DYWM has helped me grow so much in my yoga practice. I had been using a beginner series for many years and was grateful to find DYWM a couple of years ago with more intermediate practices. (A recent in-person yoga retreat told me it’s working well. The instructors were impressed with my alignment and couldn’t believe I’d never had an in-person teacher.)
All that said, how do you get to a place where you can practice without being led by an instructor? At times, I find myself in a situation where it’s not convenient to play a video, and I’d love to be able to roll out a mat and go through a satisfying yoga practice. I have on occasion, rolled out a mat and gone through sun salutations and a few other moves, but they never feel as good as having a instructor take me through a well-rounded and challenging practice.
I love this sharing, and am so happy that our classes have been such a valuable resource in your your progression over the years! We have such great instructors on this site!
As far as a self guided practice goes, it sounds like you are on your way towards that! Once you have some experience with a variety of classes and postures you can start to allow your inner teacher and creativity to flow! I found in the beginning as a teacher I would replicate or copy small flows that I learned in other classes, that allowed me to gain confidence in guiding myself through a sequence and then eventually others.
An example would be what I call a 3 part chain, 3 poses that go together easily like warrior 2, reverse warrior, then triangle pose. You could do a vinyasa then the second side and that would be your first flow sequence. 3 part chains can then be linked together!
Another fun idea is taking a sequencing course from our a la cart section in the yoga teacher training!
This is so helpful! Thank you. So you’re saying slowly build trust in myself and a repertoire three-part chains. I’ll look for the sequencing course as well. I find classes push and challenge me in ways that I’m less likely to push myself, but continuing to do a mix (more instructor led) can help with that.
Great question, and one I’ve spent a lot of time with as well. I’ve come to the conclusion that the reason I actually don’t like putting together my own intuitive flows each morning is because it activates the brain too much during the practice (which pose shall I do next? no, not that one, this one - wait, maybe I should do that, ow! not that one.). When I practice at home with guidance, I can completely shut off, taking what I like and leaving out what I don’t…but that complete shut-off is very important to me, and very restful for my busy, busy brain. :). When I was experimenting with self-guided practice, though, I found soothing music helpful, and a 2-minute sit, to begin the process of turning inward and asking what the body/mind might want on a given day.