefer decided to turn to the Twittersphere to hear from other people how they motivate themselves to practice at home when they’re in a rut. Here are some of the most insightful and helpful answers.

1. “Re home practice: Schedule it like you would an appointment. I also have 10 diff playlists ready to stay fresh, plan asanas before the practice.”

2. “Set goals! Something that can be measured, maybe a particular pose you are striving for & work on it X times per week.”

3. “Keep it simple and see what unfolds. allow yourself to be playful and work on specific poses. when in doubt, Ashtanga. :o) ”

4. “I value just showing up and responding to how I *really* feel with the postures. That’s how I stay connected to home practice.”

5. ”Home practice allows you to practice what you need. It’s addicting.”

6. ”It helps to invite someone over to practice w you. My sister-in-law and I have a standing date every Thursday night! #yoga”

7.  “I’m having trouble with this [at the moment], so pls share the responses 🙂 Music always helps me when I don’t feel motivated to practice.”

8.  “To stay motivated I remind myself how good I will feel after I practice. Hope that helps 🙂 “

9. “When I feel stuck I just sit on my mat and breathe. Eventually, the asana will come. Or sometimes I simply sit. This morning instead of practicing right away I read a yoga book for a little while then eased into movement. The other thing I like to do is put a DVD in and be led that way.”

10. “This is so interesting to me. Home practice is my favorite way to go! I find stillness in my home far easier than anywhere else. It’s ritual, it’s personal, and I can wear whatever the hell I want. =) “

11. “When wavering, I do a dog pose. Saying to myself, it’ll be just that, a long dog pose, that’s it. But somehow it always lures me into the practice 🙂 “

12. “I try a simple asana pose and yet the most important ones. There are around five of them then I choose 2-3.”

Erica Rodefer is a writer and yoga teacher living in Charleston, SC. As the former online editor for Yoga Journal magazine, she lived and breathed yoga at work and at home. She practiced with amazing teachers every day, went to yoga conferences, and had a supportive environment to live her yoga. Now, she’s trying to navigate yoga in the real world, and blogs about her journey to find contentment and live in the present, no matter what. Her loves include yoga, writing, crafting, her cat Gracey, and her dog Penny.