So you've got the trendy, new yoga pants from Lululemon and a new yoga mat right out of the package...great! Or maybe you're wearing holey sweatpants that you've been rockin' since the 90's that haven't been washed since last week. Guess what, your yoga poses are going to look and feel the same no matter what your're wearing and no one can smell you through a screen so who cares! If you choose, you can even turn your camera off so no one can see that you forgot to even put pants on at all! Bottom line is, get as ready as YOU need to be as long as you're comfortable and can move and breath freely.

You don't need a perfectly organized space or separate room in your house to practice yoga. If you do have one, what a luxury! If not, don't let that stop you from rolling out your mat. Every house I have ever lived in, I've practiced in my living room. This often means pushing furniture or clutter out of the way. All you need is enough space to roll out your mat + a little buffer zone for when you tip over in Half Moon pose. Find a space that will offer you the least amount of distractions & interuptions and if those happen...see tip #3. Lastly, create some SPACE in your calendar. Add the yoga class(s) you want to take for the next few days or for the whole week and hold yourself accountable.  

The yoga practice you do in your living room, most likely will feel different than the practice you do at a studio and that's ok. In a studio the chance for distractions are less. In general the space is quiet, wide open, and the collective energy of the group is enough to push you through that last Sun Salutaion. At home try to switch off any alams, phones, or devices and let others who are sharing your living space know that you are going to take a class. If you have kids or pets, invite them to pracitce with you or give them something else fun to do. When that all fails and your two year old is yanking you down while you're trying to hold plank pose or your dog just won't stop tromping all over you becuase he heard me say "Updog," smile, take a breath, collapse and try again. Do the best you can and just go with it. Make your practice PART of your life, not something totally separate. One last note about practicing at home; the overall pace and intensity of your practice may be different when you don't have 5-20 other people surrounding you and the teacher's gaze upon you in the yoga room. If you find youself struggling to hold your poses, or you end up in child's pose frequently, so be it. It's not a competition with yourself or others. Doing some yoga, even at a lower intensity is still going to benefit you more than doing zero yoga. 

It's normal to feel a little unsure or insecure when taking an online yoga class. You might be thinking...What's the teacher going to be like? What if I can't keep up or do all of it? What if my yoga poses look awkward or I don't do them right. Any of these thoughts sounds familiar? Come back to the simplicity of it all. You are going to be moving your body and you are going to be breathing. You already know how to do both of those things. Yoga is not a performance for yourself or anyone else, including the teacher. Yoga is an experience. Before you get on your mat, drop any expectations you have of yourself or how your practice is "supposed" to look or be. Set aside self-criticism and judgment. Let it be an experiment, let it be fun, let it teach you something about yourself that maybe you didn't know or that you simply forgot. Above all, be KIND to yourself. 

So while it still might not feel like you're in a tropical paradise, it can be pretty darn good!