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.
