Tips for yoga practice
10 tips for yoga practice
If you are new to yoga practice, here you will find some basic tips for yoga practice.
These are our top 10 tips, they are based on our school’s approach to yoga, but they will for sure be helpful for you, no matter what yoga styles you practise.
Tips for yoga practice
- In yoga, you should not feel pain. You may feel pressure, imbalance, stretching, or discomfort, but if you notice pain during a posture, stop.
- Balance the left and right sides of your body. Perform the same exercises with both sides of the body equally, unless prevented by an injury.
- Always breathe through the nose, in both inhalation and exhalation, if possible.
- Give equal importance to meditation and relaxation as you do to the physical aspect of the asanas, as you are working with different parts of your being. Dedicate time to meditate and relax in savasana during each practice.
- Respect your body and its pace always. Do not go beyond where you can reach today. The important thing is not to reach the end of each posture, but to be present, to feel. Set challenges without surpassing your limits and travel the path with patience. Sometimes, we focus on wanting to achieve something NOW, and processes take time, both physical processes (flexibility for an asana) and mental or spiritual processes (readiness for meditation, for example).
- It is advisable to do yoga on an empty stomach (if it is in the morning) or at least a couple of hours after the last meal, so that digestion has taken place.
- Make your practice an inner practice; do not compare yourself with other bodies, other levels of flexibility, other experiences—always focus on yourself.
- Be consistent; do not skip a practice or session unless your body truly needs it. Learn to listen to yourself and differentiate between laziness and discomfort.
- We believe there are no levels in yoga; there are degrees of experience but not levels. You may have fewer years of experience in asanas than another person and still have flexibility or have more experience in meditation or have practiced the physical aspect for many years and have less experience working with your mind. It doesn’t matter.
- We encourage you to take yoga off your mat, to bring moments of presence and awareness to everyday situations in your daily life, to breathe in moments of tension, to apply what works for you during a yoga session outside the class.
