Regardless of your reasons for wanting to ramp up your yoga while you’re self-isolating at home during the pandemic, there are several ways you can get it done. While dollar signs may already be running through your mind, you can get all of the benefits of a daily yoga practice without breaking the bank.
Here are a few budget-friendly ways to get the most out of your yoga practice.
Set Goals
You may already know you need to get more out of your practice, but it’s hard to make it happen if you don’t have a plan to get there.
Start with small goals and work your way up to larger ones. Try committing to as little as five minutes of yoga mat time daily until you’re ready to practice longer.
One budget-friendly way to do this is to find free yoga challenges online to establish a routine and help track your progress.
Yoga apps are also a great way to diversify your practice and hold yourself accountable to the goals you’ve set for yourself. Some of these apps allow you to customize the pace or level of your routine so you can always get the right practice for you.
Find a Practice Space
While you may be used to practicing only during your yoga class, you can actually practice anywhere. However, if you want to accomplish more, you have to take a few risks.
The first place you can start is at home. Find an area where you can comfortably do a routine, ideally in a distraction-free spot.
If your home isn’t ideal, then how about practicing outside?
In or out of your home, try to practice in the same place at the same time each day. Schedule your daily practice into your calendar to make it an unmissable priority.
Practice with a Friend
Like many things in life, yoga is even more fun with a friend! If you can’t get together in-person, try inviting a friend to join you via video-conference.
Practicing yoga with a friend can strengthen your bond and, depending on the practice, may even build trust.
In some cases, your friend might be able to support you not only emotionally, but physically as well.
And if you decide to work out together in a shared space, there are a few poses that you can only do with a friend; these include the double plank pose, doubletree pose, and the partner seated twist.
Before you start making plans to try out all these awesome partner poses, you should talk to your friend about their expectations from the practice.
This way, you’ll both be on the same page.
Include Meditation
It can be tempting to separate yoga from meditation, but the two practices go together like almond butter and jelly.
Yoga can prepare your body for the stillness required to properly meditate. And connecting your movement to your breath while you’re practicing yoga is a form of meditation in itself—and the reason you feel so darn wonderful after a good practice!
If you learn how to meditate properly, it’s very likely that you’ll see a positive impact on your yoga practice as well.
If you don’t have much experience with meditating, start with finding a comfortable place where you can focus on your breathing for a little while. In time, you can try different types of meditation; for example, concentration meditation deals with maintaining focus on a single point while mindfulness meditation would involve an exploration of your thoughts as they surface.
If you’re on a budget and living in self-isolation during the pandemic, it’s nice to know that you can kick your yoga practice up a notch without doing the same to your household expenses. It can help to set personal goals and develop a customized practice that meets your needs. Don’t forget to get a friend involved so you can get their support while trying new things, and be sure to include mindfulness/ meditation into your practice to get the best results.
