Yoga Exercises From Home - Beginner's Guide

Yoga training is good for both body and mind, focusing heavily on breath, balance, flexibility, and controlled movements that will increase your strength and mobility over time. During a yoga session, all exercises are meant to flow naturally and combine as they transition into one another in a holistic and coherent session. Here we pick out and explain some of the simplest and most common exercises you can easily do anywhere, to give you a taste of this fantastic yoga universe.

Mindfulness is a state of mind that can enhance the experience of yoga and meditation. Check it out here!

Read also: How to get started with exercise

Flexibility training

Sitting still for long periods can tighten muscles, lead to poor posture, and strain your back. Training flexibility and mobility gives you a body that can better withstand everyday movements and reduces the risk of back, neck, and shoulder problems. At the same time, mobility training contributes to better technique in strength exercises and a greater range of motion.

Read also: Injury prevention training

What is good flexibility?

In the body, we have many muscles that are actively used to bend and stretch joints. If these joints are stiff, it can lead to less stability and balance.

Flexibility mainly concerns the ability to move one or more joints. In other words, to move without pain. Exercises in flexibility training include all forms of stretching. The more flexible you are, the more smoothly you can perform activities.

Read also: Why stretch after exercise?

Movement training is something you should introduce if you have stiff muscles in your daily life. This can be due to inactivity and not using your muscles sufficiently. See simple steps to increase mobility in everyday life.

Yoga exercises for beginners

When you first start practicing yoga, it's important to have comfortable and flexible workout clothes that allow you to move freely and don't pinch uncomfortably during the session. Read here about Famme's best yoga clothes for women to find the right yoga pants, yoga tights, and yoga sweater or top.

Read also: Workout at the office and at home

Seated position

Most yoga sessions begin in a seated cross-legged position with your wrists resting on your knees. From there, you work your way up to a standing position with other yoga exercises. In a seated position, you practice breathing and often do some pleasant stretching exercises.

Method:

• Sit cross-legged on a yoga mat. Cross your legs in a way that is comfortable for you.
• "Head over heart, heart over pelvis". Stretch your chin over your heart, and lift your chest so that it sits over your pelvis. This mnemonic helps you sit with a straight and erect back.
• Feel free to sit on a cushion or a folded blanket to lift your hips to more easily straighten your back.
• Relax all muscles and nerves, including your face. You often don't realize you're frowning and clenching your jaw, but try to relax all the nerves there too!
• Breathe.

Cat/cow

From a seated position, you often (slowly) move to an all-fours position. A position where you are on your knees, and stretch your arms straight down to the floor.

Method:

• From this all-fours position, on an inhale, you then stretch your stomach and back down towards the floor and lift your chin upwards towards the ceiling. This is the "Cow" pose.
• On an exhale, you stretch your stomach and back upwards towards the ceiling while simultaneously pointing your chin downwards towards the floor, preferably towards your chest. This is the "Cat" pose.
• Position yourself during these stretches so that you feel a stretch around your shoulder blades and lower back.

Downward Dog

From a cat/cow position, one often moves into a downward dog position, for a good stretch in both arms, back, and legs. Don't forget to breathe! All exercises should be performed with controlled inhales and exhales.

Method:

• From a bridge pose, where you are now on all fours with a straight back and neck, curl your toes towards the yoga mat. Inhale and lift your knees off the mat.
• Point your nose forward and draw a line down towards the floor. Exhale as you push your hips up with your legs and arms.
• Stay in this position, feel where it stretches, and then adjust as you take some long and good breaths.

Mountain pose

When you feel finished in downward dog and ready to move on, we want to stabilize and root ourselves in a mountain pose.

