Practicing Yoga at Home w/ Emma

When I think back to the development of my home yoga practice, two pivotal times in my life come to mind.  The first was when I am under ten years old. My family and I lived too far in the woods to get anything good on our incredibly old television (manual VHF/UHF dial, anyone?) so I had to get creative. One of my favorite activities was snooping around my parent’s personal belongings, which was how I found my mother’s book, The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga, by Swami Vishnudeananda. My yoga practice started on the floor of my parent’s living room, when I would flip through the pages of the book until I came to a picture, and then I would try and mimic it. For years, this was my entire yoga practice. Curiosity may have not worked out so well for the cat, but it introduced me to yoga, and led me onto the path I’m still traveling.

For the other pivotal moment, we need to fast forward more than a decade. People often ask me how I became a yoga teacher. The simplified answer is that I had a long, high-stress, serious-commute job that I hated. Although I lived in Madison, Wisconsin, I would have to fly to Philadelphia two or three times a month and live in a hotel while I worked.  I would get back to the hotel room late at night when there was no way I was going out to a yoga class. I would order room service and while I waited for it to arrive, I would put one of the hotel towels on the floor in front of the television (which now, lucky for me, came with a remote control) and do Sun Salutations. I would do as many Sun Salutations as I could fit in until the porter knocked on my door. When I realized that the happiest part of my day was the 15-30 minutes of frantic Sun Salutations before my dinner alone in front of a television, I knew that my life needed a major shift.

In both of those times, and again and again throughout my yoga practice, major realizations have come from doing yoga by myself. While nothing beats the amazing energy and connection that we feel from practicing in a room filled with other dedicated yogis, often our greatest moments of growth arrive when we are alone on our mats. You’d be surprised at what you can learn about yourself, and not just about your yoga asana practice, when you develop your home yoga practice. While the hardest part can be to start, I promise you'll be glad that you did!

Check out Emma’s workshop later this month on developing your own home practice to suit your life!

Developing a Home Yoga Practice

w/ Emma Silverman

Saturday, Nov. 16 | 1-3pm

Before 11/8, $25/$23 students

After 11/8, $30/$28 students

Sign up here today!