How to Practice Outside of the studio and Find Authorship of Your Yoga

by Kate Robinson

Some Thoughts for a Mobile Yoga Practice

As a human in recovery, my practice by necessity must be mobile. It has to fit in my fanny pack. I need it to live. Favorite studios will not always be open, favorite teachers will not always be available. Whatever is most urgent to you must be made nimble, adaptable and nomadic. Your yoga practice is at its most and authentic and USEFUL when practiced according to your own unique design. Now is an opportunity to assimilate and put into action all that you have absorbed from the classes you have attended. Integration needs time and space. You deserve to let your practice take its own course, have its own appetite and narrative direction.

Find a space.

You may not have one. You may have a pristine peaceful private oasis. Wherever you are, cultivate safety. Ask yourself: How can this space be 5% more comfortable for my practice? That might mean incense, less or more light, or even a locked door. Consider your 5 senses with regard to the space you are in, and tend to each as best you can.

Trust your instincts.

Scan your body. Are you tired? Lay down. Are you buzzy? Get into chair, or a warrior. Notice your natural inclination and FOLLOW IT. I call it, rabbit-hole-ing. Permission to be correct in your wants, and not second guess the voice that says “heya sweet-peach, howsabout we go right into savasana” or the other voice that says “I must screw around with one armed crow”. They are both right in that they are pointing you towards reflection on a pattern, or steering you to recognize a deeper need. Let them guide you.

SUPPORT YOURSELF

Find comfort. Pillows, Bolsters, Towels. Be cozy. It’s ok to practice chill. Do not feel guilty. It is honest. Try to unwind discomfort. Roll around. If you need to rise and hit the gas, you will. Love music? Put it on. Light a candle. Romance yourself.

TIME IS A VARIABLE NOT A MANDATE

If you have time constraints, set an alarm so you can relax into timelessness-ish. This is a way to hold space, yep...let ya’ phone hold that space for you. Unending hours? Go alfresco. No timer. Just exist...that will take you places.

SURE! USE RECORDINGS, ONLINE YOGA CLASSES & TOOLS...BUT

Also practice without them. They are great, but they can also be distractions. This is a big one. Trusting your own compass. It’s ok to not know what to do, but if you give yourself a few minutes of quiet...you might be surprised at home much you DO know what to do.

GET WEIRD

It doesn’t all have to look like a class. Classes are modern constructions. The consist on average, of some combination of the following:

1. Mindful grounding

2. Warming up the spine

3. Twists

4. Standing Asana

5. “flow”*

6. Backbends/forward folds

7. Yin & winding down

8. Savasana (DO NOT SKIP)

9. RE-READ #8

Pick and choose, or integrate other modalities: dance, twerk, Pilates, soccer drills from 1987...whatever. Listen to your body.

IT’S ALL GOING TO PASS. IT’S ALL GOING TO CHANGE.

It always does. And you’re NEVER alone.