"I love this and I am just curious. Is most of your practice at home on your mat and at workshops or do you have a steady practice with a teacher? You seem to have mastered some pretty advanced postures; and of course I am intrigued :)"
First of all - Thank You ♥... I'm sorry my answer is unreasonably long. (TL;DR at the bottom)
My practice has evolved through many stages. I have practiced for 11 years now - the first 6 years being On Again, Off Again. During those years I had literally just heard of yoga and I took a college class that met once a week. My very first class I had the epiphany that "This was for me." I had found my purpose. Then I sat around wishing I knew how to do something on my own. I lived in a small town and had no idea what to do or where to start. Eventually I found out that Rodney Yee came on at like 4am on TV, so I occasionally got up for a freakishly early practice. I remember the first time he got me to meditate. I was sitting on a blue foam block on a cold white floor in the dark... and something lit up inside me. I bought a power yoga DVD that I rarely used, but throughly enjoyed.
I was still in college and my husband had recently finished his degree - so we moved to Denver where he was offered a job. I signed up for more classes to hopefully finish my degree soon and grabbed another college class. I took the class which I thought was too easy, and I also practiced CorePower Yoga which came on at like 4pm on TV which was much better than O-Dark Thirty in the morning. My practice kinda came naturally to me, but I wanted more. I wanted to teach. My teacher that taught the too easy class had assigned us to write what we had learned about yoga and where our practice would go from here. I wrote that I desperately wanted to teach, but was shy. She told me that when we are passionate about things - we can overcome anything. She suggested I go to teacher training. So I Did.
During training in 2007 (4 months or so) I was at the yoga studio every single day. Sometimes I went to 3 classes in a day. I started to learn some fun little tricks. The last day of training - I got in a car accident. My yoga practice died. Eventually, with a lot of determination and willingness and education - I started over. Completely. I had to start from scratch... couldn't touch my toes, couldn't do downward dog, couldn't do a backbend.
After I had been slowly painfully therapeutically practicing alone for many months - I started teaching. I taught constantly and was lucky if I got to attend a public class once a month. Otherwise I almost had no practice at all. I'd never liked practicing at home, so I just didn't do it. Eventually, my husband got another new job in Oregon - so we moved here. No jobs, no prospects, the yoga community had died before I got here... so I was just alone. I hated practicing at home, but it was all I had... so I started writing class plans. I started practing at home by myself occasionally. Over time it grew into a full on all day everyday type of thing. I grew to love it. Sometimes I fall away from that, but I do practice at home by myself all the time.
I have taught myself tons of things. I get my inspiration from my Yoga Journal subscription and from reading and videos online. I've recently started trying to go to workshops, but it's not reliable because we often get snowed in. Back in the day - yogis would leave the world and go practice in a cave. This house has become my cave. I have been forced to go it alone... and I have taken this time to Dig Deep. My practice has grown by leaps and bounds... I have come far and I don't think I ever would've achieved what I have - if I'd stayed in the city and taught.
So I ultimately just have a home practice, but I sometimes take a class or a workshop to assess how I'm doing and get some new info. I think this is ultimately what everyone should do. Home practice should be your lifeline while public study should be supplemental - not the other way around.
TL;DR: I've had teachers occasionally in the past, but for years I have simply practiced at home by myself every day.
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