If you’ve recently dipped your toes into the world of yoga, you might want to learn more about this ancient practice and take your skills further. But if you’re working with a tight budget, the high prices for some studio memberships and fancy yoga gear may make you wonder if yoga is really for you.
Yes, you could easily spend hundreds of dollars on classes at luxurious studios and high-end athletic wear, but you don’t have to shell out that kind of cash to become an accomplished yogi. Here’s how you can achieve massive progress in your yoga practice without major spending!
Set Intentions and Goals
Setting personal yoga goals will make you feel more motivated to hit the mat on a regular basis. Depending on how often you’re able to practice, you may want to set weekly or monthly goals to suit your schedule.
By downloading a fitness app to your smartphone, you can log the goals you want to achieve and track your progress with each yoga session. If you can’t always afford to take classes at a studio, logging your own progress will help you improve throughout your yoga journey.
Try Smart Tech
Today, there are plenty of smart tech devices on the market that can benefit your yoga practice. For example, you might want to purchase a tablet so that you can stream videos of yoga classes when you can’t make it to a studio to practice.
Perhaps you’ll want to pick up smart speakers to stream your favorite playlists while you flow. Or maybe an essential oil diffuser would help create a relaxing atmosphere when you practice at home. According to Yoga Basics, scents like lavender and chamomile have a particularly calming effect.
None of these devices have to come with a high price tag. Try shopping around online at retailers like Best Buy where you can not only find a great selection of electronic gear, but also a price-match guarantee. Another idea is to hold off until the holiday shopping season and top off your savings with Black Friday coupons to stretch your pennies as far as possible.
Meditate Instead of Zoning Out
Yoga is about moving your body and focusing your mind. Therefore, meditation is a key aspect of growing your yoga practice. But it’s very easy to allow your mind to wander during yoga, and by the end of a class, you might realize that you’ve spent the past hour daydreaming rather than meditating.
Why not download a free meditation app for your smartphone and begin a daily meditation practice? After just a couple of weeks, you might notice a difference in your mindset, and in how it affects your yoga.
If you’re going to be practicing meditation and yoga at home, you’ll want to limit distractions. One of the best ways to stay focused and rid your home of negative energy is to keep your home clean, decluttered, and well lit.
Find a Well Trained, Enjoyable Teacher
Sometimes, it can take a while to find a yoga teacher who you really click with. Before taking the plunge and purchasing a studio membership, try taking classes with a few different teachers in your community to see who you’d like to keep learning from. Sonima suggests making sure they are qualified as Registered Yoga Teachers through a school certified by the Yoga Alliance.
In many locations, you can also find donation-based classes with local teachers who offer instruction with a “pay what you can” price model. And if you’re totally strapped for cash, seek out teachers who upload their classes to the web and learn how to practice safely at home.
Use Supportive Equipment
If you want to improve your yoga practice, working with the right equipment can make a world of difference. Check sales at sporting goods stores or athletic wear brands for mats, yoga blocks, straps, blankets, and towels. Sometimes you can pick up gently used items, and you can often repurpose things from around your house for the same duties—for example, you could use a scarf instead of a strap, or roll up bath towels to cushion your knees during certain poses.
Yoga is a universal practice. No matter what the skill level, anyone can benefit from yoga. And even if you don’t have much wiggle room in your budget, you can become a master yogi. There are plenty of frugal yogis out there—you just need to get creative to find a good deal, then put it to work in your practice!
Sheila Johnson left the corporate world and long hours behind to start her own business. Since then, she’s seen so much personal success with her health and wellness routine that she wanted to share it with others as a ZENthusiast. Thru her website, WellSheila.net, she hopes that sharing her story will help and inspire others to put their physical and mental health first with a regular wellness routine.