How To Start Yoga By Yourself (At Home Beginners Guide)

I remember when I was a beginner and first started out on my yoga journey,”by myself” and this was before it began to dominate the online realm. I had heard great things, but had no clue what I was doing. I would spend an embarrassing few minutes trying and failing to get into the splits, feel defeated and call it quits for the day.

Resigning to the idea that I was just not born into a body that could stretch that way. (Too hard basket) Eventually I found a studio that I liked and this gave me a little more insight into what it was all about (I still couldn’t do anything that resembled the splits), but I still felt that as I needed the structure of a class and the guidance of a teacher in order to practice. This also kept me accountable, as even though my intentions were great, rarely did I follow through with a full hour when left to my own devices.

Over time as I started to reap  yogic rewards here and there; a slightly more flexible body and a hugely more stable state of mind. I really started to prioritise my practice. I didn’t just want to float around on my yoga high on the days when the studio timetable fitted, I wanted that buzz everyday. So it was time to start practicing at home. This is the great thing about yoga! When you are consistent, the ball starts rolling and then there really is no stopping it. Even if you don’t practice for sometime, you will ALWAYS come back to it. Once you know, you know.

Once I made a commitment to practicing at home, I realised it didn’t have to be an hour and a half every time. It didn’t have to be an hour. Even just fifteen minutes a day, and my world around me began to shift profoundly. It no longer mattered if I could make it to class or not. I could always find at least ten minutes to stretch the body and the mind, connect to the breath and the beauty of the present moment. The effects were phenomenal. How to start yoga by yourself is a beginner guide which will dive deep into all the things needed to start a good yoga practice from home.

We will break down the steps needed to be taken to set up a successful home yoga practice for beginners. It goes over what is needed, the type of space you want to create, the importance of scheduling a time and finding a videos online that can provide guidance until there is more confidence in practicing alone.

When you are practicing at home without support it is important that you listen to your body and take modifications when needed. Never be afraid to simply rest in Child’s Pose and don’t push yourself past your limits, as the body takes time to open up. The real benefits of yoga are the transformations you start to see off of the mat, and they will come with consistent practice. Trust the process and enjoy the ride.

Coming into a Table Top position, making sure that the wrists are in line with the shoulders and that the knees are in line with the hips. Spine is neutral, head and neck in one line, and the gaze is slightly down and towards the top edge of the mat. Inhale, drop the belly down, take the heart forward, arching the back, coming into Cow.

Exhale and move into Cat Pose by pushing into the palms, rounding the upper back, bringing the belly button back towards the spine and dropping the chin to the chest. Inhale, again coming forward, opening the chest. Exhale, pushing back, rounding the spine. It’s good to work through a few rounds of these Cat-Cow movements in order to warm up the spine and let it know we’re going to move into it.

This pose mobilises the spine, shoulders and the neck and is the perfect warm up for all levels of yogi. It is a gentle way of preparing the body and the spine for deeper stretches and is a safe way of relieving tension from the back.

Tuck the toes and push into the palms and take the hips up into Downward Facing Dog. Start by pedalling out the legs and bending the knees. Pushing down into the palms, fingers are spread wide and allow the head and neck to drop.

Downward Facing Dog is an opportunity to catch you breath and balance before moving onto the other side of the body during your flow.

Rise the right leg back and up, coming into a One Legged Downward Facing Dog.

It is very common to dump the weight of the body into the left shoulder here, but try to keep the shoulders square by pressing evenly into both hands.

Bend the right knee and come forward, transferring the weight into the hands and step in between the palms, coming into Low Lunge. Hands will frame either side of the front foot and you can use the fingertips for support. There is the option to rise the back knee or you can take it down for more support. Make sure that the neck and head are in line with the spine.

In Low Lunge you can start to work into the flexibility of the back hip flexor by squeezing the gluteus muscles. Try to keep the hips square, by sending the back hip forward.

Take the left palm and press it flat down into the earth and take the right arm. Spinning the chest open coming into an Revolved Side Angle. Gaze is up to the top hand. Really pressing down into the left palm and the ball of the back left foot. Take a breath, and open the chest more.

This pose strengthens and stretches legs, groin, hamstrings and at the same time opens the chest, the shoulders and the spine.

Spin the back foot down and cartwheel the arms, coming into a Warrior Two. The front toes are facing forward, and the back foot is in on an angle. Press down firmly into the outer blade of the back foot. Arms are extending long to the sides and as you exhale, drop a little deeper, staying low in the legs.

