Want to improve your yoga practice but not quite sure how to fast-track your progress?
In this article, I’m going to share some of the best ways to advance your holistic yoga practice (sadhana) as a modern yoga practitioner.
1. Be Consistent With Your Yoga Practice
Being consistent is one of the best ways to advance your yoga practice, whether that’s on or off the mat.
You’ll have to work out what consistency looks like for you, and how you can ensure consistency around your day-to-day life.
In the modern world, we’re all extremely busy. Some of us can make it to a studio class every day, others of us (hello mums!) can struggle.
If you can practice yoga for 60 minutes every day, amazing, good for you.
If you can’t, focus on practising little and often.
Focus on maintaining a regular yoga practice, irrelevant of how long the session is.
A 10-minute daily practice is better than nothing at all. My advice is to do it as early as possible so it’s out of the way before the responsibilities of life kick in and take over.
And I can assure you, you’ll be surprised at how much you can experience and achieve with just a 10-minute consistent daily practice.
Whether you’re focusing on building flexibility, strength, breathing exercises, improving your mental health, reducing stress, meditation, or reading yogic scripture, a regular practice and consistent yoga routine is going to be key.
2. Practice With Different Yoga Teachers (Especially Experienced And ‘Senior’ Yoga Teachers)
One of my favourite ways to improve my yoga practice is to practice with different teachers, especially experienced and senior teachers.
By senior teachers, I don’t mean yoga teachers who are elderly or teach the elderly. I mean teachers who have been in the game long enough to earn their stripes.
One way you can discover experienced and senior teachers is through the Yoga Alliance certification process. Yoga Alliance-certified teachers gain the ‘experienced’ title when they have achieved the ‘E’ status requirements.
To become an E-RYT 500 (Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher 500 Hours), which is one of the highest statuses that the Yoga Alliance offers, the teacher must have completed at least 2,000 teaching hours over a minimum of four years since completing their initial teacher training.
To keep this level of yoga teacher status, you’re also required to do Continuing Professional Development (CPD).
The Yoga Alliance also offers Senior Yoga Teacher (SYT) status, which requires a minimum of 8 years of teaching and over 4000 teaching hours.
There’s a depth of knowledge and experience that comes with time that new teachers just can’t compete with. Whilst yes, all teachers indeed have something beautiful to offer, and each teacher has unique value. There is still undeniable value in experienced and senior teachers who have the test of time under their belt.
In the majority of cases, an E-RYT 500 with 6 years of teaching experience will be a more competent teacher across the board in comparison to an RYT 200 who has 3 years of teaching experience.
RYT 200 (Registered Yoga Teacher 200 Hours) is the lowest entry-level certification available to become a registered yoga teacher.
You’ll often find that the longer you’ve been in the field, the more training, experience and therefore knowledge you acquire. Also, the longer you’ve been in the field, the more practice and self-inquiry into your own practice you’ve gained, too.
Experienced and senior yoga teachers can often take you deeper into your own practice because they know more about their self-practice, yoga pedagogy, and the practice and philosophy of yoga as a whole.
I also recommend practising with teachers who have studied in Asia and have strong connections to Asia—more on why below!
3. Visit The Birthplace Of Yoga, Mindfulness And Meditation
I’m often shocked at how many yoga teachers and yoga practitioners in the West have never been to Asia, let alone India.
I’m also often dismayed at how many yoga teachers have never read traditional yogic scripture as part of their own self-study (svadhyaya) other than what they’ve been taught on their teacher training—which is usually barely anything at all.
In my opinion, it’s vital to visit Southeast Asia and South Asia, especially India, and it’s essential to read and understand as much ancient Sanskrit scripture that pertains to yoga as you can.
Southeast Asia and South Asia (especially India) are the birthplaces of yoga, mindfulness, and meditation, and a deeper understanding and transmission of the practice is uncovered when you visit and practice in its homelands.
The practice of yoga is not just physical but also mental, emotional, and energetic. Magical shifts and important energetic transmissions happen when you visit dedicated sacred sites and temples in Asia that have been used for centuries for spiritual practice and development.
A deeper and more holistic understanding of the practice is also developed when you immerse yourself in ancient traditional yogic scripture, which leads me to my next tip…
4. Learn Yoga Philosophy
Stop solely focusing on yoga postures (yoga asana). Take your practice beyond the yoga mat.
Yoga philosophy is absolutely key for a holistic and advanced yoga practice.
Learning about yoga philosophy and reading sacred Sanskrit scripture will take your practice to unrivalled depths.
If you don’t know where to start with yoga philosophy or how to create a holistic yoga practice, then the 8 limbs of yoga (ashtanga) from Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras are a really good place to start.
Study the ethical abstinences (yamas), observances (niyamas), breath and energetic control (pranayama), sense withdrawal (pratyahara), concentration and mindfulness techniques (dharana), meditation techniques (dhyana), and spiritual absorption (samadhi).
