A girl experiencing back pain after doing yoga at home

Self-Taught Yoga — Why It’s Not the Same

The internet has led us to believe that anything and everything can be self-taught, including yoga. Whileyou can channel your love for yoga using online guides, best practices, and online yoga classes that would rarely match the impact of a supervised, group yoga and workout class!

According to the National Institute of Health, yoga can improve your overall mental and physical health. It can help with weight loss and improving your sleep routine.

Yoga is considered one of the best ways to manage stress, stay in shape, and practice mindfulness. But if done incorrectly, yoga poses can cause several health problems.

In this blog, our health and fitness experts at FitEngine have discussed why you should opt for an on-site yoga class in NYC instead of learning yoga at home.

A woman meditating in a field

Self-Taught Yoga—Not for Beginners

Yoga requires grit, flexibility, time management, and posture alignment. You can practice your favorite pose from an online guide in front of the mirror.

But there are a few risks and dangers attached to it!

Firstly, you can see your front body, arms, and legs, but a mirror won’t allow you a 360-degree view. It will be difficult to align your back and shoulders properly. Therefore, self-practicing makes it quite difficult to master yoga alignment. As a result, you can spend days and weeks practicing misaligned postures that’ll ultimately lead to sore muscles and body pain.

Higher Risk of Injuries

Self-taught yoga increases the risk of yoga injuries. Some common yoga injuries that self-taught yoga practitioners usually experience are:

  • Neck sprain if you put too much pressure while doing a handstand or a plough
  • Incorrect body alignment and shrugging too hard can cause your shoulder to compress
  • Using tender wrists from mobile or keyboard use to balance body weight during yoga
  • Practicing extreme stretch folds and rounding your spine can injure your cervical area

Poor Time Management

Professional yoga and workout instructors start their training sessions with time management lessons. Practicing yoga at the same time every day can help with your time management. Self-taught yoga practitioners often disregard this point.

A woman is a restorative yoga pose

They continue altering their yoga time due to laziness or other reasons. As a busy person, consistently practicing yoga at home can be tough. That’s when yoga classes and dancing sessions in NYC come into play. Joining one can do wonders for your mental and physical health. You won’t just get to learn yoga poses under professional guidance but also make new pals who share your love for yoga and fitness.

Lack of Discipline

Yoga practitioners need A LOT of discipline to call themselves regular yoga geeks. In today’s fast world, where everyone is talking about multi-tasking, yoga needs you to mono-task. You cannot practice a tree pose or a basic stretch if your mind’s thinking about an Instagram post or an upcoming episode of your favorite TV show.

A yoga and workout class in NYC

Yoga can help you revitalize your body and mind only if you give it undivided attention and the time of your day. Self-taught yoga, sadly, is not quite effective at improving discipline. If you really want yoga to impact your well-being, you must consider opting for a yoga, athletic, or Pilates class in NYC.

It’s Not a Cure for Laziness

Well, self-taught or at-home yoga is another excuse for people who are too lazy to go to a gym or yoga studio. Self-taught yoga is all fun and games until it makes you feel more isolated.

Practicing at home with a few guides, instructions, and online materials can be an easy way to learn yoga, but you will definitely feel more energized and driven if you opt for a workout and yoga class instead.

FitEngine—Your Ultimate Fitness and Well-being Guide!

NYC is replete with yoga classes, gyms, fitness studios, and more. But finding one that fits your need can be tough. Many people skip joining a yoga class because they’re not aware of the best ones nearby. That’s where we can help!

FitEngine can help you find the best yoga classes in NYC.

Our team has a bunch of energetic and experienced athletes and yoga experts who can find the best fitness programs in Manhattan for you! Contact us for more details.

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