by Kara-Leah Grant, author of Forty Days of Yoga
Home yoga practice – it’s awesome and everyone’s getting into it, right?
But you know what’s missing?
A teacher. That’s what.
I mean, at the end of the studio class, you can always go up to the yoga teacher and ask whatever burning question is on your mind.
But when you practice yoga at home? Who you going to ask?
Me, that’s who.
Yep, every week or two, I’ll be selecting a reader question to answer on video, and sending out a new article. That way, not only can you get your question answered personally, but other people can benefit from the answer.
Because in the end, if you have that question, it’s likely that thousands of other people have that same question.
This week’s home yoga practice question comes from Lila in Israel. She says:
“I need your advice – I feel very heavy, with very low confidence in my yoga skills, I have three kids and a full time job – what should I start with? With Sun Greetings a few times in a raw? Or one or -two asanas that might make me feel better with myself? Appreciate your help and personal advice very much!”
Watch the video to find out how I responded.
Home Yoga Practice Q & A with Kara-Leah Grant
Question #1: What should I start my home yoga practice with?
Bonus Information:
After I watched my response back, I realised I’d missed one important piece of information, so here it is.
Lila, when you get on your mat, watch the thoughts and feelings that rise about how heavy you feel. Notice the tone you use to talk to yourself – we all have self-talk, and sometimes, we can be mean to ourselves! Make sure you respond to any negative self-talk with kindness and compassion. It’s takes time to learn to do this – it’s about witnessing our habitual self-talk and creating new self-talk.
There’s nothing wrong with being heavy, the glory of being human is we come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes and colours. However, if being heavy makes you feel bad about yourself, make sure you respond with positive self-talk. Talk to yourself the way you would talk to a young child you love dearly.
Awareness is what yoga is all about – awareness of how we talk to ourselves, awareness of how we feel, and awareness of our body. In this way, our home yoga practice starts before we even get on the yoga mat – it starts by being aware of the thoughts and feelings we have about our practice.
Thank you Lila, for sending in your question. Good luck with your yoga practice!
If you would like to ask me a question about your home yoga practice, send me an email here.
Answer: With a question to self – ‘What is my INTENTION, where do I put my ATTENTION and am I LISTENING to myself (body & mind)? Then act accordingly with the insight that Shavasana is yoga..
I like that – short, simple & effective. Thanks David.
Love it KL, such useful insight and tips, particularly as you reveal your own thought process as you go along. This is great innovation and I congratulate you for identifying a need and meeting it.
My pleasure Maddy. I like being able to use video to communicate with people as it brings far more presence into the experience.