Mindset, nutrition and lifestyle (mitahara) are also key to an advanced yoga practice. Other practices beyond simply yoga postures (asana) could include things like sacred chants (mantra), energetic seals (mudras), and cleansing techniques (kriyas).
Top Tip: A good yoga teacher will always be cueing beyond the physical body, and they will always be teaching you things beyond just the physical yoga poses. Competent yoga teachers are also well-versed in traditional yogic scripture and Sanskrit.
Attend the workshops of experienced and senior teachers who display more than basic foundational knowledge of yoga, as you’ll almost certainly pick up a lot during their more in-depth events and yoga retreats that they can’t share in classes due to time restraints.
5. Attend Yoga Workshops
Yoga workshops are vital if you want to advance your yoga practice. There is only so much that can be taught during yoga classes.
During yoga classes in the West, most people are turning up and expecting (or wanting) a full class of yoga asana practice (physical poses), as yoga is commonly associated with exercise. This means that the teacher has very little time to teach new holistic yoga techniques or philosophy.
Some yogic techniques, especially advanced ones, require time to explain properly, and also ample time for exploration as a beginner. Due to tight time restrictions in yoga classes, some yogic principles and techniques are best taught in dedicated yoga workshops or even on a yoga retreat.
Yoga workshops provide you with more in-depth knowledge and the space and time to test out new techniques and ask questions. There’s often more time for 1-2-1 guidance too.
6. Build A Self-Practice Or Home Yoga Practice
Building a home yoga practice is a vital way to improve your yoga practice. You only have so much time in the studio or at a yoga class, so it’s important to support your growth outside of the studio.
There are so many ways you can support your yoga journey outside of the studio. Take the time to read books about yoga philosophy and yogic scripture, listen to mantras or kirtan music, and practice yoga asana and meditation at home.
If you’re looking to develop certain skills, such as arm balances, headstands, or a specific breathwork practice, you’ll need to take the time to train in that specific area beyond your yoga studio classes.
7. Create A Home Yoga Space
Creating a nice space to practice in at home is going to make it a lot easier and way more enjoyable to get on the mat consistently.
If you want to learn more about how to create a good yoga room or space to practice yoga at home, then check out my article here.
8. Invest In 1-2-1 Private Yoga Coaching
If you want to fast-track your progress in yoga, it’s well worth investing in 1-2-1 coaching.
Private coaching allows you to focus on your goals and build a targeted practice so that you can reach your goals a lot quicker than in group classes.
During group classes, the teacher must consider the needs of multiple students while attending to them simultaneously.
Private yoga coaching allows you to learn whatever you want, and you get your teacher’s full attention and feedback.
You can incorporate whatever you want to learn into private yoga lessons, whether it’s yoga philosophy, mantra, meditation, breathwork or yoga asana.
You can find more details about my private 1-2-1 yoga and holistic wellness coaching sessions here.
9. Practice Different Yoga Styles And Yoga Paths
Some yoga teachers don’t agree with this, whilst others (like me) encourage it.
I encourage my students to explore different yoga styles and different paths of yoga, and I also do so on my own yoga journey.
I find a lot of benefits to exploring the different paths of yoga, and it has definitely deepened my understanding of yoga and advanced my spiritual practice.
Try different class styles with different teachers, such as hatha yoga, vinyasa yoga, ashtanga yoga, and restorative yoga classes.
And take the time to learn more about karma yoga, bhakti yoga, jnana yoga, raja yoga, and tantra.
Karma, bhakti, jnana, and raja yoga are also known as the four paths of yoga, or the four margas.
Each style and path of yoga is very different and can teach you different things about your yoga journey, meditation, spiritual and physical practice.
10. Try Online And In-Studio Yoga Classes
There are benefits to both online classes and in-person studios. Online yoga classes provide access to teachers that you might not otherwise be able to learn from.
Online yoga classes also help to make yoga practices more accessible during your busy daily schedule by cutting out travel time and costs to in-person studios.
It’s so much easier to fit online classes, live virtual or pre-recorded classes, into your day.
Practising yoga in person also has its benefits. It can feel really nice to visit a dedicated yoga studio (shala) that is an intentional temple for a community-based yoga practice.
Practising in front of your yoga teacher also has its benefits, as it is often easier for the teacher to spot mistakes or help you to deepen your practice through physical adjustments and corrections.
The sweet spot is often having a practice that combines both in-person and online yoga classes.
11. Ask Your Yoga Teacher Questions
Don’t be scared to ask questions. No question is too big or too small. Be curious about your yoga journey and practice, and if you don’t understand something or want to understand something better, simply ask your yoga instructor.
If you want to learn more about the basic principles of yoga practice, then check out my article here.
I’ve also got another helpful article on how to improve your yoga posture practice here.
Conclusion
These are some of my top tips to help you deepen and improve your holistic yoga practice. Did you find any of these tips helpful or perhaps even surprising?
Let me know in the comments if there are any more tips that you’d add to this list.
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