How To Start Yoga At Home For Beginners in a handy infographic
Starting Yoga at Home For Beginners in 6 different poses. I love yoga and I love being able to portray if for those starting out in an infographic format, because I feel that they are really good at conveying lots of information in a nice visual way. Before I get to the actual infographic, I will briefly point out some details about the yoga poses I chose and why yoga is so good and a wonderful accompaniment to meditation.
Can Beginners Use the Same Equipment for Yoga at Home as They Would in a Class?
Yes, beginners can use the same essential yoga class items at home as they would in a studio. A good quality yoga mat, comfortable clothing, and a water bottle are key items that will help maintain a consistent practice. However, some props like blocks and straps can also be beneficial for home yoga practice.
The Benefits of Practicing Yoga
Yoga is a discipline that has been popular for many centuries since it was first begun in India. It will help keep your muscles stretched and strong and it can improve your balance. It has the remarkable effect of calming your mind and bringing you peace. When you practice yoga, you connect your mind, body and spirit. As with meditation; yoga is an amazing way to bring harmony into your life and to help synchronize your mind and body. Most people spend a great deal of their lives unable to perform well because of the confusion and conflict that is weighing on their minds in the form of stress. Stress, of course, is the main unhealthy culprit in our lives that affects everything including your emotional, endocrinal and physical systems. But stress can be reduced through the regular practice of yoga. Both physically and mentally, it has been proven to be highly effective in reducing and sometimes eliminating many disorders. Here are just a few of the benefits you can get from practicing yoga:Flexibility
It is widely recognized that yoga can increase flexibility dramatically. There are various yoga postures that can trigger the various joints in the body including the ones that regular exercise routines don’t usually target and never work. [sociallocker id=”1543″]Right click here to download or left click to open in your browser[/sociallocker]Increased Joint Lubrication
Practicing yoga also increases the lubrication of your tendons, ligaments and joints. There are different yoga positions that are specifically designed to exercise the different tendons and ligaments of your body. Often a person who started yoga with a body that had no flexibility and lubrication and was very stiff and uncomfortable, can markedly improve. Again, this is because yoga emphasizes many of the parts of the body that you have probably never worked on before. You’ve probably never even thought about working those parts of your body before!Yoga Massages Your Body
It is not very well known but practicing yoga correctly can massage the internal organs of your body. It is probably the only exercise that will work on these organs and they are unlikely to be stimulated any other way during your lifetime.Develop a Sense of Awareness
One of the greatest benefits of practicing yoga is that it will help you create a greater awareness of your body. The massage and stimulation of the organs will, in turn, help keep disease away. And, because of your body awareness, you will be more likely to notice a new disorder much sooner. Many people who practice yoga have an almost uncanny feeling when there is an impending infection or other health problem.Detox Your Body
Through the gentle stretching of the joints and muscles as we massage the internal organs, the body is able to detoxify. This mainly happens because yoga increases the blood supply to all parts of the body and helps carry away toxic elements. Through the bloodstream, yoga is able to go to every part of the body and flush out toxins while providing much-needed nourishment to the body. There are other ways to fully detox your body, including making sure to eat naturally and so on. You can check out the review of an excellent detox program called the Total Wellness Cleanse over at Health form The benefits of this include:- More energy
- Delayed aging
- An amazing zest for life
How to get started?
There are several ways in which you can start, but you will first might want to consider some basic equipment including:Yoga mat
This is to stop you getting sore joints when attempting the floor based positionsYoga block
These can help of you are a complete beginner and do not feel 100% steady, (don’t worry I didn’t when I began!). This is especially true for yoga poses such as the Triangle PoseLose clothing
You will get hot and sweaty and move into positions that you did not know existed! Lose clothing is a mustWhat Yoga poses did I choose?
I chose these particular positions because I think that they are a good combination of not too difficult, but still tricky enough to challenge you and give you a really fantastic, satisfying experience afterwards. Sometimes starting off too slowly can be a recipe for boredom and we can soon forget why we started something only to stop after a few weeks. So in no particular order, these are the best yoga positions for beginners that I chose:- Downward Dog
- Tree Pose
- Bridge Pose
- Triangle Pose
- Cobra Pose
- Mountain Pose
How did I come to these choices?
Good question. Well as you may or may not know, I live and work in Luang Prabang, Laos; a very spiritual place that attracts yoga teachers aplenty. Some of my good friends have been all over the world teaching it and most recently I knew a Canadian by the name of Mike who learnt a particular strain of Yoga called Ashtanga. This is one of the more demanding versions, but ultimately a very rewarding one. Anyway, I had a few lessons from Mike before he left for India and these were the yoga poses that he thought were best for a complete Yoga novice like myself!How is Yoga related with meditation?
Yoga and meditation are very interrelated and I will touch on this in more detail in a later post (so remember to subscribe to keep updated!). Yoga has its roots in India, thousands of years ago and is an ancient traditional way of life encompassing thought and practice aimed at good physical and mental health and well-being. Meditation is a part of yoga that can focus your mind and bring you emotional health and help to release stress from your body. Yoga is the physical part giving you the same kind of feeling as you would get after any other kind of exercise; a flood of endorphins and ‘high’ you can only know if you keep your body clean and fresh. Once you think you are ready, you can check out my 6 best yoga positions for beginners at home infographic, find a quiet location with plenty of room and air (outside in nature is best, but you can also practice Yoga poses inside if you have enough room and feel more comfortable.)