Your guide on how to start a Yoga practice at home

One of the greatest things about yoga is that you can do it pretty much anytime, anywhere. And because it has so many amazing effects on your life and your health, it’s just the natural conclusion to want to start a yoga practice at home!

If you’re new to this however, it might seem a little overwhelming. So this guide will teach you how to start practicing yoga at home!

In this article:

• The benefits of a home Yoga practice
• Yoga home practice vs studio – What’s different?
• 9 yoga home practice tips
• Home yoga practice youtube classes by yoga style

Disclosure: Some of the links below are so-called provision links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I can earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

The benefits of a home Yoga practice

Practicing Yoga at home offers quite a few benefits!

Flexibility

First of all, a home yoga practice is super flexible.

You don’t have to follow any class schedules, and you don’t have to go to a certain place. Instead, you can fit it in a whenever it fits you and your schedule.

It’s free!

Another benefit of doing yoga at home is pretty obvious: the price. While there are lots and lots of amazing free yoga classes around, most live classes with teachers will cost you something.

No matter if it’s at the yoga studio near you or at the local gym, you’ll probably have to pay or at least want to give a donation to the teacher who’s putting in the time and effort. If you do Yoga at home, it’s for free.

Just what you need

For me personally, one of the biggest advantages of practicing yoga at home is being able to pick the yoga style and the specific topic of the class depending on how I feel that day.

Maybe I have horrible neck and shoulder pain because I’ve been sitting at my desk for far too long. Then I will just do a few of these yoga poses for neck pain relief & shoulder relaxation.

Or maybe I feel extremely stressed and I want to release some tension. Then I would probably opt for something more along the lines of these hip openers.

Regularity

Last but not least, having a home yoga practice makes it much easier to establish a daily practice. At least for me, having to go to a studio every day is very unlikely to happen.

But just dropping onto my mat and doing at least a few stretches is really easy to do on a daily basis. And this way I don’t interrupt my streak!

So by doing Yoga at home you can manage to make daily yoga habit which benefits both your mental and physical health.

Yoga home practice vs studio – What’s different?

This wouldn’t be an honest guide to developing a home yoga practice if I wouldn’t also tell you about the downsides of it. When you compare practicing yoga at home to practicing in a studio, there are a few key differences.

No peer pressure

First of all, you have no peer pressure.

This might sound like a good thing at first. And it is, in some way because you don’t have to feel bad if you’re not as flexible as other people. Or if you can’t manage to do the same poses.

You simply can’t compare yourself to others.

Related: How do I get more flexible for yoga? 3 steps

But this also has a downside. Because the peer pressure of a studio yoga class also makes you commit differently to actually showing up. If you don’t commit to having to go somewhere or meeting other people, you have to find all the motivation for practicing yoga yourself.

(Don’t worry, I’ll give a few tips below on how to make sure you have the motivation to practice yoga, even if you do it alone at home!)

Bring your own equipment

Another difference to yoga home practice versus studio classes is that you’ll need your own mat and possibly other equipment like yoga blocks, for example.

In a studio, you usually have everything you need. You’ll have yoga mats, meditation pillows, blocks, straps, and whatever else you need to follow along with the class.

If you practice at home, you will need to invest in a good yoga mat. (Read my yoga mat material comparison and other important input here!) And at some point, you’ll probably want to get some other yoga accessories as well.

Related: How to use a yoga strap to improve your practice (+free PDF)
Related: Everything you need to know about Yoga blocks

Until you do, you can try some of these yoga block alternatives. It’s not quite the same, but definitely enough to get you started.

Related: How to find the best Yoga mat​

Pyjama freedom

When practicing at home, you probably don’t feel bad if you simply go with doing yoga in your pajamas. While, if you go to a studio, I’m pretty sure that would make you feel self conscious.

When going to a live yoga class, you’ll probably feel the need to dress in clothes that at least don’t have coffee stains on them. (Wait, am I the only one who gets coffee stains on her pyjama? Nevermind then…)

This freedom to dress in whatever makes the home yoga practice more convenient. But it can also be a downside because dressing in “proper” yoga clothes is also a form of commitment.

And putting on some nice yoga clothes that you actually like can go a long way in helping to motivate you as well.

No hands-on adjustments

Probably the biggest downside of practicing yoga at home is that you don’t have any hands-on adjustments by a teacher.

Obviously, you can get guides and videos from YouTube or other online yoga platforms. (I’ll give you a few tips below.)

But even with the most detailed instructions, it is the fact that sometimes you just can’t see what you’re doing. For this, hands-on adjustments are pretty valuable.

And once you’ll start getting into more advanced poses, you’ll definitely want to consider the help of an experienced instructor anyways.

Related: Why do Yogis say namasté all the time?

9 Yoga home practice tips

Alright, now that you have a good overview of what the benefits and also the downsides of a home yoga practice are, let’s find out how you can actually begin your home yoga practice and establish it as a daily beneficial habit.

The first question you’ll ask yourself when setting up for a home yoga practice is: “What do i need to start yoga at home?”

Well, let me tell you.

Find good instructions

My first tip for starting yoga at home is to find an online teacher you like.

You might find one immediately. Or you might have to try quite a few until you see which style of yoga or which teaching style resonates with you and helps you follow along easily.

I usually recommend people start with all the free YouTube classes for beginners on YouTube and go with what you like from there.

Personally, I am also a huge fan of the platform Ekhartyoga.com. They have several different teachers and so many classes for any possible style and topic you can think of.

They also have whole yoga programs you can follow along with. While they have a free trial, the majority of their videos are only accessible on a subscription though. Totally worth it for me, but, as a total beginner, you might want to try out all the free options first.

Your yoga practice, your choice!