Warrior 2 is working deep into the strength of the legs and is particularly powerful if you energetically hug the legs together. This turns on the underside of the thighs and requires strength, determination and concentration. All of this is going on, while you are cultivating balance and groundedness.

Inhale and lean the torso forward and flip the front palm. Lean back, stretching the front hand up and back, coming into a Reverse Warrior. Stay low in the legs and find strength by hugging the feet to the midline, activating the underside of the thighs.

The key in Reverse Warrior is to stay low in the legs. It might seem like a reprieve and a moment to take rest after a strong Warrior 2, but keep in mind that the mind will often bow out before the body is ready, so see if you can stay low for a couple more breaths!

Cartwheel the arms down to the ground and push back into a Downward Facing Dog momentarily. Take a deep breath here and then move into Eight Limbed Salutation, also known as Knees-Chest-Chin Pose. Drop the knees directly down, take the chest down in between the palms and have the weight is in the hands. Hips and tailbone are staying up to the sky. Hugging the elbows in towards the body, with the chin slightly resting on the earth.

Knees-Chest-Chin Pose pose can seem tricky at first, but the key is to have the weight in the hands and to be drawing the elbows in towards the body. Everything else is relatively light and the chin is only gently resting on the mat.

Come down onto the belly and then slide forward into Upward Facing Dog. Make sure the shoulders are down away from the ears and draw the shoulder blades back and together. Exhale, and bend the elbows and lower the torso and forehead back down to the earth.

Here you are stretching and strengthening the spine and shoulders, toning the abdomen and opening the chest and lungs. The key is to really lift the chest and squeeze the shoulder blades back and together. There should be ample room between the shoulders and ears.

Push back into a Downward Facing Dog and then preparing to move into the other side of the body. Notice the difference between your first Downward Facing Dog of your practice and your last. When the body is stiff this pose can feel like a full workout, but as the body warms and opens, it gets easier and easier to hang out here.

After finishing up the other side of the body, drop the knees down as wide as the mat and settle back into a Extended Child’s Pose. Dropping the forehead down to the earth, allow the belly to be soft in between the thighs and take rest.

This is the perfect pose to take rest in, both during and after your practice. It’s an opportunity to bring everything back into balance, to find your breath and to elongate the spine.  

If you are still feeling a little lost on your mat, its ok, because Ive got your back :). I want to share with you some very beginner friendly poses that lay the foundations for most of the yoga flows you will be introduced to in a class. It also means if you don’t have access to the internet and an online tutorial. You can simply move through these simple poses two or three times, spend some time is Savasana (laying flat on your back) at the end and bam, you’ve got yourself a solid yoga practice. If you can get comfortable with these poses, and even better their Sanskrit names, you’ll be ahead of the game when you finally do make it into a class.

Cat-Cow – Marjaryasana-Bitilasana
Moving through a few rounds of Cat-Cow is extremely juicy and therapeutic for the whole back and neck. The opposing movements allow you to both stretch and compress the spine, inviting more space and increasing mobilisation. Really be dramatic with the postures by pulling the shoulder blades apart when you’re imitating an angry cat and sucking the belly button right back to the spine in Cow. Spend a few extra minutes working into some intuitive free movement, moving the spine back and forth, the hips from side to side and taking some body rolls – anything that feels good in YOUR body in order to warm up the spine.  

Downward Facing Dog – Adho Mukha Svanasana
Downward Dog is one of those poses that in the beginning it simply sucks! Your heels refuse to reach the floor, the shoulders and arms are quick to tire and it feels like your instructor is making you hang out there for hours. You’d rather drop the knees and take a Child’s Pose. However, over time, and once you have the proper alignment down, Downward Dog starts to become your home base. It becomes a pose you can relax into and it provides a reset and full body stretch between flows and the more difficult poses. The key is getting the foundations of the pose down right from the get go. I encourage you to get an instructor to guide you into the pose in class or find a tutorial online!  

Low Lunge – Anjaneyasana
Get the alignment of the legs and feet right in a simple Low Lunge and you already have the the foundational base ready to jump into other standing poses, such as the Warriors! Here you have the option to work into both your strength and flexibility; and there is always the option to take a modification and drop the back knee down to the earth. This makes this pose very accessible and beginner friendly, yet you will still be working to stretch, strengthen and simultaneously improve balance and focus.