Method:

• From a downward dog pose, you lift your gaze upwards, looking forward with your head.
• While your arms and legs are still planted on the floor, you choose whether to take short or long steps forward until you reach your palms with straight legs.
• Then release your arms, and let your upper body hang a little so you feel everything stretching down towards the floor by pure natural forces.
• Then make sure your feet are solid and firmly planted on the mat. Either completely together or hip-width apart.
• Slowly inhale as you roll your back upwards. Imagine a seed in your lower back sprouting upwards towards your neck, and focus the energy on all joints until you reach a standing position.
• Exhale all air when you have reached a standing position (mountain pose) and take some time to feel how everything feels.

Warrior pose

From a standing position, the possibilities are endless, but for beginners, it is an easy exercise to transition into both warrior pose one and two.

Method:

• From standing, move one leg back with good distance. The foot you are leaning on points forward in the same direction as your upper body, while the foot behind you points to the side.
• Bend the knee of the leg you are leaning on and move into a one-leg lunge.
• Straighten your back (head over heart, heart over pelvis). Inhale, and stretch your arms up over your head towards the ceiling. This is warrior pose one. Exhale.
• To move into warrior pose two, inhale, and stretch the arm opposite to the leg you are leaning on, behind your head. Then straighten your arm to point towards the other leg planted behind you, and exhale.
• Then switch sides and do these same exercises on both your right and left leg.

Lizard pose

A lizard pose is perfect for a final controlled stretch before stretching and concluding breathing exercises.

Method:

• From warrior two, plant both hands in line with the leg you are leaning on, shoulder-width apart.
• The palm of the hand on the same side as the bent leg should be placed inside the sole of the foot.
• You choose whether you want to lower your arms for a deeper stretch, or if you want to raise or lower the knee behind you. Listen to your body.
• Switch sides after a while, and do this exercise on both your right and left leg.

Explore our beautiful collection of women's yoga clothes to give yourself extra soft and comfortable yoga sessions going forward.

Increase mobility in everyday life

To improve your mobility in everyday life and going forward, you can take three simple steps:

• Spend time in the position you want to become more flexible in. If you want to increase your mobility in squats, you should spend time sitting in a squat.
• Do it often. You will make better progress by working on your mobility frequently. Dedicate 10 minutes every day to mobility training.
• Strength train. By performing exercises with a large range of motion, strength training will contribute to increased flexibility.

Read also: Effective strength exercises for the whole body, and Exercises with our resistance band

Mindfulness

Many may think that mindfulness is a state of mind where one has to dig deep to find oneself. It is actually an ability to be attentive, open, and present in the moment. It can be very beneficial to use mindful techniques during yoga exercises or meditation.

Read also: Pregnancy training

Mindfulness is a subjective experience, and one can experience it everywhere. It is a natural state of mind where one takes in what is happening around them - and one feels a kind of calm. This ability is easy to lose in a busy everyday life.

Read also: Sleep and exercise

One way to approach mindfulness is to be aware of your body, feelings, thoughts, and state of mind. These help you become more aware.

Body

Lie down in a comfortable position:

• Feel each part of your body.
• Listen to your breath. How are you breathing? Where does the breath come from?
• Feel how your breath moves through your body.

Feelings

Turn your attention to your feelings:

• Do you have good, bad, or neutral feelings?
• Do you feel cold or warm?
• Do you have tingling in your body? Do you hurt somewhere?
• Notice if these feelings intensify or diminish with open presence.
• Do they change?
• Do not analyze the feelings. You only need to register them and how they feel.

Thoughts

After sensing and locating your emotions:

• Where are your thoughts? Observe them.
• Do not judge yourself or correct them.

Through this exercise, you observe yourself from the outside and merely register all thoughts.

State of mind

Finally, sense the experience in your body:

• Where is your attention, your thoughts, and how does it feel?
• Do you see a connection between how you physically feel your body, what you think, and how it makes you feel?

By being able to see and acknowledge this, you can figure out what your thoughts actually do to you. This makes it easier for you to know what to do if certain thoughts arise in your everyday life. This can help you manage stress, and is excellent to do in conjunction with yoga exercises.