Today I want to make the case for a daily yoga practice and show you how to get started with yoga. If you do one self care practice a day.... it should be yoga.

Yoga is like flossing for your physical body. Movement helps to loosen up the stiffness, the long hours spent at a desk, computer, steering wheel. If even loosens up the stiffness caused by stress and anxiety. More than any other form of exercise yoga uses the breath to go even deeper to break up stiffness.

Yoga makes it possible for us to play more.

Keeping the body fluid and pain-free is simply a matter of flossing the fascia and muscles of the body. Yoga does not have to be hard or painful. Save that for your other exercise routines. Yoga simply needs to keep us moveable and hopefully pain free. And this applies not just to our muscles but also our digestive system and even our thoughts and emotions.

“I’m too stiff to do yoga”

I hear this all the time.

But guess what? When I started yoga I could not touch my toes, I could barely reach my fingertips to my knees. I remember going to classes and thinking that would never be me. I didn’t have all the lulu clothes all I had was a mat and a willingness not to hurt so much anymore. And best of all it made me feel better, even if I was not able to touch that floor and a forward bend was simply sitting up against a wall.

I showed up, stood on my mat and wiggled my fingers towards the floor thinking that would never be me. I would never get there. But I did.

With consistent practice over many years that floor got closer and closer and boy did that feel good on that day I finally reached the floor. But still today, on days when I wake up stiff, I start my practice wiggling my fingers towards the floor but after a few stretches that floor is reachable again - it’s like magic!

If you are stiff - this is exactly why yoga IS perfect for you.

There are many types of yoga and if you can’t touch your toes not all flavours of yoga will be perfect for you and your body right now. Look around, ask around, and find a teacher that you trust.

In the beginning, it helps to go slow. Don’t look at the photos on Instagram and think yoga is the perfect backbend.

Yoga is simply moving the body and loosening things up.

How you move and what your body needs is individual. If you don’t push it - over time your flexibility will increase and one day you may reach the floor - or not, it doesn’t really matter as long as you feel better after your practice.

That model with Yoga Journal likely has a hyper-flexible spine and is struggling with their own challenges. Never judge yourself by someone else’s pose.

How to Get Started With Yoga

Yoga is the simplest form of exercise. You can do it anywhere; outside, inside… in a studio, your deck or your bedroom. The only equipment you need is comfy, moveable clothes. Your pyjamas even work if you are doing this at home. A mat is nice but not necessary. Bare feet are best so you don’t even need fancy footwear.

If you are looking for the basics beyond bare feet and PJ’s here’s a quick guide for equipment.

Basic Yoga Equipment List

Remember all of this is totally optional. Bare feet and clear floor space are all you really need but sometimes these props come in handy to help us maintain proper alignment so we don’t get injured.

• Sticky Mat - prevents sliding and gives you a place to focus within

• Foam Block - helps to ground and balance when you fingers don’t touch the floor and provides a comfortable support for poses. Often helpful to have 2 of these.

• Blanket - should be firm, not a fleece blanket, a thick firm cotton is best so it maintains its shape when you sit on the folded edge

• Strap - useful as an arm extender when you can’t reach your toes and to provide stability and resistance in some poses

• Bolster - definitely optional but is super comfy for restorative poses

Find A Yoga Teacher You Can Trust

When you start look for a teacher that teaches alignment instead of flow. In a large flow class the teacher will not be able to look out for your individual needs and safety. Learn the proper alignment first so you don’t injure yourself and then afterwards you can do any style you like knowing what’s safe for you and your body.

If you have back injuries go to the class that specializes in that so you develop the core strength you need for life and yoga.

Even if you are super flexible alignment matters, over-extending your joints leads to injury.

Online classes and programs are great for developing a consistent home practice but in-person classes at least once a week are invaluable for the feedback an instructor can provide and the sense of community you get from practicing together. Even though your yoga is your own the collective energy helps to propel us forward in our growth both physically, emotionally and spiritually.

What Type Of Yoga Is Best For Me?

Once you are comfortable with the basics and what to consider to safely do the poses then branch out, discover all the different styles and flavours of yoga. There truly is something for everyone. And you may find a few styles you enjoy to mix it up a little bit.

Consider your dosha when you pick a favourite flavour of yoga. If you are Pitta, fire-based and driven, you will likely want to do the hardcore ashtanga and flow classes but what you really need is yin or restorative. Slow down, breathe and rest so you can go hard with everything else you do.

If you are Kapha, earth-based and chill, you likely love Yin and taking it easy but could really benefit from warm flow and ashtanga like classes that get you moving.

For Vatas, airy and always in motion, routine classes and restorative classes help to ground you and give you time to really connect to the meditative state of being still. Instead of doing something different every time create a routine and stick to it.

Benefits Of A Daily Yoga Practice

The true magic of yoga comes from doing it consistently. A daily practice takes yoga beyond the physical and helps you to centre and focus as you start your day. It also helps to open up the pathways in your body for optimal health and brain connection.

There is no better tool for productivity than a few minutes of yoga. Forget the excuse that you don’t have time - you likely don’t have time to skip this step.

When you start your day with yoga you...

• Focus better all day

• Feel more positive all day

• Have more energy all day

You'll be so much more productive if you just get those hands and feet on a mat in the morning.

Yoga Videos for Beginners

Start your daily practice with this 15-minute yoga routine to get everything flowing. Follow along with the video and keep the printable by your mat when you know the poses and don’t need to video. It's simple and easy to fit into your morning routine for self-care.

Need something even easier? Just do one pose to get started then add on from there. Here are my two favourite yoga poses to start the day plus a simple easy morning yoga routine.

Create a consistent daily yoga practise with the Easy Peasy Morning Yoga Program.

This yoga home practice program helps you get started even if you've never done yoga before and provides a variety of yoga classes to make it easy to create a consistent yoga practice.

Get more flexible and strong with yoga sequences for core strength, opening the hips, releasing neck strain and stiffness and more.

Enjoy The Journey

Most of all enjoy the journey that stepping on your mat will bring. Over time you will not only gain flexibility and strength but also an open mind, more patience and a clearer picture of what you want from life.