How to do yoga at home? 7 tips to start and keep a home yoga practice

Inspired by our MFML Movers, we are sharing some of the best ways to self-motivate and practice yoga from home!

Practicing Yoga at home has so many benefits (such as being able to do a yoga class in your pyjamas, having no commute, and being able to press pause for a toilet break!), but it can also be difficult to know where to start and to be self-motivated to continue!

To help you, we have gathered some of the best tips from MFML Movers for the best way to do yoga at home!

How to do yoga at home: 7 tips to start and keep your home yoga practice

Set a time and schedule your home yoga practice
Microdose you home yoga practice (5 minutes works wonders!)
Set up a dedicated home yoga space
Remember that yoga is more than just the shapes on the mat
Remind Yourself How FABULOUS you Feel After your Home Yoga Practice!
Sign up to a MFML Challenge!
Be Kind to Yourself, and Enjoy your Home Yoga Journey

1. Set a Time and Schedule your Home Yoga Practice

“Find YOUR time (doesn’t have to be a set time of day- just one that fits your life) and make it a ritual, light a candle, close the door on house activities- and thank yourself for making time for you after each session.”
Maria – Mover 2023

For many of our Movers it seems that finding a time and sticking to it every day makes a big difference in being able to maintain a practice. Rather than trying everyday to figure out how to fit in a home yoga practice, having a set time means it is easier for the yoga to become part of a daily routine. For some people that time is just before bed, and for others it’s ‘first thing in the morning, post tea!’.

“I keep to a routine as we are generally creatures of habit.”
Paulette – Mover 2023

21 days of morning yoga motivation - build healthy habits

More tips:

Read more about discipline and building a routine here and you can also find more tips for keeping up motivation and a daily yoga practice.
Try out the class scheduler tool to add the classes you want to do to your calendar and get automatic alerts!

2. Microdose your Home Yoga Practice (5 Minutes Can Work Wonders)

“Mine is to do short classes. But every day. Some days just 5 minutes really is enough, and the important thing is to just do what I can!”
Kat Farrants – MFML Founder

Another top tip is to never underrate the power of a 5 minute practice! We often make ourselves feel so guilty when we can’t fit in a 60 minute yoga class (to our already jam packed days), and we take an all or nothing approach. BUT microdosing your yoga practice is a great way to fit in short practices.

Many of our Movers said that even a mini practice has proven enough to change their mood and state of mind, especially if it means fitting in some yoga to a busy schedule and feeling a sense of accomplishment.

“If I’m not in the mood I may just do a 15 minute session.”
Paulette – Mover 2023

“there is always Mountain pose, whilst looking out of the window for a few moments, and a Myriad of other ways to splice yoga in one form or another in amongst a busy schedule – the ‘touch and go’ idea that Andrea talks of…”
Emma – Mover 2023

Try picking a class from the 10-20 minute class section of Movement for Modern Life, there are many to choose from there!

Try Clive‘s Welcome to the Day Hatha Yoga class, it is less that 15 minutes and a great way to move the body quickly in the morning.

3. Set Up a Dedicated Yoga Space

“I have my mat and props within easy reach in the room where I practise. I guess I know myself well enough to know that I need to make it easy and simple to commit to a daily practice”
Sue – Mover 2023

We are aware that this one is a luxury and not all of us have the space to have a designated yoga area. BUT even if you don’t have the space to keep all the equipment out all the time, have one area of your home that is where you do your yoga practice. This is great for consistency (and us humans love patterns), it is a time saver as all your bits are in the same place, AND it is a great way to make that corner of your house feel special.

This special feeling could be what keeps drawing you back every day, even (and especially) in the moments when it feels the most challenging!

“If you have the space, set up a specific area in your home that’s just for yoga. Even if it’s not all the time, have your mat & props nearby. A speaker if you like music to practice to. Any other little bits that remind you that it’s a sacred space for you!”
Esmeralda – MFML team!

Read about the Secrets to Making a Home Yoga Space and how to DIY your own home yoga space

4. Remember that Yoga is MORE than the Shapes on a Mat

“I love all the practices on the website that can be done lying down – I sometimes take MFML to bed with me and listen to a lovely Yoga Nidra, do a guided meditiation or a relaxing sound therapy. For me it doesn’t always have to be asanas, there’s so much juice in slowing down…”
Susann – MFML team!

Stop putting pressure on yourself that the only way to do Yoga is to move, stretch and contort yourself into pretzel shapes! A huge part of yoga is the relaxation and mindfulness, it is about dropping in our rest and digest (parasympathetic nervous system) state and connecting with ourselves. Sometimes this is through strong physical movement, whilst sometimes this can be many other beautiful practices such as…

Remember you are still maintaining your home yoga practice if some days it feels better to substitute asana for one of the above. In fact, it is welcomed and a VITAL part of yoga!!

