Yoga at Home: 5 Easy Ways to Make Your Home Feel Like a Studio

1. Doing Yoga at Home Must-Have: Time

“How long should an at-home yoga session be?”

Studio-Like Pro Tip: Build in a Time Buffer

One common snag to at-home yoga practice is the potential to have your session interrupted or abruptly cut short due to, you know, life happening at home. One way to handle this is to be realistic about how long of a session you can fit in.

For example, if the clock tells you that you've got one hour before the kids get home from school, resist pressing play on a 60-minute flow. Instead, go for a 30- or 40-minute session. This way, you give the yoga a chance to “set in” after the session is over. In other words, give yourself a 20-minute transition from post-class glow to go-go-go.

2. Doing Yoga at Home Must-Have: Space

“How much space do I need to do yoga at home?”

Studio-Like Pro Tip: Test-Drive Your Space

“Do I have to have hardwood floors to practice yoga at home?”

A NOTE ABOUT CARPET:

I’ve consistently practiced on medium-pile carpet without a yoga mat or a rug with no issue.

Now, low-pile carpet DOES concern me a bit because it might not offer enough cushion for the sit bones, knees, and heels. That said, this can be fixed by layering a yoga rug on top of the carpet. I do not recommend a yoga mat on top of carpet because of potential slippage.

The potential problem with high-pile carpet is that it might introduce balance issues. A nice albeit potentially pricey fix for high-pile carpeting is to purchase a wooden mat platform to layer underneath a yoga mat. 

A NOTE ABOUT HARDWOOD FLOORS:

If you have hardwood floors, your potential issues are both cushion and slippage, however, these are both quickly solved by the use of a yoga mat or yoga rug. 

Studio-Like Pro Tip: Mental Space

We’ve talked a bit about giving your body the physical space it needs to practice yoga at home but there’s another space-factor to consider here: mental space. There are three things that you can do to help your mind settle into your home practice as it does in studio. Those three things are:

How to Get Yoga Studio Vibes at Home: The 5-Prop Collection

Let’s start with props. You will find my recommendations for purchase-able versions of each of these items in the budget-based checklists in the next section. For now, I’ll introduce a five-piece collection of the most common yoga props and a simple substitute for each one that you probably already have at home.

1. The Yoga Mat

A yoga mat is the most basic of all yoga props. It might seem odd that I’m referring to a yoga mat as a 'prop' here, but as we talked about earlier, you can do yoga on a medium-pile carpet just fine. That said, it does make sense that your first yoga prop purchase is a proper yoga mat. For beginners, I recommend a mat that is at least 5mm thick.

NOTE: Some people will use a towel in place of a yoga mat at home. I don’t recommend this. Why? Because a towel doesn’t offer protection from slippage nor does it offer enough cushion to support any parts of your body that come into contact with the floor. As a substitute for a yoga mat, I recommend practicing on a medium-pile carpet or non-slip rug.

2. Yoga Block(s) or Brick(s)

After a mat, the props I recommend next are one or two yoga blocks. Two is nice for certain asanas, but one will often get the job done. Yoga block dimensions are usually around 6-inch x 4-inch x 9-inch and they are often made out of wood, cork, or foam. The studio where I teach provides foam blocks, however, I use cork at home. 

Easy at-home alternatives for blocks include shoeboxes or shipping boxes. If you like to use boxes in seated poses, you might consider filling those boxes with books, then duct or mask-taping them up so that they are sturdier. You can also use a short stack of books as a substitute for blocks.

3. Strap

The most common yoga strap length is 8 feet, however, you can find them in 6-foot and 10-foot lengths as well. They are typically made of natural fibers like cotton or hemp.

 Substitutions for a strap are super easy, they include a belt, a scarf, or a jump rope. Now, if you choose to go with a belt as your substitute, be careful, okay? We don’t want to get smacked in the kisser with a buckle.

