Since I’ve had no choice but to practice at home I now can’t even imagine going to a class…seems like it would be so distracting to have so many people around. I’ve come to deeply love the meditative time I spend moving my body with hatha yoga. That said the day I can leave my house regularly and go to a class will be a happy day. Still I’m grateful for many of the odd blessings that being homebound and sick have brought me…there are worse things than forced monasticism and having a home yoga practice is definitely a BLESSING!
If you really want to reap the benefits that yoga has to offer, the number of years you have been practicing, and even the number of times a week you go to a class is trumped by whether or not you have a home practice…
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Researchers concluded that a home practice predicted health better than years of practice or class frequency:
“In general, frequency of yoga practice outside of class, as opposed to years of yoga practice or class participation, was repeatedly a predictor of aspects of health including mindfulness, subjective well-being, BMI, fruit and vegetable consumption, and sleep disturbance. It did not appear to matter how long an individual had practiced yoga. Rather, it appeared to matter how often they practiced. While class participation may be important in learning to do yoga, it did not predict any aspects of health. Perhaps time spent in class counts as additional practice time, and it is not unique unto itself.”
Many people claim the reason they don’t have a home practice is because they are too busy to roll out their mat for 90 minutes every day. I agree. But 15-20 minutes is pretty doable for most people (my asana practice often occurs while dinner’s cooking – sometimes even on the kitchen floor!). (continue reading)
Everything matters 
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