Start Yoga With Just Your Gym Clothes and a Quiet Place

We Americans are a funny bunch. We want to start cycling for exercise, so we invest hundreds of dollars, if not thousands, in new bikes and all the latest workout gear, clothing, and electronic gadgets. But any one of us could just as easily start cycling with a second-hand bike and the 5-year-old gym clothes stuffed in the bottom of the drawer. Guess what? The same is true for yoga.

I appreciate those enthusiastic yoga nidra students willing to invest their money in new workout clothes and yoga mats.

You can start yoga with just your gym clothes and a quiet place. That’s it. As the international yoga educator and sleep meditation teacher Scott Moore Yoga, would say one of the best things about yoga nidra is the fact that you don’t have to spend any money to practice it. Zero. None. Nada.

If You Can Breathe, Yoga Is for You

I recently read an article on the Yahoo! Life website discussing yoga for beginners. I am always interested in this sort of thing. Anyway, there is a money line in the article that makes me smile. It says, “Yoga is for everybody. The only prerequisite is that you can breathe.” I couldn’t agree more.

It is fine that people spend hundreds of dollars on new outfits and yoga mats even before taking their first class. And if you want to invest that kind of money, that’s great. You earned it. Spend it anyway you like. But if you don’t have money to spend on a new outfit, don’t worry about it. The universe does not care how you dress.

Also know that there is no initiation you need to go through before you can be accepted by other yoga practitioners. In fact, this is another thing I love about yoga nidra. The people I experience yoga with on a daily basis are some of the warmest, most welcoming people I know.

You Don’t Have to Be an Expert, Either

As I am writing this piece, I’m thinking about all the additional things I love about yoga nidra. Here’s another one: no one expects you to be an expert on day one. In fact, no one will ever expect you to be an expert.

You know what it’s like when you go to the gym? You put on a brave face and make a valiant attempt to appear that you know what you’re doing. You want to give the impression that the gym is your second home and that you belong there. Well, there is no need to put on a show when you practice yoga nidra.

One thing I have learned over the years is that we are all the same to one degree or another. None among us is better or worse than anyone else. We are all just people who have turned to yoga nidra to help us relax, get in touch with ourselves, and improve mental and physical health.

Perhaps you have been intrigued by the thought of starting yoga. Good for you! Now stop thinking about it and get started doing it. You don’t have to spend a dime. If you can breathe, you can practice yoga nidra.