Home Asana Practice Tips
In my Immersion, Michael has been strongly recommending a regular home asana (posture) practice. This is something that I have avoided in the last 3 1/2 years. For the first year after moving to Southern California, a home practice was the only practice that I had. I have since abandoned it because of the many distractions I find at home. I also found that as I started exploring styles outside of Kundalini that it seemed my home practice was becoming less and less productive. The most difficult part for me being finding a flow. I don’t care for videos and have avoided many bikram classes due to the monotony of doing the same poses every class. For awhile I even subscribed to sites that offered free class downloads but found it many times required too much of my attention to follow the teacher’s instruction (some teachers just aren’t that articulate). Other times I would have video streaming issues midway through the class. Looking back on it now, it seems that the reason my home practice was so successful early on was two-fold. Not only did I had a designated space at home in which to practice, but the style of yoga I was practicing at the time was very conducive to it. Kundalini yoga kriyas are comprised of a sequence of postures/exercises, usually practiced for a specified amount of time. I found that it was easy to get into a flow with my Kundalini home practice since the sequencing was already done. I always knew where I was going next and for what amount of time, and to keep things from getting boring I would mix and match kriyas based on how I was feeling any given day. 
In fact, this week before attending day 3 and 4 of the Anusara Immersion (phase 1) I did a home asana practice, it was probably the first time in a year. I had been sick the two days previous and felt it necessary to get on the mat again before walking into the studio for 12 hours that weekend; not to mention that my new Anusara Revolution Natural Sticky Mat arrived the day before and I was dying to try it out! Which, by the way, I LOVE!! Despite the fact that I don’t currently have a designated space at home to practice, I did find that I was able to remain fairly focused. I have been contemplating what it was that makes for the most focused home practice and I came up with a couple of things that I feel are important. My goal is to begin to implement this for myself in hopes that I will be able to maintain a home asana practice at least once a week.
- Have a designated space in which to practice, at the very least, it should be void of distractions and foot traffic. A room with natural, rather than artificial light, is best.
- Try to practice when no one else is around, this is particularly important if you do not have a designated space. For instance, in my current apartment my yoga space is the living room floor.
- Most styles of yoga will begin with an invocation or “tuning in” mantra. Do not skip this just because you are practicing from home. If anything, this is even more important to take you inside and away from all the distractions of being home. Recreating a sacred place free of the distractions from home is essential. For those of you like me, forget about the dishes and the laundry, there will be plenty of time for that after you have taken some essential time for yourself.
- Play some soothing music during your practice to help maintain the effects you achieved from tuning in.
- If you are like me, and don’t care for yoga videos, or are just at a loss for what to do in your home practice, try starting with a restorative or meditation practice. Restorative poses and meditation are done for longer periods of time so you can spend less time planning your practice and more time practicing. If you practice 4 or more times a week, chances are you don’t spend enough time in passive poses or meditating, and your practice (not to mention, mind and body) could really benefit from both. In fact, if you’ve never checked out a restorative/meditation class at your local studio I strongly encourage you to. You will be hooked before the end of class (probably after the first pose). Another alternative is pick up a good yoga book or two with a series of sequenced poses to keep your practice interesting, or check out the Yoga Journal Sequence Builder to help you formulate your home asana practice. I have a number of Kundalini books that I have found to be very helpful. I think the point here, is that you need to have a plan so you can stay focused once you begin your practice.
- Savasana (corpse pose) - You’ve probably heard it a hundred times, “Savasana is arguably the most important pose of your practice.” Savasana allows for the full integration of your practice. Many times when practicing during the day (especially earlier in the day) I opt for a seated meditation so I’m not tempted to crawl back into bed. In order to best recreate the sacred space of the studio most of us are used to it is important not to skip over the ritualistic parts of our practice just because we are at home.
If you have tips on how to formulate a home asana or meditation practice I would love to hear them! Let me know what has worked for you.
Tags: home asana, Kundalini, Meditation
