In the meantime, yoga seems to be everywhere. YouTube has thousands of yoga videos that can be found by pressing a button.
How often should you practice yoga?
Yoga is a daily exercise for some people, while for others it’s a weekly activity.
Is that enough?
It is recommended that you do yoga once a week. This is especially for those who are new to yoga. One yoga class is beneficial both physically and mentally. Yoga is usually more difficult to progress with if you only practice once a week.
This article will cover the following: 1 Why Yoga once per week suffices 2 Why Yoga once per week doesn’t suffice 3 Related questions
Why you can do yoga once a week
The majority of people who come to my studio are not experienced and ask me how many times per week they should practice yoga.
The answer I usually give is: It depends!
Some of my students come to yoga once a week, and this seems to be enough for them. Others, however, can’t get enough and come every day.
So my recommendation to people who are new to yoga is to practice yoga twice a week. They will be able to determine if they require yoga by themselves.
The frequency at which we observe yoga is based on many factors, such as:
- You may not need it in your busy schedule
How busy are You?
This could work both ways. If someone told you they were very busy and didn’t seem to have time for themselves you would probably recommend they do yoga once per week. Proper?
But, for those people, an extra frequent yoga practice could be exactly what they want.
It’s like this, there is a Zen saying that I love:
If you can’t meditate for one hour every day, then you should meditate for two hours.
My goal is to show that yoga offers many benefits, both physically and mentally. The more we practice, the greater the benefits we experience.
If you feel like yoga once a week is more than enough for you, great! That’s exactly what you need. If you want to do more, you can try to plan your days to include even a short note in your daily life.
- Well-being is a benefit
Yoga is being studied more and more to see if it can help people with chronic pain or injuries.
One study examined whether yoga performed once a week could help women with osteoarthritis. After eight weeks they reported 38% less pain and 35% less stiffness.
Another study examined whether yoga could help with persistent lower back pain. Yoga reduced back pain and improved back-related performance in the control group after 12 weeks.
Another study examined the impact of yoga on stress and mood. After three months of yoga, the women in the group reported improvements in stress perception, melancholy and anxiety, energy, fatigue, well-being, and perceived stress. Yoga reduced melancholy by 50%, anxiety by 30% and overall well-being by 65%.
This small educational study will likely lead you to discover that yoga once a week has many benefits for our lives.
If you want to start yoga, but you only have time to do it once a week and you are wondering if that is enough then just GO FOR IT.
Why just one yoga class per week is not enough
A quote I love will help to explain why starting with yoga once a week is a good place to start:
If you practice yoga once a week, your mind will be transformed.
If you practice yoga twice a week, your body will be transformed.
If you practice yoga every day, it will transform your life.”
- You’ll feel like a complete newbie all the time.
Even though yoga has many benefits, if we only practice once a week, we may feel as if we are starting over every time we step onto the mat.
The more we practice yoga, the faster and longer lasting the benefits will be.
Yoga becomes a way of life the more we practice it.
Yoga is better than no yoga at all.
We can experience all of the benefits of yoga by practicing every day, even if it is only a short meditation.
We can tap into the rich tradition of yoga by becoming more aware of our eating habits, sleeping patterns, and how we relate with others. Yoga teaches us to live a life that is more conscious. This is the essence of yoga.
You’ll begin to see modifications in your life if you follow yoga regularly.
- Follow makes excellent
In the beginning, it may seem difficult to do some things in a class. This is why so many people try yoga classes and never return. But you must keep going.
Persist with the observation as it will give us the opportunity to address the problems that we face. It could be flexibility, energy or stability. Or it might just be the ability to breathe and sit still. Who knows? After a time, what once seemed difficult can become a breeze.
As an aside, I wrote a piece about why yoga can be difficult and then focused on my 15 favorite suggestions for beginners.
- You’ll probably crave more.
In many of my yoga classes, I’ve noticed a noticeable change in the moods of students before and after class. This is true for both when people first begin yoga or years later. I’ve taught classes where people came in feeling a lot of frustration and stress. After the class, I saw calm faces with gentle smiles.
It’s fair to say that our modern lives are a bit hectic and stressful. You’ll probably find that as you pay more attention, you will feel less irritated and less stressed.
- You’ll probably want to visit your yoga buddies
You may have experienced the magic of yoga groups if you’ve ever attended a studio.
This has been done in many studios around the world.
Over time, our yoga studios will likely become our homes away from home. So, the people around us gradually become our yoga buddies.
Someone to go for a post-practice coffee with, or on a retreat.
These people are the ones who nurture us. It is only logical that we would want to see them often.
This yoga group may also be a reason why yoga just once a week is not enough.
Associated questions
How many days a week must you do yoga?
As a rule, you should practice yoga as often as it feels right for you. Yoga is usually practiced twice a week by those who are new to the sport. So they can see if that is the right quantity for them or if it’s too much. Most superior practitioners observe yoga every single day.
Yoga 2 times per week is sufficient?
In general, yoga beginners practice yoga twice per week. A study conducted in the US in 2016, which found that 44% individuals practiced yoga 2 to 3 times per week, shows that this is enough for many people.
How much yoga is enough per week?
Yoga beginners who want to incorporate yoga into their daily lives can start with one hour per week. Most people can tell within a few weeks if one hour of yoga per week is enough for them. It is important to start and then progress.
