OUR TOP TIPS TO MAKE ONLINE CLASSES WORK FOR YOU

Head of Yoga + Co Founder Jenny shares her move to using online classes and shares her top tips for making them work for you! That feeling of coming together as a community in person when you head to a class will never be replaced but there are so many benefits to heading online too and both compliment each other so well!

Accessibility

Moving to an island, really meant getting a little more creative with my fitness and yoga routine. When I was working (in marketing!) in London, you had access to 24 hour gyms, yoga studios and classes every hour from morning until night in an array of different studios, different teachers and much more. When I first moved to the Isle of Wight I struggled to find classes at the right times, with a teacher that was right for me.  Alongside my own home time on the mat, a running and cycling regime outside, I signed up to online classes with some of my favourite teachers and loved it (I also loved hopping up to London occasionally to a studio too!). The awesomeness of just being able to go to yoga and fitness classes whenever I can fit them in has been highlighted even more so during the last year of lockdown as the digital wellness world has taken hold!

Working out at home or doing yoga in your garden has loads of benefits – it’s a great complement to studio classes, you can wear what you like and you don’t need much in the way of equipment AND there’s no travel required. 

Get in tune with your own body

Best of all, working out at home teaches you to pay attention to your own body, to understand what it needs on any given day and practice in a way that supports you both physically, mentally and emotionally. Don’t get me wrong, I sometimes still now don’t always make it on to my mat for my own home practise - I think the social media world leads us into believing that as a yoga teacher you must be on your mat 24 hrs a day - that is not the truth, sometimes its 5 mins, other times an hour or so!! Some days I love being guided by the teachers that inspire me, this yoga journey and and then sometimes I like to play around and get creative myself.

To help support you in your home practise, I wanted to put together a few tips which have helped me to create a fun home practise and made heading to a class via zoom or a digital platform great! 

MAKE IT PART OF YOUR ROUTINE

If you do something enough at the same time each week it’ll become second nature! Why not book into an LIVE online class? Having that extra accountability helps to make sure you make it on to you mat to do that yoga, pilates or fitness session. Maybe try and do it the same time every week until it becomes part of your weekly routine. 

Consider what works best for you – are you a morning person or an evening person? Could you squeeze in some yoga on your lunch break? Or perhaps it’s the first thing you do when you hop out of bed? Whether it’s 5 mins or 50 mins, any time on your mat is valuable. You could even set up the class on your laptop the night before, then all you have to do is hit Play on the On Demand Library.

CREATE A SPACE

If you have a space where you can keep your mat unrolled and ready , you’ll be more likely to hop on at a moments notice, otherwise always leave your mat in the same place - ready and waiting to be unrolled! Some people like to decorate their practice space for yoga with things like candles and incense, but the most important thing is that you have enough space to stretch out and move around without bumping into tables, chairs, shelves etc. Also, you’re more likely to declutter your mind if the space you are practising in is also clutter-free.

CREATE COMMUNITY

Do it with friends and you can hold each other accountable! Get friends to sign up to the same wellness platform or you can even invite them round now we can - do a group session in the garden then have a brunch together!!

With The Online Studio you can also stay connected via WhatsApp and Facebook with all the other members, we are all there to support each other so why not reach out, start a chat, ask questions, tips or advice so you don’t end up feeling alone.

ACCEPTANCE

Cut yourself some slack here. Accept that your home practise will likely not be perfect but that is totally OK! Cats, dogs and children will no doubt make an appearance at some points, but embrace this love. Even if you manage 5 mins its a total win, and if the dog wants to do it with you make sure you give them an extra cuddle! The key thing is that you just show up on your mat open, present, accepting and curious – wherever it happens to be.

WHAT DO I NEED FOR MY HOME PRACTISE?

For Yoga - A mat and props can help your alignment and make some poses more comfortable! Check out our favourite One Happy Yogi Mats ( a sustainable island based brand!) for their beautiful mat designs and our awesome active wear partners Jilla Active who have just started selling yoga blocks and straps too.

For Fitness - A resistance band is useful and two weighted dumbbells. But alternatively you can use a pair of leggings and two weighted objects like tins of beans or filled water bottles.

For Pilates - For some classes a chair, resistance band and pilates ball could be useful. But alternatively you can again use a pair of leggings and a small cushion at home too.

And just YOUR LOVELY SELF (and The Balance + Glo Team on your screen if you fancy some guidance ;) …