Revolved Side Angle – Parivrtta Parsvakonasana
The trick to finding some ease in the perceived effort of this pose, is to hug the feet towards the midline. This goes for all the standing poses in order to find strength and activate the underside of the legs. This will tap into your power reserves and you’ll be surprised at the strength you have. Remember, the mind will always want to quit before the body does, so when you feel like coming out of a pose, firm into the legs and see if you can find just two more breaths!

Warrior 2 – Virabhadrasana
I invite you to stand in your strength in this pose, as an incarnation of a fierce warrior, Shiva. When that front leg starts to tire, keep in mind that zen archers would practice holding a bow for two years in this position before they were allowed to shoot their first arrow. Find some ease in the effort by energetically drawing the feet towards the midline, as though you want to bunch up your mat at the middle. The aim is to stand firm and strong, yet at the same time relaxed and at ease.

Cobra – Bhujangasana
An energizing back bend to open the chest and heart. Bhujang means ‘serpent’, and this pose is an essential component of the Surya Namaska – the Sun Salutations. It is a powerful chest opener and at the same time, it is extremely therapeutic for the spine. It also works to stretch and tone the abdominal muscles and organs and stimulate the digestive fires.

The more consistent you are with your yoga practice at home, the more effective it is going to become. The same with anything, consistency is the key, but this doesn’t mean that you have to practice for an hour, seven days a week! Spending twenty minutes each day on your mat, to stretch the mind and the body is going to have profound effects on your life across the board. If there are days you don’t feel up to yoga, give some meditation or Pranayama a go.

Meditation
If you are new to meditation, then the chances are that sitting in silence trying to quiet the mind is going to lead to a whole lot of frustration and very little stillness. Meditating in this way is actually very advanced, as you’ll find out quickly that it can be very challenging to quiet down the stories of the mind. A better option in the beginning is to find some guided meditations that resonate. 

Pranayama
Breathing is something we do so naturally, that it requires no conscious effort. It is an involuntary action that is happening whether we are awake or sleeping. To breathe, is to live. Pranayama is the practice of controlling the breath, with Prana meaning ‘life force’ and yama meaning extending or stretching in Sanskrit. Controlled breathing can decreases the effects of stress, instil focus and mental clarity and can energize and detox the body.

One simple Pranayama technique, is known as the Cooling Breath Pranayama / Sitali Pranayama. Find a comfortable easy seat. Curl the tongue into a U shape and project it out of the mouth slightly. If you can’t curl the tongue it is fine to make an O shape with the mouth. Take the chin to the chest and then begin to inhale through the mouth, taking the chin up and dropping the neck back as far as is comfortable. Close the mouth and exhale through the nose as you drop the chin back down to the chest.

Repeat for eight to twelve breaths. Any time spent on your mat, is time well spent and over time there is an accumulative effect that takes place and the benefits start to ripple out and have a domino effect across so many aspects of your life.

Going into a yoga studio can seem a little daunting if you don’t think you fit the typical yogi image, but yoga can (and should!!), be practiced by everyone. At all ages and stages of life, and by all shapes and sizes. We all start somewhere and there are so many styles of yoga and variations of the poses, that make them accessible to all. If there is some doubt and anxiety in the mind though, there is the perfect opportunity here to start practicing at home.

Jessamyn Stanley is a great role model to check out! She is using yoga to promote positive body image and breaking down mental and emotional barriers to practicing. She emphasizes how you FEEL, as opposed to how you look and she celebrates her students bodies in all the shapes and sizes that they come in. She has a top selling book on Amazon called, Every Body Yoga: Let Go of Fear, Get on the Mat, Love Your Body, and I HIGHLY recommend checking that out!

Yoga is a mindset that cultivates self love and body confidence. Love your body where it is at and show it some kindness by taking this time for self care. With consistency your body will open and start to change, so enjoy the journey and allow the transformation to unfold.

A few things to keep in mind before you jump in! Firstly, always make sure to listen to your body. You know it best and are the only one that can hear its subtle cues. Never force your body into a pose and don’t be scared to take modifications or rest in Child’s Pose when needed. Trust that over time and with consistency your body will open up along with your flexibility. You have the necessary steps in mind now to really get your at home practice going. I promise that the hardest part is just making it onto your mat. Make the time, prioritise this self care and watch yourself blossom and grow.

This article has provided the necessary steps to establishing an at home yoga practice. Grab the essentials, create the space, find some videos online that resonate and schedule the time like a non-negotiable appointment! Prioritise taking care of yourself and loving yourself just as much, if not MORE than you love others. This is not selfish, this is KEY to being the best version of who you already are, for yourself and for others. You have to fill your cup first and yoga is a great tool to do just that.