Yoga at home with Fearne Cotton

Yoga is synonymous with escape, so can you really learn the practice from the comfort of your own home? In association with Fiit app, we’ve tried Fearne Cotton’s beginners at-home yoga programme, “Feel Good With Fearne” to see how it weighs up against a traditional yoga studio.

Can you learn yoga at home?

First of all let’s tackle that big question; can you really learn yoga at home? The answer is: of course you can. Whilst yoga studios come with a lot of perks, (a relaxing setting and 360 mirrors to name a couple) they also come with a hefty price tag, and can be intimidating for novice yogis. And, if you’re just starting out, some of the benefits of doing yoga at home include: 

• Fitting in your practice in around you, rather than being held to a class timetable
• Having the privacy try those more difficult poses for the first time without feeling self conscious
• Being present in your own practice, instead of comparing your skillset to others

Yoga for beginners at home: what do you need?

Turning your home into a yoga studio for an hour can be as easy or as extra as you choose to make it. All you really need is:

• A yoga mat
• Comfy clothes
• Some sort of instruction

But, if you really want to get the good vibes flowing, you might want to light a few candles, dim the lights and scatter some zen accessories to really get you in the mood.

Besides that, you just need commitment and patience. Yoga isn’t an easy skill to master, but it’s a hugely rewarding one when you do. 

Fearne said: I’ve done some yoga classes before where I’ve walked in and I’ve been really pissed off about something. I’ve had a lot of anger and I hadn’t known what to do with that energy and I think I might cry. I might feel deeply emotional by the end but something has moved, something has left the building. I think it’s a physical way of moving on from what’s going on up there. We have a brain thinking and then a body doing something and they are the same thing, so you have to work through those things.

What yoga mat should I choose?

There are thousands of yoga mats to choose from, but if you’re really serious about including yoga in your everyday you’ll want to get a hard-wearing one that’s kind to the environment.

Enter Form yoga mats: recycled natural rubber and plastic bottles and fully recyclable at the end of life. As well as being absolutely gorgeous, they also offer one of the very first round yoga mats in the world – perfect for those mountain top Instagram pics! 

Form has also officially achieved Climate Neutral Certified Status through measuring its 2019 greenhouse gas emissions footprint, purchasing carbon credits to offset that footprint and implementing plans to reduce emissions in the coming year. However, the company is carbon negative due to more than offsetting their footprint – a move that has been the case since the company was founded. So you can get into the zone, knowing you’re doing your bit for the environment. 

What at-home yoga programme should I choose?

Lockdown has spurred a surge in the digital yogi, with studios across the world offering their classes online – but knowing which one to choose can be a minefield. 

As a beginner yogi, you want something that’s going to challenge you, without putting you off the practice for good – and Fearne Cotton’s beginner yoga programme on the Fiit App is the perfect choice. 

What is the Fiit app?

Fiit is a subscription-based workout app that brings the boutique studio experience right to your front room. With the premium membership (£20 per month or £120 a year) you get full access to Fearne Cotton’s yoga programme, your TV connector, heart rate tracking device, access to hundred of other personalised training plans and access to the live leaderboard classes.

Feel good yoga with Fearne Cotton: What to expect

This four-week course promises to help you to build a better relationship with your body and mind through yoga. Join Fearne Cotton and Richie Norton for three 25 minute yoga classes a week that will help you get stronger, become more flexible and find calm on your mat.

You’ll learn:

• • The basics of Vinyasa and Hatha yoga
• • Pranayama breathwork
• • Post-workout recovery

In easy 25 minute chunks, this beginners yoga programme is perfect for anyone who’s time poor but need to give their brain (and body) the chance to relax – and whilst the programme only suggest 3 classes a week, I ended up doing one almost every day noticing huge changes in both my flexibility and waistline. 

Feel good yoga with Fearne Cotton has got The Daily Struggle thumbs, up – now to tackle some of the more intermediate classes!