Yogis who practice at home usually need a certain amount of discipline to practice every day. Otherwise no practice would happen.
In addition it’s useful to have tools at hand that help to adjust oneself in order to avoid mistakes that might finally cause injuries. A correct execution of an asana has the best effect on the body. To take pictures and videos help a lot. Nothing improved my asanas more than seeing myself in a posture. No teacher can tell a student everything repeatedly. One must learn to correct oneself.
One can learn a lot from different yoga styles here. The Iyengar students take care of correct alignment. They use props that help. A couple of years ago I bought a yoga chair and a book on chair yoga that is used by Iyengar students. Today I experimented a bit. For some asanas the chair might be too high for me. Perhaps I need blocks in addition. I realized already that a chair can be very useful. I’ll go through the exercises one at a time.
This morning my yoga week started with second series. Focus was back bending. It was a struggle. I still lack a lot of strength.
No matter how difficult my practice seems to be, I’m able to concentrate on my practice for 90 minutes. I practice one asana after the other. I scarcely need breaks. When I take a short break I rest in baby pose, but I stay on the mat and I focus on the breath. This was not always so.
Students went to a yoga teacher in India in order to learn how to concentrate. They realized that they needed to concentrate when they wanted to pass exams. Concentration is a skill that one can learn via yoga.
My home practice has a clear beginning and a clear end. Within a given time frame I focus on my yoga practice. The practice starts when my timer keeps running. It’s finished when the mat stands in the corner and when I’m showered. This shower belongs to the practice. Then I’m ready for the day. I let go of judging what was. The joy that I had practice is dominating the discomfort that I might have felt during a stiff practice. I’m looking forward to the next practice with curiosity very soon.
Yesterday I bought a couple of magazines. One is called ‘Women’s health’. I read that if someone isn’t working on strength for one week she will lose 10% of her strength. For older people this might be even worse. The tip: Keep practicing.