Make room for your practice!

My second tip is to have a designated spot where you can do yoga.

I know, I know! Not everyone can dedicate a whole room or even a whole corner of their place entirely to this.

(But if you can, this guide gives you ideas for how to design your yoga room!)

But that isn’t even necessary for this. If you have a spot where your mat can stay rolled out, that’s perfect. If that’s not possibly, that’s also fine. Just make sure you have a place where you can roll out your mat every day.

Don’t choose the busiest room for this. If you need to clean up before you can even start your yoga practice, this will totally jeopardise your effort to establish a regular home yoga routine.

So make it as easy as possible for yourself. If possible, choose a fixed a spot where you do yoga every day. A place where you can put your mat, and don’t even need to think about it!

Related: Inspirational Yoga room ideas for your zen space at home

Mirror, mirror…

Another tip to make your yoga practice at home a success is using a mirror.

As I said above, at home you won’t have a teacher that can make adjustments to your posture and alignment.

So to double check that you’re actually doing what you think you do, a quick look into a mirror can do wonders.

Obviously, you should listen to your body first and see if you feel the stretch where you want to feel it. After all, the same pose can look super different in different people, as we all have our own unique bodies. But it can also help to just be able to look up and see what you’re doing.

Interested in learning a few basic yoga poses in detail before you jump into your home practice? Get my free foundational poses guide here!

Habit stacking

If you’re trying to develop a daily yoga practice, it’s going to be really important to just make it a habit like brushing your teeth, or showering every day.

These things happen without you thinking about it, no extra effort required.

A really good way to develop new habits is “habit stacking”. This means, you take a habit you already have and just attach your new habit, in this case your yoga practice, to it.

The existing habit functions like a “trigger” of sorts to remind you of your new habit.

One way you could do that, for example, is to do just a five minute yoga practice every evening after you brush your teeth.

Or if you prefer doing it in the morning, get your cup of coffee and use this is your sign for you to roll out your yoga mat.

Whichever habit you choose, it can really help to have a fixed time for your daily yoga practice.

For me personally, it works really well to do it in the morning. I get up, have a glass of water and then I go on to my mat for a few morning stretches or sun salutations.

Be prepared

Another tip to help you do yoga right away in the morning is to lay your yoga outfit out the night before.

Some people simply lay it right next to their bed so they basically step on it when they get up. And even you’re still half asleep, your brain will register:”Hey, I’m stepping on something! This is the signal for me to do something with it!”

Yoga home practice motivation – make it nice

Related to the tip of laying out your outfit: For me it really helps to get some yoga clothes that I actually like.

Obviously, one of the benefits of a home yoga practice is that you can just do it in your pyjamas or whatever you’re wearing at home. But for me, it really helps to use some designated yoga clothes. For example, some colorful yoga pants I really like and feel good in. Like these*!

It might seem unnecessary, but it can really help because it makes you connect a good feeling with your yoga practice.

Yoga mat for home practice

Another way to make your yoga practice at home a success is to pick a good yoga mat.

I wrote down all the tips for picking the right yoga mat here already so definitely go check that out!

But just to summarise, you want to get a yoga mat that doesn’t flake everywhere, and that doesn’t break easily.

You’ll also want to have a mat with good thickness, meaning not to thick. So please don’t go with the cheapest option, you will ruin your joints!

Last, but not least, you might want to look out for how the yoga mat fits your own space. If you only have carpet, you might need a different material than if you have a hardwood floor.

Home yoga practice music

If you decide not to go along with online yoga classes and instead do your own yoga flow, you might want to spice up your practice with some music.

Which kind of yoga music fits with your style will depend highly on what type of yoga you pick, and what your personal preferences are.

I’ve made a whole collection of yoga playlists for all kinds of different occasions here. This might be a good start for you.

Yoga home practice schedule

Last but not least, if you want to build a well-rounded yoga home practice for yourself, it can totally help to have a practice schedule.

For me, for example, it’s always important to balance more demanding classes with some restorative yoga sessions. And I usually have a couple of different fitness goals I want to work on. To help with that I sometimes just make a plan for the week ahead of time.

Related: 12 of the best restorative yoga gifts for some yogic R&R

Let’s say one week you want to focus on flexibility but you also want to build some strength. You could plan to practice classes focused on flexibility on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. On the days in between, you could focus on these yoga poses for getting stronger.

Home Yoga practice – Youtube classes by yoga style

In the beginning, it can really help to just follow the same yoga home practice sequence for a while to get into a habit. So I’m gonna give you here a few YouTube videos for different yoga styles that you can do daily.

Simply pick one of these, do it for a while and then see how it works for you!

Sun salutations sequence for your home practice

In my opinion, starting out with regular sun salutations is the perfect way to kick off your home practice.

Sun salutations are a very well rounded group of yoga postures that will work on building your strength, flexibility and stamina all at the same time.

Ashtanga yoga home practice

In the free Youtube class above, this popular flow is broken down and explained very well.

Ashtanga yoga is the perfect yoga style for establishing a home practice. However, starting out with the full primary series can easily be overwhelming for beginner yogis.

The class above is a perfect introduction to an Ashtanga yoga home practice, with lots of explanations to make following easy.

Yin yoga home practice

Practicing yin yoga at home is the perfect way to destress, relax and work on your flexibility without straining your body.

The restorative yin class in the video above is perfect for starting your yin yoga home practice because it doesn’t require any props. You can try it out for a while without having to invest into props right away!

Your turn – get started!

So now you know everything you need to know to start practicing yoga at home. Exciting!

All you need to do now is to actually get started and enjoy the benefits this will bring.

As usual, if this post brought you value, I’d appreciate if you’d share it!

*These links are so-called provision links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I can earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.