Top Tips for Practising Yoga At Home

Doing yoga at home is all the rage these days and it's never been easier. With the availability of well put together DVDs that will support you through every pose, it's the ideal exercise for keeping bones strong and muscles supple. It's become an essential for many athletes due to its low impact toning and strength building advantages.

Here are some top tips for practicing yoga at home so that you can get the best from it:

Make some space

First off, give yourself enough room to be able to stretch out. You may need to move some furniture to the side so that you have enough space. Ideally your surroundings should be clean and peaceful. Some yoga at home practitioners enjoy decorating their yoga space with items that give them that peaceful feel good factor.

Invest in your equipment

A yoga mat is essential for comfortable exercising. With yoga mats on the market for everybody, you'll find a variety of styles, colours and prices. You may also want to invest in a yoga blanket that can be used to keep warm during relaxations. This can double up as a support for some of the poses.

Purchase your instruction

You don't need to spend out on a private tutor these days. There is a variety of yoga instruction DVDs on the market. A qualified teacher will take you through the moves and the benefit of using a DVD is that you can stop it playing whenever you like to readjust your position.

Read up

In addition to your DVD you may like to learn more about your new exercise technique. A wide range of yoga books and flash cards provide handy reference material and magazines can provide inspiration. The yoga community can be found online too, on blog sites, online magazines and in discussion forums. Another source of education are podcasts that are downloadable. Covering many different levels and interests, it's possible to learn more about what's new in the yoga world.

You can go mobile with your yoga

If you have to travel for work or leisure, you can easily take your yoga with you. The DVD will play on your laptop and it's not a lot of effort to pack your yoga mat into your travel bag.

Start off gently

When you start out with yoga at home, you should start slowly. Even 15 minutes can be plenty to get going with. Your body may not be used to stretching and your muscles will need a chance to adjust. Yoga was not created as a fitness method, but more as a way to stay supple and be in touch with the divine. Take it easy at first and you'll soon adjust to the moves and enjoy the benefits.

Set the scene

Many people enjoy listening to good music during their practice. You may want to set up speakers so that you can play something soothing in the background as you stretch out and go through your moves. After you've gone through your stretches, then it's time to mediate and relax. Meditation provides many benefits including stress relief, lower blood pressure and you can become more in touch with your intuition.