4. Blanket

Another common yoga prop is a blanket. Confession: I have never purchased a yoga blanket. I use whatever I have handy because, really, any rectangular blanket that is somewhere around the dimensions of 5 feet by 7 feet will do. I typically use a Mexican-style blanket, but there are some really nice n' lux woolen yoga blankets that are very popular in studio settings.

Whether you are purchasing a blanket or using one you already have, you will need to know how to fold a yoga blanket like they do in a studio. Let’s learn how to do that now!

5. Bolster

Last, but certainly not least in the yoga prop world is a bolster. Bolsters are commonly used in restorative poses, but they can also be unsuspectingly useful in more advanced poses.

For example, when cueing Crow Pose in class, I suggest that students place a bolster on their mats where their faces would land should they fall forward. Knowing that the worst that can happen is a face plant into a soft bolster does wonders for a student’s willingness to experiment with a difficult pose. 

A bolster is another prop that can easily be substituted with a common household item, in this case, a firm pillow or couch cushion will do.

How to Get Yoga Studio Vibes at Home: 5 Ambiance-Boosters

We just covered what a well-stocked home studio looks like from a prop perspective. Now let’s move on to those extras that can really enhance the home practice experience.

1. Scents

Much like there might be a specific street we “grew up” on, there is often a yoga studio we "grow up" in. It’s the place where yoga imprints on us. For me, that was place was Maha Yoga in Brentwood, California. It smelled like Nag Champa.

To this day, when I catch a whiff of Nag Champa, I am transported twenty years back in time to Steve Ross’ Saturday morning class. Although I might physically be in my bedroom in Franklin, Tennessee, I am flowing in studio with Steve in spirit.

Whether it’s lighting incense or plugging in your essential oil diffuser, the addition of scent to your at-home yoga practice can be transformative. Popular scents that can make you feel like you’re practicing in a studio include cedar, sandalwood, frankincense, and eucalyptus.

2. Candles

There’s inexplicable magic in a tiny, flickering flame. Day or night, lighting a candle is a simple way to elevate an at-home yoga session.

There's no need to channel Madonna’s Like a Prayer video here, just one small candle will do. I recommend unscented candles, especially if you are already using incense or a diffuser during practice. I like to fill a glass dish with water and float an unscented tea candle in it.

Studio-Like Pro Tip: Safety First!

If you don’t trust yourself to remember to snuff out the flame after practice, please use a battery-powered flameless candle. (But, don’t place it in water!) 

3. Aromatherapy Ice Towels

You know what's really, really nice to have toward the end of practice? A cold towel infused with an essential oil like lavender, citrus, or eucalyptus. 

To make such a tiny chilled joy, simply fill a bowl with 3 cups of water. Drop somewhere between 5 and 10 drops into the bowl. Submerge a small face towel in the water, then wring out the excess. Roll up the towel and place it in a plastic container. Place the plastic container in the refrigerator. 

When it's time to practice, pull the plastic container out and place it near your mat. Toward the end of practice, when you are in resting poses, remove the towel from the container and place it either over your eyes or set it at the corner of your mat and let it unfurl.

4. Music

If you are turning to an online instructor for your in-home studio flow, note that there may or may not be music in the background. This is because, in order for an instructor to legally include music in the background of an online class, they must purchase a license for that music. That can be pricey for an independent instructor.

So, if music is an essential part of your yoga practice, but the class you have found does not include music, you can simply play your own tunes at low volume while streaming an online class. If you have Spotify, this is one playlist I like and this is another.

5. House Plants

If you are a plant person, you need no further explanation. If you are not, just trust that a little fresh greenery in your at-home studio space is a very nice touch. One houseplant will do. I recommend a Heart-Leaf Philodendron or an Ox Tongue.

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If you are a plant person, you need no further explanation. If you are not, just trust that a little fresh greenery in your at-home studio space is a very nice touch. One houseplant will do. I recommend a Heart-Leaf Philodendron or an Ox Tongue.