Yoga With Kelly

How to Build and start a Home Practice A good foundation is the base for a well built house, building, apartment, store front, etc we all know that. A well built yoga practice also begins with a good foundation. Building a home practice allows you to move at your own pace and get into your body and explore the many benefits of yoga. It is a way for you to find out more about yourself and your body. My yoga journey began as a home practice. While yoga in a studio is a wonderful experience it can be intimidating – too fast passed, costly, too far away or have an inconvenient schedule. A home practice is on your time, at your pace and in an environment you find comfortable. As I mentioned my yoga practice began as a home practice. I was unsure of where to being. I first used books that I had found at the bookstore and a mat my mom had given me that she had received from a work contest. I then moved up to videos, dvds and then eventually moved on to YouTube videos unt...

I finally live in a place that allows me to have a space dedicated to my yoga and my practice, that is important to me. This is how I prepare my yoga space for my home yoga practice. Let me paint you a picture. Its walls are cream and the trim is white. The carpet is a dark brown and soft. The windows are big white rectangles that open inward, so in the summer I pop them open and let the cool breeze of the Northeastern Ohio winds blow in. It is a lovely feeling. Above the windows I have inspirational quotes, stickers and photos. I read these while I practice. They give me motivation and remind me why I practice. Fairy lights hang from one side of the window to the other. This space where the windows are is like a little nook. A space that is perfect for my ever growing collection of yoga props, my mat, my meditation cushion, multiple lights, a collection of memorabilia and of course reading material because what is a room or a space without books... My cranberry JadeYoga mat fits ...

Common Yoga Props Some of the most common yoga props used in Restorative yoga… Don’t get discouraged if you are looking to build an at home practice and do not have these props lying around. If you do not have access to these props items around your house can be substituted. The most common of the yoga props is the yoga block . The block is used to help support the body in various poses. It allows the user to hold the poses for longer periods of time or go more deeply into the pose. They act as a force of stability. Yoga blocks can be foam or cork material. Blocks are usually inexpensive and either material is good. I have both and they both work well. Having one can be essential to your practice, having two is a plus. If you do not already have a block lying around, a stack of books is a good substitute or a water bottle, anything to help keep you stable in a pose. Straps  are used for stretching or allowing for a deeper stretch, usually used in lyin...

Last post I introduced you into the world of Restorative Yoga. Now that we have a better understanding of what Restorative Yoga is... Let's talk about the benefits we get from doing restorative yoga. We've all heard that yoga is very beneficial to our lives and to our health. This is true when living a true yoga life.  When we continuously practice, when we listen to our bodies, when we have the right mindset, when we nurture ourselves, body and mind, when we live life to the fullest this is when yoga is most beneficial to us. We've all seen those people on social media who can bend themselves into crazy poses. But just like all athletes it takes continual practice to get to where they are. I have worked over many years to get to where I am at. However, that is not solely what yoga is about, the asanas (poses) are only one part of a much bigger yoga picture.  Yoga is a much deeper practice one that can be very fulling to our lives and our health, for everyone... not ...

I have been getting this question a lot. When I tell people that I do restorative type yoga their immediate response is... What is restorative yoga? Then I began to question it myself, trying to come up with the best answer. At first when I would try to answer this question my words get all jumbled and I was never exactly sure what to say. I know what restorative yoga is of course. I see how the body moves... I see it with my eyes; I see it with my mind. I watch how people move. I watch how people stand. I watch how people sit. I want to go around and fix all of their postures. Then I become fully aware of how I am sitting or standing. But when it comes time for me to explain it to someone with words I haven't come up with the best collection of them to full describe what restorative yoga is. So that's what I am here to do. To put into words what restorative yoga is... It begins with B.K.S. Iyengar. In his form of Hatha yoga the student and teacher focus on alignment ...