Which is more valuable to you? Do you enjoy your time in class, or time in your home practice more? Do you do both or just stick to one? Just wondering trying to develop my home practice and having a hard time. Thanks.
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I just do it at home. I don’t know about anyone else.
But decide what your’re going to do and then do it like clock-work, like brushing your teeth.Try and get in one a day, at least.Can be easier said than done. Look beyond asana if you feel the pull and are so inclined.
Making a habit of it is the trick, the secret.
This is an age-old problem and a big one for me…Perhaps for everyone.Discipline i guess.
If you just practice asana consider s ome of the other limbs.
Feel free to share what your practice might be, consist of.
Yoga Practice is largely a matter of a subtl mixture of doing & non-doing(allowing, letting-go).
I struggle with this one myself.Setting up & then developing the habit- that is the secret.
When the habit has formed you should be [U]yearning[/U] to re-visit your meditation seat or asana mat or whatever.Like burning desire!!.The pull is & becomes stronger and you should go with it. If there are aspects of pracitce you are struggling with that is another matter as is not being sure if your current practice is ideal or optimal for you for you. But what you mention willingness & desire,motivation,time management etc etc is perhaps one of yoga’s biggest obstacles. People talk about grace, GOd intervening or proverbially-speaking lending you a helping adjustment if you like basically and specualting if that is an ingredient but you need [B][I]tapas[/I][/B] or effort.Yoga is modelled as a relatviely exacting divine science so i think grace could therfore also be when many conditions are being satisfied.
This is a bug-bear for me btw,practice, like a thorn in my side and i do/have gone through phases now & again…So don’t think you’re alone. But do whatever you think respect to class , home or both is comfortable and appropriate. Some folk like the group morale and the social aspect etc, the bonus of having a teacher etc.I think you need a home practice if you want to take yoga seriously, i think. If you are rusty then find a nice teacher you may feel comfortable with,respect etc etc.
If you felt a call for a re-assesment of what you could be practicing then of course that is another matter that could be adressed. IF.
Hope this makes sense.
I encourage my students practice at home. My goal is to transfer all my students to home practice. But before that, they need to lean basics of alignment, breathing and few other concepts.
My personal opinion is that home practice of asana is essential. Kriyas and meditation would be hard to do in the class;)
I do my practice at home (after 7 years of taking classes in the classes). At some pion there are very few classes in the area that you would attend to learn. Certain workshops can be useful addition to the home practice.
A daily practice is very important. Often that happens at home and that is more than okay, it is desired. However, the more one practices (at home or elsewhere on their own) the deeper they etch the samskara of the practice. This manifests as misalignment and poor actions. It is for this reason that a class with a sound, skilled, alignment-based teacher can be profoundly helpful.
Just as we deceive ourselves in our living in the outer world so too do we manifest avidya (ignorance) in our inner practice. And for me it critical to occasionally be nudged back on course or have something brought to my attention that for some reason I was overlooking.
There is, of course, a different energy to a solo practice at home versus a class practice and there is (or can be) a very sweet harmony in class when the attendees all understand the concept of releasing the ego. However, when students bring a solo-practice-mind to a class it is both jarring and distracting.
I find it difficult to practice at home…the environment isn’t soothing or peaceful, don’t feel like i have enough room etc etc. I prefer to go to the classes b/c I find the atmosphere to be more conducive and if I’m messing up the alignment (which I tend to do b/c I was a ballet dancer and want to turn out from the hips still) then I have someone watching me to help with that. However, I pay closer attention to alignment when I’m at home and I try to practice at home simply so that I get more out of the in class instruction.
[QUOTE=Radianceinprogress;43153]Which is more valuable to you? Do you enjoy your time in class, or time in your home practice more? Do you do both or just stick to one? Just wondering trying to develop my home practice and having a hard time. Thanks.[/QUOTE]
For me Class is fun. When I go or do.
For me I’d be interested in having fun at class and learning lots of neat things.
at home I think I’d be more inclined to make the practice more about going inside rather than making external forms with my body for health and so on.
When your out in the world do that be out in the world. When your at home maybe go inside. See whats there . . .
Both. I have 2 classes per week - and I really enjoy the energy from those, plus the instruction. And I do seated series, particularly forward bends, hip openers, and inversions every evening, along with 15 - 20 minutes of meditation (more if I have the opportunity). During my noon workouts, I incorporate chest adn shoulder openers, and back bends between sets.
I do both. I prefer studio classes.
I get excited about doing yoga, no matter where it is. Mostly though I learned from books and home practice.
Just lately though, I found a studio, and must say I have really enjoyed doing it with my brothers and sisters in the same room! and learning from a great teacher who has learned from some greats including David Williams, so for that I am truly grateful to get some professional instruction handed down.
I would like to attend to a yoga class but I have to drive like 1 hour to get there. I hope I can find some workshop or maybe I’ll have to make the sacrifice of driving 1 hour 2 times a week and then practice at home.
I prefer to do it at home by myself everymorning, I feel that I can focused on my breath more easily. but once a while I would like to attend the class, I can feel different energy from others in the same room that are doing yoga with me.
I prefer to do it at home, but I enjoy learning new things in class.
However, the more one practices (at home or elsewhere on their own) the deeper they etch the samskara of the practice. This manifests as misalignment and poor actions.
This is very wise. 
I would prefer classes, but with commuting 2.5 to 3 hrs each day, I have felt that to take time for a class would be too much. I am rethinking that. Up to this point, I have taken “classes” online, using yogatoday.com because they offer a huge variety of 1 hour classes (omg I sound like a commercial) that keep it interesting for me. There is also a lot of focus on alignment in some of the classes, so I feel I’ve learned a lot that way too. But there truly is no replacement for a teacher who can give direction and corrections in alignment. What I think may feel or be right, may be a bit wrong, and only an educated teacher can see that.
Sadly the logical yoga studio for me may not have teachers of that caliber. I took one class there, and the instructor read her poses from a piece of paper. She did no alignment corrections. I was disgusted. I thought, I could have done this with a video, it would have cost me less, and at least THAT instructor would have at least spoken of correct alignment. ugh.
So - I will give that studio another chance - that was two years ago, maybe things have changed! It’s my only option for true classes at this time.
Otherwise, I’m going to just buy some classes from yogatoday, 4 bucks each and transfer them to a thumb drive so I can do them in my living room, using my playstation. Well, my husband’s playstation. lol.
I never liked yoga classes but I now believe that was because I was new and feeling mighty uncomfortable… I did like private lessons though. That taught me more in 1 lesson than I learned in multiple classes. But this is just me and my experience. But currently I do not go to any class or lesson so I guess I prefer at home. However I am willing to admit I likely do not learn as much or as fast as I might should I ever go to a class again… and I just might give it another go in spring.
I like youtube videos. Specifically Slightly Salty Yoga and Alo Yoga, but I find SSY to have such a gentle vibe nd great aura about her. Really one to check out
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I’ll have to check into those. I have found Yoga with Adriene and Yoga TX on YouTube and practice with them a good bit.
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I hope you are doing great!
I was wondering how your practice is going on and wishing a great future ahead. If you need to know about Yoga software or managing yoga studio feel free to share with me
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For me, home practice is always preferred over studio practice because at home I'm more comfortable as compared to the studio which helps me to concentrate more quickly. In my case, this is the reason,it will be different for different people.
For me, home practice definitely. As long as you listen to your body, it is no problem learning alone at home. This simple session works for me: http://www.loveenki.com/enki_gb/hatha-yoga-session-for-beginners-and-intermediate/
I go to studio to join class & home own practice too.