How to make 'At Home' practices work...

Creating a home workout routine, or a home yoga practice is both economical, and offers many conveniences in terms of your schedule and time restraints; however, it requires commitment and dedication that you are responsible for bringing to the table!

I know from my own personal experience when I closed my studio, where working out was my job, and I was doing it about 14 hours a week (plus prep time); when I started at home those hours reduced to 4-6 with a lot more flexibility for me that I had to master … translation… I had to get my sorry butt on the mat instead of using every other household task as an excuse not to!

Creating Namast’ay At Home was all about giving my clients what they were no longer getting in studio, their 3-4 workouts a week had been reduced to 1-2, I wanted them to have the option for more!

Some of them use the programs I offer, others have picked up complimentary programs and along the way I decided to open up the community to the public and currently have about 160 ‘At Home’ members!

By whatever means you manage to get those workout in At Home, good for you; because it is not easy to cultivate that kind of dedication! What I will say is nothing worth having comes easy, and a solid fitness routine is worth having!

First and foremost, in my coaching with clients is that it has to be scheduled; whether you are doing the same thing every week, or adjusting workouts to fit a changing schedule, they absolutely need to be scheduled! 

‘When and Where’, need to be made clear, or I can guarantee it won’t happen!

Get out your planner and get them in the schedule!

Once you have established when and where, decide what! 

Can is just say that a yoga practice is a beautiful thing, I have one; yoga everyday – some days I get in a few sun salutations, other days I am hanging on my mat for an hour or more; but it is no substitute for a strength training program!

So, if you penciled in two yoga sessions head back to your planner and figure out where the two workouts are happening … don’t have time for 4 sessions?  Might I suggest a 20-minute workout with a 20-minute yoga flow to finish up? 

Be rigid in your plan and flexible in your approach – you absolutely can get it all in, trust me on this!  Get creative and don’t let yourself off the hook!

The next step in cultivating a successful home workout schedule is to create your ‘where’.  If you have space where you can set up your equipment and leave it there waiting for you, perfect – do that!  If you don’t, then where ever in your home you roll out your mat – leave the mat there to be a constant reminder that it needs unrolled and you need to move!

Okay so when and where are established! Yay You!

Next is what … and by what I am referring to the type of movement you are planning to use, and by extension what equipment you might want to invest in!  It is important to note here that you do not have to have any equipment to create a full body workout!  Body weight resistance exercises are perfect, if you are at home with a new baby or an adventurous toddler by all means use their body weight to pump up your workout!

I have a few staple pieces of equipment that I recommend for clients who are opting to workout at home…

1.      A few different hand weight options 

2.     A stability ball

3.     A kettlebell (15-25 lbs)

4.     Resistance bands

For a home yoga practice I would highly recommend the following …

1.     A thick and non-slip mat

2.     A yoga block (2 if you can swing it)

3.     A yoga strap

Setting yourself up with all of this equipment can range from $100 - $300+ depending on the quality of the equipment you go with. 

I always suggest starting as inexpensively as possible – you can always upgrade!  The initial investment can seem high, but consider the cost of studio classes at $15 each, or a personal trainer at $45-$60/hour and then consider this … You’re worth it!

There are an infinite number of people, just like me offering free videos online for every piece of equipment, yoga and any fitness modality that moves you … the key is to find people who resonate with you! 

Find and follow the people who inspire you to show up week after week, practice after practice!

Working out at home or cultivating an at home yoga practice is hard… but you can do hard things my friend! 

One of the most difficult things about going it alone is creating a community, a group of people who are also making this journey At Home; join me on youtube, or join our facebook community Namast’ay At Home for all the support you can stand! 

Weekly workouts, yoga flows and so much more!  We got you covered!