Yoga is a practice with numerous health and wellness benefits. It can help us become more mindful, aware, patient, compassionate, as well as flexible and strong – in body and in mind! We know that practicing yoga is good for us, and feeds a need that other exercise does not, however, many of us don’t have the time to go to a class and devote ourselves to a studio practice several times a week. Thankfully, there is another option. A home yoga practice can be done when you have the time, and in the comfort of your own home. This is great for any beginner  who may not be comfortable doing unknown yoga poses in front of other people, and just as great for an advanced practitioner who wants to dedicate themselves to their practice, but can’t seem to make their schedule work with that one type of class they’d really like to get to.

It’s possible that the very best thing about practicing yoga with an online instructor is that you can play your class when you want it. It can be 10 PM and you can upload a class to start doing your yoga practice. You are not going to have to wait for the instructor to arrive or get to any particular location in person or worry about arriving late and class being full!

These are just some of the benefits of opting for online yoga courses:

You Choose When to Practice

This is probably the biggest benefit to using an online yoga studio! You can choose to do this first thing in the morning to get the day going or last thing at night to relax even more. You choose what days you want to do this, so you are not having to accommodate someone else’s schedule. You only have to do what works for you!

Helps to Build Self-Awareness

One of the benefits of yoga is that this has been shown to help people develop self-awareness of their own bodies, which is still true of online yoga classes. However, you may find that this can happen with more ease. Why is this? You are only focusing on you, rather than on the class where several other people may be doing their practice.

Wear Whatever you Want

With a yoga class at home, you can wear whatever you want. You don’t have to feel self-conscious or feel like you need to have the best clothes out there for yoga practice because other people are going to be seeing you. If you prefer to practice in baggy sweats, go for it. If you want to wear leggings and a tank top, this is your prerogative! If you want to practice in your underwear, be comfortable, and get on your mat!

No More Comparison

Many people who have attended live yoga classes often find themselves comparing what they can do to what others are doing. When you learn yoga asana at home you can go at a pace that best fits you. You can even rewind the video and do sections over if you’d like more practice. When practicing at home you don’t have to worry about comparing yourself to others, since you are alone with this practice. This can actually lead you to be more successful and more willing to make time for this yoga practice.

More Focused and more Relaxed

When you practice yoga at home the hope is that you can direct all your energy onto yourself. After all, home is the most comfortable place to be. If you are looking to practice particular postures or sequences to develop certain qualities of the practice you could choose to do the same class over and over again. It’s not unusual for us to find a class we really enjoy and to practice it multiple times, giving ourselves the chance to improve and refine. When we arrive to the relaxation part of practice being at home makes this part of the class even sweeter. Since at home practices really are about carving out some “me time” it’s a beautiful thing to really let yourself release the weigh of the world and re-lax! You’re worth it.

Pause, rewind, and revisit

Perhaps the most interesting and unique of all the benefits of a home practice using an online or virtual studio is the ability to pause the class if you need a few extra breaths in child’s pose or rewind a particular portion of class to revisit a favourite pose, re-listen to the teachers queues, or practice a particular pose that has been challenging you. Take your time and have fun with any class on your terms!