Finding your inner Tapas to develop a home practice

To reap the benefits from a yoga practice it is a well known fact that you need to  practice more than once a week.  Attending classes at least twice a week as well as a home practice is the best way to learn. There is a yoga quote that I often come across which reads 

“If you practice yoga once a week, you will change your mind.
If you practice yoga twice a week, you will change your body.
If you practice yoga every day, you will change your life.”

A home practice gives you a chance to listen to your own body and embark on your path of discovery outside of the class and your teacher's instructions. There is a term we often use in yoga, “tapas”, which is the yogic practice of self-discipline and refers to a fiery focus on achieving one’s goals.  It is coming to your yoga mat when you would rather watch TV, it is focusing on your goals and not letting the lazier side of your personality take over. So it is important that we tap into our Tapas to develop a home practice. 

How to start a home practice
Easier said than done hey? There are many obstacles to be overcome to establish this discipline but below are some suggestions that might just help you along your yoga path. 

1. Buy your own equipment  - just the simple act of purchasing your own mat is the sign of a commitment to your practice.
2. Find a space - have a space in your house where you can roll out your mat.
3. Sit on your mat at first and don’t force yourself to practice - just allow yourself the quiet time on the mat. After a while you may want to start moving. 
4. Find a sequence that you wish to practice and have it ready by the side of your mat . Have a look at my sequence page, or in the back of some of the Iyengar books for reference. (This is also a good way to start to learn the Sanskrit names of the poses).
5. Don’t force yourself to do a practice every day, just a couple of times of week is a good.
6. Have a routine - find a time or day that works. Morning is a great time generally - we become more tired and the to do list gets longer as the day goes on.
7. Set a minimum amount of practice for yourself - 10 minutes a day is a good place to start, and then you can build up.
8. Take the time to for stillness - both at the beginning of your practice and at the end
9. Don’t give up, sometimes it takes months to really get a home practice going. It is only when personal practice is truly established that real meaningful transformation of the self can take place.

The Benefits
A regular yoga practice has positive effects on the five layers (koshas) of your being.
•    Physically: stability, stamina, balance, flexibility. 
•    Physiologically: vitality, wellness, feeling of lightness, increased blood circulation to organs (prana). 
•    Mentally/emotionally: happiness, joy, steadiness to face life’s woes, contentment (nervous system).
•    Intellectually: heightened awareness, creativity, reflection. 
•    Spiritually: connection to your belief in the divine, surrender and letting go, inwardness. 

“Only through practice can the understanding come. And from understanding come insight, from insight – wisdom – freedom, the very essence of the art of yoga. One must experience this endlessly evolving process for oneself; it cannot be apprehended through any means, other than practice. Part of the teacher’s job is inspire the student to begin and maintain a regular practice, but the students task is to take the energy of inspiration and transform it into the reality of action."
​BKS Iyengar