09 Nov HOME PRACTICE TIPS FOR BUILDING A GOOD ROUTINE
We know how tricky it can be to establish a home practice that is consistent, focused, free of distractions and meaningful – especially considering we are online much more than many of us care for right now! As we find ourselves in lockdown 2.0 and turn to online classes to establish routine and maintain movement, we ask our studio manager Scarlett Perdereau to share her top tips for establishing a good home practice….
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Create a ritual with your physical and ambient setup
Use the same space every time. However small, lay out your props and any other key objects that help you focus or mean something to you; be it a candle, a little Ganesh statue, an incense stick, or your favourite plant! An ambient soundtrack may help too. Make everything easily accessible – if you are short of space this could simply mean having all your equipment in a nice basket or drawer under the bed.
2. Commit to small, but commit.
Aim for a 15 mins practice, rather than 1 h and a half, and stick with it! Aim for twice a week, rather than every day, and stick with it! Find the best time to commit and repeat (first thing in the morning before breakfast? After work in the evening? On your lunch break?) and if it needs to change, just adapt and don’t beat yourself up about it. Communicate this with your household to carve out the space for yourself and to minimise distractions, like you would with an important work meeting.
3. Develop a template or schedule
If your goals are broad, say you just want to make sure you do a fairly comprehensive practice regularly, then I recommend the following template: seated breath awareness/pranayama, sun salutations, standing postures, core work and build up to a peak pose (a few poses helping you hit the ‘star’ pose of your practice e.g. handstand), wind down with seated forward bends and finish with a relaxing reclining/inverted pose followed by Savasana. If you can spare the time, round your practice with a few minutes meditation after Savasana!