Your Best Yoga Accessories

I have found that when I am doing my yoga practice on a regular basis, that is when I feel my best. A day where I am just dragging myself around is probably a day where I can look back and see that my yoga practice has fallen to the side lately. But how to stay on top with the crazy kind of lives we have today?

I find that one of the best ways to stay on top of my practice is to do it at the same time each day. For some people this means first thing in the morning. For me, it is about an hour after I have done my first round of writing. That is because I need a good stretch then and will welcome my yoga mat.

The next thing you need to do is be sure that you have plenty of sleep each day so that you can go to that yoga practice ready to greet the day. If you are tired or cannot let yourself flow into your yoga pose, it will be hard to do. This will just discourage you and make it hard to come to the mat the next time.

Finally – forgive yourself if you are not perfect. We all strive to do our practice faithfully each day, but no one can always be on top of it. If you miss a day, allow yourself to have missed it and move on with your practice. If you are not yet quite able to hold tree pose as long as you would like, allow yourself to be where you are now with it, and know that if you are meant to achieve it you will.

Always – be with where you are now in your yoga practice and it will always reward you.

No matter if your yoga practice involves spending three hours a day in a yoga studio or a half hour a week in your living room, everyone at some point needs help with it. We know we feel better if we stick to the yoga practice we decided on, but it is always hard to keep that schedule when life intrudes. This is where some good videos or books can help us to stay focused on what we want to accomplish in our personal practice.

But what to choose? These days there are so many kinds of yoga and so many schools of thought about yoga; it is hard to define the one practice that will work for you. That is why The Heart of Yoga is such a great find. This is based on the teachings of Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, one of the great modern yogis. His work helped to define modern private yoga practice and The Heart of Yoga was put together by his son to help others learn from his father’s practice.

Viniyoga, which is Tirumalai Krishnamacharya’s approach to personal yoga was the first to develop a way to personally adopt yoga to individual needs. He taught that we all change in our lives and so our needs change as well. To truly be a part of our lives, our yoga practice must changes with us. This makes his practice so particularly well-suited to today’s modern needs.

In it you will find a complete step-by-step introduction with sequences that show how the ancient practice of yoga can be a part of our modern daily lives. No matter what age you are, if you are a beginner or have been doing yoga for years, this is the perfect place for you to establish your own yoga practice for your life and needs. In it is discussed everything from poses to meditation, breathing and the philosophy behind it all.

Whatever you are looking for from a yoga practice, this is a great place to start. You can download The Heart of Yoga on your Kindle to take with you everywhere or buy the paper book. Either one is a great start to your lives yoga practice.

One of the things I always find comes up for me when I am learning a new pose in yoga is that my ability to find the pose is just as hard as staying in it. I don’t just mean the stretch, although since I do have a tendency to go hot and cold on my yoga practice, I have times when I have been away for a week or two and need to get myself back into a nice long stretch again.

No – I mean that when I decide I need to add a post to my routine, maybe because it will strengthen some part of my body that needs strength. Usually if that is the case, I find that getting to the pose and then relaxing in it is easier if I can just relax and center myself mentally in that pose. And to do that, sometimes it helps if my feet feel like they are completely in touch with my mat on all points. That is where yoga socks can really help. Read the rest of this entry »

Everyone starts yoga at some point with just the most basic of yoga gear, usually meaning nothing more than a simple mat. And that is fine, truth be told you shouldn’t really need a lot of yoga gear to do yoga. The important thing is to clear your mind, sit in your pose, and use the yoga to give yourself that centered peaceful place. That is, after all, why we do it.

But it never hurts to have that little extra bit of yoga gear that helps us along the way. If you do your yoga at home, I do it by myself quite often, and then a video or two is what will inspire you to keep going. There are some amazing videos shot in some of the most beautiful places in the world. Just to see one of these teachers doing a pose on a beach or beside a mountain can be enough to inspire any of us to try a little harder, stretch a little more. Read the rest of this entry »

Everyone is a beginner at yoga some time! Perhaps you have read about it and was wondering if you could do this. Don’t say "I’m not flexible enough!" or "I would look silly".  A class in beginner yoga is just what you need. If you want to learn more about the simple secrets of Yoga,

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for a free website opportunity. So no matter if you are interested in yoga for weight loss or to increase your flexibility, here are some great videos to get you started. Read the rest of this entry »

 Although you probably could do yoga without great yoga gear, under a tree in your bare feet without a mat – why would you want to? Just think of all those cool yoga videos with people in wonderful yoga gear, by the ocean or in the mountains. Read the rest of this entry »

No matter how great a yoga studio you may have, you will find that there is always something, some yoga prop, you wish you had for that special situation. It could be that you need more blocks for the new natal class, or longer straps for the all men yoga retreat you are planning. Read the rest of this entry »

If you are setting up your own studio, whether it be for private practice or to hold classes, you will probably need a few things to set the mood. Here are some posters to help with the poses and give everyone some inspiration. It might be you are thinking of expaning your storefront. Here are some great items that will allow your students to carry that yoga mood with them into the world. Read the rest of this entry »

Kids can gain enormous benefits from yoga. It enhances their flexibility, strength, coordination, and body awareness while their concentration and sense of calmness and relaxation improves. Doing yoga, children exercise, play, connect more deeply with the inner self, and develop an intimate relationship with the natural world that surrounds them. Here are some great books and games that are based on yoga poses to introduce kids to yoga. Read the rest of this entry »