India Herbs

Publication: Dallas Morning News

Author: Sophia Dembling

Date: 7 February, 2007  

Can’t get to the studio to do yoga? Here’s how you can do it at home
 
‘After you start doing your practice three days a week, your body starts changing,’ says yoga instructor Chinook Wusdhu, who practices at least a few minutes a day, even at home. Finding your center in the tranquil hush of a yoga studio, guided by a teacher, is easy. Breathe in, breathe out, move, stretch, twist as instructed.

At home? Not so easy, what with kids and phones and the Internet and maybe a dog who thinks anyone at floor level is fair game for play. And without the guidance of an instructor, how do you choose poses for your home practice?

A yoga class is the best way to learn postures and technique. “Your practice won’t really flourish until you take a class,” says Chinook Wusdhu, who teaches at Tsada Yoga in Dallas. “You draw on the collective energy of a group of people, and the repetition in class gives you the motivation and momentum to do it at home.”

But a yoga practice requires more than an hour a week to keep the mind calmed and the body limber.

“Think of it this way, if you do it one day a week,” says Mr. Wusdhu, who practices at least a few minutes daily. “You have 31 days a month of pressure beating down on you and pressing down on your joints. If you do it once a week, you’re de-stressed and de-compacted four days a month. If you do yoga one day a week, you have six days for your body to get tight and remain tight.”

As with any exercise program, the more you do yoga, the greater the benefits you’ll reap from it.
‘If you can, find a room that you can face in the direction of the sunrise; that’s psychic energy,’ Mr. Wusdhu says. “Say to yourself, ‘OK, I’m going to do this three times a week, no matter what, for a month, just to see what kind of response I get from my body, my mind, my emotions,’ ” Mr. Wusdhu suggests. “If you want to get in general health, do it three days a week for six months. In great shape, four days a week. In phenomenal shape, like Madonna, aim for six days a week. But after you start doing your practice three days a week, your body starts changing.”

OK, so we know we should be doing yoga at home. But “suit up and show up” doesn’t always work as well for yoga as for other forms of exercise, since yoga requires concentration, mindfulness and enough knowledge of both yoga and your body to make good use of time on the mat.

So, what’s an aspiring yogi to do? We consulted three instructors for tips and suggestions for bringing your yoga practice home.
The right time

Face it, once the kids are awake and the phone starts ringing, you may as well be trying to down-dog in Grand Central Station. That’s why many people set aside early mornings for their practice, says Marilyn Englund, who teaches at BaylorWorx in Waxahachie and at the DeSoto Recreation Center. “Plus, when you do it early in the day, it kind of sets the rhythm for the day. It calms you down and you’re able to go through your day in a more focused way.”

In addition, Ms. Englund suggests trying to do it at the same time every day. “Then it becomes routine,” she says.
The right place

In a perfect world, you’d have a spacious and incense-scented room dedicated to yoga. But, in the real world, you probably have to make do with the living room or bedroom. Still, you can make that work.

“It’s best to choose an airy place, a quiet place, and it’s suggested that you use the same place every time so it becomes a ritual for you,” Ms. Englund says.

Choose a calm space, Mr. Wusdhu says. “Sometimes you have to move furniture around or something. You want to face in a direction where your mind is not focused on what is on the wall, face in a direction where it’s less busy. And if you can, find a room that you can face in the direction of the sunrise; that’s psychic energy.”

You may find that the place you thought was perfect for yoga doesn’t feel right, he adds. “Sometimes, you have to place your mat around in several places. When you get it right, it’s going to feel right. It may not be the most obvious place.”

Music or not is a matter of preference. “Sometimes, I have music; more often than not I like quiet,” Ms. Englund says. And while you can do it with the television on and get a physical workout, “You might be shorting yourself to some of the benefits you get from calming the mind and focusing,” she says.
The right amount

The really good news is that if you can’t dedicate an hour a day to yoga, you will reap benefits from whatever you can manage.

“Every little bit counts,” says Viviana Lubertino, who teaches at the Cooper Aerobics Center. “You don’t have to do a whole hour.”
MELANIE BURFORD/DMN

Barb Totzke, who owns Tsada Yoga Studio, works out at home.
“They say that our yoga practice is cumulative, so the five or 10 minutes we might spend one day is no less important than the 45 minutes we do another day,” Ms. Englund says.

“You can do two minutes and it’s OK,” Mr. Wusdhu says. “Two minutes in the lotus position and meditate with an affirmation. Or just do one sun salutation or one down-dog. To start out, just pick one move and do it every day for 14 days and watch how it changes.”

And remember that yoga is a gentle discipline. “We’ve been kind of conditioned to beat ourselves down,” Mr. Wusdhu says. “We whup ourselves and whup ourselves. If you do five minutes, you can think, ‘I did something.’ Never do a yoga practice at home or in the studio with self-criticism. You can observe and analyze, but every pose should be done with thankfulness.”
The right moves

Ms. Englund recommends starting the day’s practice with breathing or chanting “because it’s centering,” she says. “Otherwise, we go into practice and we’re kind of scattered. It settles the mind down and lets your mind and body know it’s time to practice yoga.”
Barb Totzke, who owns Tsada Yoga studio, works out in the living room area of her loft. If you have only a few minutes to spare, try a little breathing, perhaps a sun salutation, and “a couple of postures just to get out the kinks,” she says.

In choosing your postures for the day’s practice, think about your spine. You want to “bend forwards, backwards, side and twist,” Ms. Englund says. “Moves that take the body in each of these directions help ensure the health of the spine and back.”

In addition, Ms. Lubertino says, “Backbends are energizing; forward bends are calming.” So you might focus on backbends in the morning and emphasize forward bends for a late-day wind down.

If backed against a wall, most yogis would have to admit that some poses are more fun than others.

“We hate some poses because the joints are tight,” Mr. Wusdhu says. “Some poses are not comfortable for us. And people like winning, even if you don’t want to call it winning. But a pose you really struggle with or that is uncomfortable is one you won’t like.”

Nevertheless, you want to keep those poses in your practice as much as possible.

“In yoga circles, they say do two poses that you like every day and one pose that you hate, and the pose that you hate will become one that you like,” Mr. Wusdhu says.

“I mix it up. My goal is to do one sun salutation every day. Plus, on some days I just go for those poses I dislike that take stress out of my lower back. Other days, I do the poses I do like.”

Of course, Ms. Englund points out, “In time, your body tells you what it needs to do. If you get up in the morning with a stiff neck, this might be a good day to do some neck exercises.”

And one of the benefits of practicing at home, Ms. Lubertino says, is that you can individualize your workout rather than try to keep up with a group. “You can work with your own limitations,” she says. “If you need to hold a pose longer, you can.”
Virtual friends

Yoga videos and DVDs can be a great aid in guiding your home practice.

To better understand yoga, Mr. Wusdhu recommends Yoga Unveiled, a documentary about the roots and meaning of yoga, available through Amazon.com.

Ms. Lubertino is a big fan of yoga videos and DVDs, especially those by Rodney Yee and, for power yoga, Beryl Bender Birch.

You also can look in books. Ms. Englund likes a series for the prevention and treatment of disease in the book Dr. Yoga by Nirmala Heriza. She also suggests a 20-minute series from Deepak Chopra’s book Perfect Health.

“There are many good books and many suggestions for practice,” Ms. Englund adds. “The important thing is to do something consistently.”

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