Yoga is an excellent form of exercise that’ll keep you in shape while relieving stress and tension, it’s the perfect nourishment for body and soul! If you’ve tried yoga and got hooked, chances are you’re looking to do as much of it as possible.
Although practicing yoga can be done almost anywhere, it’s difficult to practice without any guidance when you’re a beginner. So how do you get started with yoga when all you want to do is yoga every damn day? Get your notebook out, here’s how to get started with yoga:
Join a local yoga studio
Although you could be doing yoga pretty much anywhere, it’s difficult to know what to do when you’re a total newbie. So finding a local yoga studio that teaches classes weekly is a great starting point that will allow you to get things right from the start. Signing up for a class will also give you a set day and time each week that you devote to your yoga.
Some studios also offer memberships that allow you to take whatever classes you want each week, which is a great opportunity to try different types of yoga and find what you like.
Attend yoga classes at your gym
Fitness centers and gyms are catching on to the popularity of yoga and offering classes as part of their regular schedules. The advantage of taking yoga classes at your gym is that you can take as many classes as you want without it costing more than what you’re already paying to go squeeze those kettle bells.
However, these classes might not be as cosy and zen as at a studio devoted wholly to yoga, and you might also experience a bit of a hit and miss with the teachers – some gym yoga teachers aren’t as experienced and knowledgeable in yoga as teachers at a yoga studio.
Go to yoga events
There’s lots of fun yoga events being organized all over the world. Yoga is an accessible activity, and it’s for everyone, which is why yoga events are a thing. During the summer you’ll easily find someone pulling people together to do yoga in a park, and big name brands like Lululemon and Nike often organize yoga events to bring together and engage their customers.
I’m constantly keeping my eyes open for local get togethers and have attended some of the most amazing and unforgettable yoga events, like this event in a museum hosted by Lululemon and yoga in a park with Hellcat.
Yoga for free at home
Yoga studios and classes aren’t cheap, especially not if you want to be doing yoga every damn day. But with little equipment and space, you can easily do yoga at home for free! Draw inspiration from the classes you’ve attended, from online guides, or just go with the flow of how your body feels and what asanas you want to move into. Just get on your mat and start moving your body.
Do online yoga classes
Okay, so maybe you get on your mat at home and have no clue what to do. You stand there trying to remember that awesome flow your teacher did at class last week but can’t remember how she so effortlessly got you from warrior A to triangle pose. It’s frustrating and can make you lose momentum and motivation.
The internets are here to save you my friend. Sites like DoYogaWithMe, Gaiam, and Ekhart Yoga offer online yoga videos with teachers from around the world guiding you through your practice. YouTube is also full of videos to guide your practice.
I do some of my at home practice with teachers like Rachel Brathen (aka Yoga Girl) through oneOeight (aside from yoga, they offer coaching, meditation, and healthy cooking video classes on the site too!)
Join Facebook groups dedicated to yoga
One of the best ways to stay on top of what is going on in your city is to join Facebook groups devoted to yoga in your area. I keep my eyes on these groups as well as yoga studio and yoga brand pages on Facebook to stay up-to-date on events going on in the yoga community in my area.
Go to drop-in classes
A lot of yoga studios offer “drop-in” tickets to single classes. This is a great way to explore and try different forms of yoga to find what kind of yoga you like. It’s also an excellent opportunity to try out a yoga studio and see if you like it, before deciding if you’re going to shell out the bills for a full course or membership.
Learn more about yoga through books
If you find yourself totally hooked on yoga already, and eager to learn as much as possible about it, then get yourself some yoga books! Yoga is so much more than a string of fancy poses. There’s so much to learn about this beautiful art, and the more you learn, the more you’ll be able to practice yoga – with or without a teacher. I recently purchased Yoga Anatomy and have got my eyes on Light on Yoga and How Yoga Works.
Yoga at the office
If you’ve got an office job, try to convince management to introduce the concept of office yoga. Outline a couple of the advantages of yoga for employees (for example that it would help relieve stress and increase employee wellbeing and health) and then have a friendly chat with the people at HR, your boss, or the office manager and see if they’re willing to organize office yoga. The worst that could happen is that they say no, right?
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