Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Jennifer Pesce of YogaDeals.
Budget Asana
The beauty of yoga is that you can don’t need any fancy sneakers or super-high tech equipment to build strength, increase your flexibility or to find your center. In this case, less really is more! All you really need is about 3-4 feet wide by 6-8 feet long of clear space and your bare feet — some even practice in the nude!
Here are 5 tips to keep your practice aligned with your budget:
- Recycle Your PJs. If you are unable to afford new yoga attire, take a look at your pajama wardrobe. Some of your beloved pj pants may double as great pants for your practice!
- DIY Mat Cleaner. Practice the yoga sutra of cleanliness, sauchat, by making a homemade mat cleanser. (Check out DIY Recipes for a yoga mat cleanser recipe made with tea tree oil and lavender.)
- Subsidize Your Classes. If you live in Chicago, Houston, LA or NYC, get your hands on a Yoga Passbook with over 350 passes to yoga studios for $75 – making your annual asana cheaper than most studios charge for monthly memberships (Check out American Health & Fitness site for a yoga passbook)
- YouTube Yoga. Now there are a bunch of yoga teachers youtubing yoga for you! Check out Sadie Nardini on YouTube or Tara Stiles yoga on YouTube for a plethora of options.
- Home Practice Help. In addition to the numerous DVDs, Yoga2Go is a new way to strengthen your home practice without the monotony, giving you a variety of sequences as well as the option to create your own for just $29.99. (See picture (inset), to buy visit My Yoga2Go)
Yoga2Go Home Yoga System
For more tips on being a thrify yogi, visit the YogaDeals website.
Editor’s Note: We’d love to for you to share your own ideas for “yoga on the cheap” with other yogis in the comments section below.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank you Jennifer for this wonderful post. Keep up the great work!
Very exciting having you write for us. Hope we can do it again someday. I think these tips are very useful.
One tip that I heard on Twitter – many communities have yoga classes at rec centers and YMCAs that are a lot cheaper than yoga in a studio. So if someone wants to practice with a group but not break the bank, that may be a good way to go. Or just start your own yoga group with friends and take turns hosting.
thanks nan!
darla, yes community yoga is definitely a great way to not only connect to yourself but with others! many studios often have a ‘community class’ that is donation based which is great for students with more stringent budgets. also some studios, like yoga to the people in nyc and berkley (http://www.yogatothepeople.com/new-york-yoga.shtml) are donation based so you pay what you can!
jennifer’s last blog post..black is the new clean & other manduka magic
I’ve found that just doing 5 or 10 sun salutations at home works wonders! Doesn’t take long, opens you up, and calms the mind.
If it’s nice outside, you could do it outside without a mat…just use the grass! Doing wheel outside looking at the clouds while you’re upside is awesome (just be sure your spine is warmed up!)!!
Kat Rogers’s last blog post..How high can ya go? I’m excited to find out!