Yoga is personal. Like any meaningful relationship in your life, it keeps you as honest as you allow it to. I did some research and discovered that more people prefer to practice yoga at home. The good thing about practicing yoga at home is that it gives you the comfort of being in your own surroundings without any distractions, and you truly connect with your body in an honest way.
It also gives you the opportunity to work on your weak areas without comparing yourself to others. I don’t recommend practicing yoga alone without the assistance of a DVD. You need this reference to guide you on correct posture and alignment. Focus is essential. This holds true for class as well, if you don’t focus, you can easily injure yourself anywhere.
Be Honest With Your Body and Respect Its Limitations
An example of being truly honest with your body is to accept it and not fight with it. You may see beautiful images of yoga poses and feel that your body could never do that. Allow your body to teach you. Try many different variations of yoga with different teachers especially if you are a beginner, until you find a practice that works succinctly with your body. You're not just learning from them, you're learning from yourself.
A good teacher holds up a mirror and allows you to see yourself. Just like the people in your life, allow yourself to learn from them, but keep moving on until you find a practice that you feel right about.
In the beginning, you may look at your overall body and struggle sometimes with new poses that you’ve never done before. But over time, with much practice and focus, you will become very sensitive to the needs of your body, even minute details; such as an odd bend or unevenness in an area as small as your finger. This ability to self diagnose, enables you to correct your limitations over time with your practice.
Being honest in your practice also means allowing your body to inform you when you need to stop. With continuous practice, yoga is a door for you to step through to learn not only about your body, but yourself, in a truly unique way.
