Benefits of a home yoga practice - Lotus Speech & Wellness, LLC

Last month, The New York Times Magazine published an article about Adriene Mishler of “Yoga with Adriene”, describing how her already incredibly popular, free YouTube yoga channel has become even more popular during the pandemic. There are many known benefits of yoga for the mind and body, and now more people are discovering the benefits of practicing yoga at home. Molly Young, contributing writer for the magazine and author of the article, writes:

“Mishler has plucked the underlying assumption of yoga — the idea that everybody on earth needs help with something — and rejected all the elements that can be off-putting: the crystals, the perfectionism, the ego, the expensive clothes, the competitiveness. She has even got rid of the studio. The benefit of teaching over YouTube is that it coaxes people to find solace by themselves — not in a class surrounded by other students, not with an audience, not under the eye of an instructor. Because these things can vanish overnight, as we’ve seen, leaving us to grapple with what Mishler has been getting at this whole time. “Who are you when you’re not performing?” she asked me on the phone. “What are you doing when no one’s watching?”

As of the writing of this blog post, the Yoga With Adriene YouTube channel currently has more than 8 million subscribers. Her practices vary in length, so you can either squeeze in a short practice during a break in your day or indulge in an hour-long full practice. Her YouTube channel can be enjoyed by beginners and more experienced yogis, and she features a variety of tutorials which break down individual asanas (postures) and pranayama (breathing techniques). Adriene herself is a pleasure to practice yoga with; she is authentic, welcoming, and modest, which is impressive given her international fame and adoration.

Both Caitlin and I have been doing Adriene’s yoga practices on her YouTube channel for a few years now. I’ve also explored some other yoga YouTube channels and yoga studios from across the country offering livestream classes during the pandemic, and LoveYourBrain offers online yoga videos specifically geared toward people with brain injury. My own success with a personal home yoga practice contributed to my decision to become a certified yoga instructor, and also contributed to our decision to integrate an “at home” yoga component into Lotus Speech & Wellness. (Our yoga program and speech-language pathology telepractice is currently in development, and we hope to have more updates on it soon! Please contact us with any questions or suggestions).

I’ve already mentioned some of these advantages above, but here’s a quick list of some of the benefits of practicing yoga at home:

You are able to be in the comfort of your own home.
It eliminates the need for transportation to a yoga studio.
With options including YouTube, livestream, or even following a sequence from a yoga book, you can practice yoga at any time of day.
More and more local studios are offering virtual options for a home yoga practice during the pandemic.
You get to practice alone (except for perhaps a furry companion or family member), so there’s not as much “worry” about comparing yourself to others or bumping into someone next to you.
It may be less expensive than going to a yoga studio in-person.

More and more research is being conducted to learn about how yoga can support brain and body health, including after a brain injury. If you or a loved one has a brain injury and are interested in starting a yoga practice at home, we’d recommend checking with your doctor to make sure you are aware of any precautions before you start to practice. For example, some people experience vertigo and may want to avoid inversions, while others with hemiparesis may need to modify yoga poses. “Adaptive yoga” is a term used to refer to yoga that is more accessible to a variety of different abilities and bodies. There are some great books available about how to make yoga more accessible, including “Accessible Yoga” by Jivana Heyman and “Yoga for Everyone” by Dianne Bondy.

To borrow the signature phrase of Adriene, we hope you will “find what feels good” practicing yoga at your home. Please contact us with any questions, comments, or feedback; we’d love to hear about your own experience with a home yoga practice.

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Learn more about Adriene Mishler and Yoga with Adriene:

Other YouTube yoga channels we like:

Books about Accessible Yoga:*

*Disclosure: We are an affiliate of Bookshop.org and will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. You should also be able to find these books at your local library.

**This photo is me (Katherine) with my dog Penny, who often joins in during my home yoga practice.