Home/self-directed practice. Any tips on how to start?

[TheRealMaryMillington]

Has anyone cracked it in terms of how to begin and sustain a home practice? I love going to class, but sometimes, especially with school hols looming or when OH is working away its hard to get there more than once or twice a week and it's not enough to still my monkey mind.

If you practice at home what do you do? Where do you do it? and how do you challenge yourself and stop yourself just doing a great big long savasana?

Or does anyone fancy a bit of an online shala? and try to buddy along for some practice at home?

Ive got "my yoga studio" app on my ipad and I use that. I'm a total beginner at it and wanted to start somewhere without feeling self conscious/embarrassed. Its really quite good.

I use YouTube. I do ashtanga, so the sequence is always the same, but I have a rubbish memory so will have a video on to prompt me!

There are loads of goodies on YouTube, I've really enjoyed Yoga with Adrienne and she has loads of stuff on YouTube.

I prefer to try and reenact my classes though so I write what I've done in each class and try to remember it all! and I've built up quite a varied log now which keep adding to, so at home I just pick one of them at random and work through it.

I can thoroughly recommend Yogaglo.com. It has some great teachers on it and videos of different lengths.

I discovered Yoga with Adrienne earlier this year on YouTube, I like her approach. I recently did her 30 day yoga challenge which was great for trying out different things.

I try an make a bit of a ritual for myself at home, I have a little oil burner and I do a quick 5 min tidy round my living room floor peaceful home yoga studio before I start.

I really like yoga with Adrienne too. I started her 30 day challenge and didn't complete it, I'll have to give it another go!

theRealMary I would love to know how to do yoga at home

A) I can never remember the right order of postures so I end up doing a few random postures and giving up

B) I get distracted and think of all the things at home I should be doing instead.

I'm wondering if a way to break my negative cycle is to aim for something achievable like 30 mins max incl the warm up and relaxation, which may encourage me to do it solo more often, esp in summer when my teacher takes a 3 week break

I posted this link on another thread.
I think Jane Fonda's pace in this tape is really good.

I used to practice at home, I found it easy to put together a sequence with inspiration from books and youtube channels

I have put together a sequence of my favourite yoga poses, lasts between 20 to 30 minutes.This gives me a starting point to work from starting with Sun salutations, then throw in some extra moves according to what I fancy on the day.Once finished I do a 15 minute mindfulness body scan meditation.This sets me up for the day ahead. It is difficult with kids / partners in the house so I get up before everyone else. I also try to get in another session at night. The body scan meditation is a great way to get relaxed before going to bed. My sleeping has definitely improved since I started. Namaste x

I second Yogaglo. I do it every night when kids (eventually) settle.

Have a 1-1 with a good instructor to help you plan your own practice.
You need to think about what you want to achieve.
Working towards a main posture?
Working up to a specific vinyasa?
A practice to energise?
A practice to relax?
Focusing on a problem area, tight hips??
Etc etc
What time of day? Certain postures and pranayama are more suited to morning, others evening.
Do you have injuries?
Where are your restrictions?
How long do you have?
Do you want to include pranayama? Relaxation or meditation.
What about a mantra, using one can be very helpful.

When you have answered the above questions you can begin to think about planing.
Don't forget preparation, limbering and warming up.
Build your sequence
Counterpose where required.

I normally help my students plan their practice, then we review after four weeks. I get them to keep a diary so they can note how they feel, and any thoughts or questions that arise from the practice can be discussed when we next meet.