As a yoga teacher, you care about the health and wellness of your students.

As a businessperson in the yoga industry, you also want those students to continue coming to your classes.

So, it might sound like we’re giving you counterintuitive advice when we’re recommending that you highly encourage your students to invest in their home practice but let’s tackle that right now.

Encouraging your students to invest in their home practice isn’t a recommendation in place of practicing in your studio or under the guidance of an instructor.

Instead, it’s an additional layer that can be rewarding, enriching, and fulfilling for them—and that’s something you should always encourage for your students. 

So, no, we’re not telling you to persuade your students to only practice at home, but we do think it’s important that you teach your students that practice doesn’t just have to happen within the walls of your studio.

But how can you get your in-class students to recognize the benefits of at-home practice, where they might feel less motivated, less confident, and less inclined to roll out their mats?

With a few solid reasons for why it’s so important to their overall yoga practice and well-being.

The Top 5 Reasons You Should Encourage Students to Invest in Their Home Practice 

Practicing in a studio under the guidance of an instructor (like you) is important—and you should make sure your students know that.

But helping them on their yoga journey means pushing them beyond their comfort zone—and often, that looks like incorporating home practice into their normal routines like practicing with a friend, taking an online class, or free flowing. 

They Will Learn From (and About) Themselves

You’re not just a yoga instructor—you’re a student of yoga, too.

In other words, you don’t just practice in the studio under the guidance of a teacher, right?

You know better than anyone that these home practice sessions are where things unfold—you learn about yourself, you learn from yourself, you make progress, you take steps backward.

Whether you cry, you laugh, you feel proud, or you feel discouraged, you’re learning massively important things about yourself through your home practice. 

So, why wouldn’t you encourage your students to do this, too? 

Without these monumental practices at home, your students are depriving themselves of an opportunity to learn from themselves and about themselves—and as a good yoga instructor, that’s something you should encourage. 

Help your students get started with their very own at-home practices by offering sequence advice and insight. 

It’s Not Possible to Master Everything in the Studio 

Even if you have students who come in every single day, it’s not possible for them to become masters of their own yoga practice just by attending your classes at the studio.

They need to embrace yoga, they need to recognize that it’s not just about the physical asanas, they need to take the time to work on yoga at their own pace in their own environment.

It’s in these home practices they’ll make immense strides in their personal yoga journey.

 And this, combined with in-studio practice led by a good teacher, is what will make them the yogi they desire to be. 

Extra Practice Helps Build Endurance & Strength

Let’s face it, progress comes with practice.

Your students need to understand patience, but they also need to understand that they’ll get further the more they practice their physical asanas in their at home practice.

If you have students who are anxious to build muscle, get stronger, and feel better physically as a result of yoga, then it’s time to encourage them to take their practice to the next level with more frequent sessions. 

Strengthen Connection to the Mind 

It’s an Important Practice for Stress Release 

We all know that yoga acts as a phenomenal mental release for those who feel the heavy weight of stress and anxiety.

Why ask your students to wait until attending your class to feel that stress release? Practicing yoga triggers endorphins in your brain that release serotonin—a chemical that helps to reduce and combat stress.

Obviously, yoga is not a cure-all for every stressor in your students’ lives, but it is a phenomenal option for those who could use healthy, stress-busting habits.