How Long Should Your Home Yoga Practice Be?
If you plan to practice yoga at home, it is useful to work out how much time you can reasonably set aside to complete your home yoga practice.
Think about what time of day you will practice yoga? Will it be first thing in the morning before breakfast, before lunch, after work or before bed? These are all good times to consider.
Traditionally yoga is practiced first thing in the morning before breakfast. There is something exquisite about waking up and having a gentle stretch in the morning.
A short morning yoga practice can set you up for the day ahead and be tailored to how you are feeling. Also once your yoga home practice is done, you don’t have to worry about fitting it in later on in the day.
However, if you can’t think of anything worse than waking 30 minutes earlier in the morning to do your home yoga practice, then consider, what would be the best time for you?
Ideally you would practice yoga at least two hours after eating food. The easiest way to think about it is to practice before a meal or just before bed (assuming you aren’t eating before bed!)
Once you have worked out WHEN you can practice yoga for at home you can then consider for HOW LONG?
It’s useful to commit to a certain amount of time and stick to it. Practicing yoga for 20-45 minutes per day has so many benefits for you body (muscles, joints, posture, flexibility feeling embodied) and for your mind (calmer and relaxed moods, more energy, connected, I could go on….).
A 20 minute home yoga practice will work wonders for you if you commit to practicing five times per week. Anything less than practicing yoga three times per week for at least 20 minutes isn’t really going to give you the health and well-being benefits I think you are looking for. Although clearly three times per week is better than zero times per week!
If you really are struggling to work out how you will fit in your daily yoga practice. It might be helpful to consider splitting the practice into two parts. Maybe a short but energising 10 minute yoga practice first thing in the morning. Followed by another 5-10 minute yoga practice that same day just before bed. The focus of the bedtime practice could be more on relaxation and letting go of the day.
The beauty of a yoga home practice is that you can personally curate your yoga practice to suit when you can practice, for how long and for what purpose.
Most people think that a yoga session has to be 60-90 minutes long for each practice. This number is more to fit in with studio and gym class timetables than anything else.
In fact, you are much better off practicing yoga for 20 minutes five times per week than 60 - 90 minutes once per week. The frequency of yoga practice counts more than the length of practice if you want to progress and see an overall improvement to your health and wellbeing.
One caveat to that is doing a longer yoga practice at home or in a studio once a week ALONGSIDE your 20 minute home yoga practice can be fantastic for you too. As a longer 60 - 90 minute practice can give you the chance to stay in postures for longer, explore new postures and include more breath and meditation practices.
I hope this helps you to structure your yoga home practice so that you can fit it into your daily routine. Make the key decision of when and then for how long. You can always add in longer practices ad hoc or when you have more time and energy.
The key to remember here is that the frequency of your yoga practice is much more important for your health and progress than the length of your yoga practice.
3 Reasons to Commit to a Short Home Yoga Practice Every Day
3 Reasons to Commit to a Short Home Yoga Practice Every Day
The long-term health and wellness benefits of a short home yoga practice are much greater than a one hour weekly practice.
Here are 3 reasons why:
- The effects of your yoga practice will be greater.
- It's easier to fit into your day so more likely to do it.
- The frequency of a yoga practice will harness a greater health and well being results compared to length of practice.
1. The effects of your yoga practice will be greater.
By doing a short home yoga practice every day, between 15-45 minutes depending on your time, the effects of your practice will be much greater than doing a 60 minute class once a week.
Your mind, body and soul will appreciate the daily movement and connection of breath to movement.
Your progress with postures will be quicker and you will increase your stamina to stay in postures.
Short and sweet but frequency is the key.
Also when you do go to the longer studio classes you will find that your practice has progressed in more ways than one.
2. It's easier to fit into your day so more likely to do it.
it’s obvious that a short 15 or 30 minute home yoga practice is a lot easier to fit into your day than a 60 - 90 minute yoga practice in a studio.
For one you can just roll onto your mat at home. You don’t need to leave the house or put on your best yoga pants to do a class.
You can arrive as you are on your yoga mat at home, do your practice and then move onto the next thing. No travel, no worrying about what you look like, no waiting around in class or trying to book into class.
A home yoga practice is quick and simple. With that in mind you are more likely to stick to a daily yoga practice by doing shorter home practices.
Just to note, I’m not against the longer 60-90 minute studio/home practices, they are still important and can be a nice break, please do fit them in once or twice a week when you can.
3. The frequency of a yoga practice will harness a greater health and well being results compared to length of practice.
I would always recommend five 20 minute home practices per week over one 60 minute practice every week.
Frequency in your yoga practice (or any other practice!) is always such more important than the length of practice.
So in short, to harness the long-term health and wellness effects of yoga one of the most important factors to consider is frequency of practice. By frequency i mean practicing yoga at least five times a week. At the very minimum three times a week.
Making your yoga practice slightly shorter than the traditional 60-90 minute class which you typically find in gyms and studios which suits their calendar, you are more likely to be able to stick to a frequent, regular yoga practice.
Lastly be practising at home, your yoga practice can become super easy and quick. I find doing yoga at home easy to fit into my day either before breakfast, lunch or dinner. Or after I wake up or just before bed I go to bed depending on what I have done that day.
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