“Asana is just a small part, doing a class on pranayama or meditation is as important (if not more important) than a physical practice .”
Andy – Mover 2023

“I start in bed with hands on heart and belly and fill up on gratitude and appreciation for life and my body. Then stretch in bed.”
Kirsty – Mover 2023

5. Remind Yourself How FABULOUS you Feel After your Home Yoga Practice!

“I remind myself how good I will feel afterwards.”
Nicky – Mover 2023

It sounds simple right?

I mean, it kinda is! Just remind yourself how you felt after the last time you made time to practice and get to your mat. Maybe even take time to write in a journal for a couple of minutes after your home yoga practice and use that as a way to record how you feel afterwards. Then on the days which you are struggling to get to the mat you can read how you felt the day before and use that for motivation!

Yes we may wake up tired and sluggish, but how much better will we be feeling mentally and physically after 15-20 minutes of consciously breathing and moving? Is the juice worth the squeeze? We think YES!

Read:

How to find motivation to do daily yoga by Kat Farrants!
Life hacks & Habits of Nikita

“Tell yourself the motivation will come when you have the experience and all the endorphins are pulsing around your body.”
Kathryn – Mover 2023

6. Sign up to a MFML Challenge!

“For me it works to sign up to a MFML course or challenge and subscribe to the daily email reminder. As that email so helpfully includes the link to that day’s suggested class it’s so much easier than procrastinating while scrolling through looking for a class.”
Sue – Mover 2023

Of course we are a little biased here… but our Movers agree!! Sign yourself up to a challenge or a course and get a daily reminder into your inbox every morning.

The benefits are:

You can choose exactly what you want to focus on e.g. beginners yoga, Qigong for heartbreak, chair and bed yoga, Strong for summer etc.
We help with the motivation because every morning you receive a class sent into your inbox and this reminds you to practice/
It takes away one hurdle… choosing what class to practice! We have already done the sifting and choosing for you so all you need to do is practice.

“I agree with signing up for a Challenge & getting the daily emails. It’s a useful reminder. ”
Neita – Mover 2023

Courses to try:

Yoga for Back Care: Includes Sally Parkes’ five-part course. In addition, we have curated a series to include tutorials on specific issues, from Sacro-Illiac issues, to scoliosis and sciatica, to a series to help you to protect and recover, when the back is needing extra TLC, a series for neck and shoulders and bringing it all together, with the healthy back care series.

21 days of morning yoga: It takes 21 days to form a habit! This course of morning yoga classes are all under 30 minutes, some are only 10 minutes, so you don’t need to take long to completely change your whole day.

Includes evenly-paced vinyasa yoga classes, some somatic movement and also shaking, to spice up your mornings.

Yoga for Anxiety: This is a four-week course to help you address your relationship to anxiety. In this course you will find; Yoga & Breathwork classes, Meditation classes, Journaling and visualisation exercises from a psychotherapist, and articles to help you understand anxiety.

Pilates for Strength: Pilates is an excellent way to improve our strength, and this pilates for strength course aims to help strengthen our abdominals and the whole of our bodies. This course strengthens as it lengthens and tones the whole body.

7. Be Kind to Yourself, and Enjoy your Home Yoga Journey

“Practice when you can, don’t stress about the days when you can’t; yoga is much, much more than making shapes on a mat.”

– Sam Dyllan – Mover 2023

Well this one is simple. There are enough things that put pressure on us in life. DO NOT let a yoga practice become another one of them. Enjoy your practice.

Make it fun and not stress. Be incredibly kind you yourself as you start a new journey with yoga. There will be times it is hard but how can you find ways to take it all lightly. On different days we wake up in different moods, and how can our yoga practice reflect that too? What type of yoga practice can you do that is more enjoyable for days when everything feels more challenging?

Read more about how to Embrace and Enjoy your Home Practice!

“Accept that it will be hard. Talk yourself gently into it. Lots of self talk ‘look, you’re starting something new, so let’s be kind to self.’ Breathe into any resistance or distractions – accept them. Let them come. Accept that there will be a yes and a no in your body and see if you can identify what each one is saying. Bring it all into conscious awareness as part of the invited and uninvited guests at your yoga home practise starting party. ”
Kathryn – Mover 2023

“When life gets in the way, don’t stress, just get back to it when you can (self forgiveness- none of us are perfect!)”
Maria – Mover 2023

Remember you can also always reach out to the private MFML community page for extra support. You can find advice on classes to choose, questions you have, or simply to connect with other movers.

OR try out getting yourself an accountability buddy so you have someone to enjoy your home yoga journey with!

“Everything is done with love. No pressure.”
Kirsty – Mover 2023

However you choose to practice, enjoy the journey and let us know how you get on!

Good luck!