I did some yoga on my own (as in, without a video) for the first time. The day before, I’d tried a video that left me feeling defeated and disheartened (whole series of movements from a starting pose I couldn’t do and didn’t know how to modify; lots of poses that bothered my wrists and knees; lots of WAY WAY WAY too hard poses that were presented as if they were nothing special/difficult, like “Oh, just climb into Crow pose here”), and I still felt too discouraged from that to want to try another new one, but also felt pretty tired of watching the same videos and hearing the same instructor jokes/mistakes/motivations every single time. But I also didn’t want to skip doing yoga. I don’t know why it had never occurred to me before, but it occurred to me that I could just do some things on my own, without a video.
I felt odd without any background noise, so I asked the Alexa to play yoga music, and she played some. I did only my favorite poses, which was fun—but they were less fun without the contrast of the less-favored poses. I found that in general I did not hold poses as long when I was the one making the decision, which seemed like a downside: I will keep going longer than I want to if someone ELSE says “We’re here for 5…4…3…2…1″/”Hold it a LITTLE longer, I know, this is hard work, you’re doing great, keep going!” but apparently not otherwise. But SOME of the poses I held longer, especially the stretchy ones where I feel like the instructor moves on from them too quickly. And normally I HATE Downward Dog and it’s not uncommon for me to sulkily skip it, and instead I found I naturally added it a few times to what I was doing, because I felt like I could do it just briefly, or however it seemed to fit with what I was doing, instead of feeling resentful and stubborn about being asked to do it much longer or more times than I wanted to. And in fact I found I could make it feel nice and stretchy instead just making my wrists feel terrible / making me feel queasy, so that seemed like an upside.
I could better see why people might like the “flow” yoga where you cycle through a series of repeating poses: I don’t like it when an instructor is telling me to do it (it makes me feel rushed and flustered and left behind), but when I was choosing poses on my own I could see how it would be nice to have a pattern to follow so I didn’t have to spend so much of my attention thinking about what I would do next.
I was a lot more sore than usual in the day or two afterward, and I don’t know if that was because I put more effort into what I was doing, or because I chose only poses that worked on the same areas, or because I didn’t hold them long enough / warm up enough / cool down enough / or whatever, without an instructor. I can picture adding this kind of yoga to my usual “Whatever I feel like doing today” options.
I find pushup handles to be super helpful in keeping my wrists from hurting during yoga. These are the ones I use but there are a bunch of different kinds out there. https://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Fitness-31120-Pushup-Stands/dp/B00MBEVV8S/
I am a professional toga teacher (that’s how I make my living). I say YAAAAAY YOGA! The practice is for Everyone regardless of skill/time practicing. once you’re more comfy in groups (if ever!!) a group class will be really nice for you, it sounds like (one at an all inclusive/all level/ adaptable studio). Yay yoga.
I found that by going to class at my local Y where the all levels class was truly all levels, all ages, all physical abilities. Lots of elders and/or people rehabbing, so the teachers were amazing at offering modifications up front. I miss it!
Also,I was wondering if Swistle should try Yin Yoga since she likes holding stretchy poses. You seem like the right resource! Was that just my yin yoga teacher or does it generally emphasize stretching poses as opposed to strength building?
Have you heard of the Down Dog yoga app? I use the free version (there’s a paid one, too), and it sort of “shuffles” yoga poses for a surprisingly cohesive practice. You can pick the level of difficulty, time, and pace, so I’ve even just done like a 10-minute, easy, restorative sequence on a business trip. If you encounter a sequence that you like, you can save it for later.
Yes! I was coming on to say this! It was free for teachers for a while, and I really liked playing around with it.
I was also going to mention this! I love that I can set the time I have available (usually only 10 or 15 minutes) and that there are lots of options to customize things (so I have it set up to go pretty slowly because I’m new to yoga and don’t know all the poses, so it takes me a minute to get into position. I also have as much commentary on as possible, to explain what I should be doing. But if I were an experienced person, I might want them to talk less and move faster, so it’s nice that there’s an option for that). And it has a bunch of different types of yoga you can choose from (so I can do a restorative one before bed to relax, or a hatha one in the morning because that kind it doesn’t do all the crazy pushups that my body can’t handle). Basically, you should really look into it ;)
Another recommendation for the Down Dog app here! I’ve been using it for years, and I love that you can choose the amount of time, difficulty level and type of practice, and also that you get a different workout every time.
Thanks, RA! I tried a six minute Yin last night and it was awesome. :)
Oh I am so relieved to hear that someone else dislikes Downward Dog. The online and in-person instructors I’ve had all make it seem like The Best and I hate it. Hate. It. I do not want to hang out in Downward Dog, and pedaling my feet does not make it better.
Yes, the Down Dog yoga app is pretty great – highly HIGHLY customizable in terms of time, style, areas of body to focus on, music, narrator, etc. I’m sure when I tried it first it was a months free trial. Loved it enough to subscribe, but found it was much cheaper to subscribe on their webpage rather than through the app (so the App Store doesn’t take their cut on top of the subscription cost). I have been to only 1 real yoga class, so I’m not an expert, but I love the Down Dog app.
I’m certain someone at some point has recommended Yoga with Adriene but I will throw my two cents in as well. I like yoga but don’t always (ever?) want to do it for 40 minutes or more. I will google “Yoga with Adriene 10 minutes lower back” and usually find something that fits my mood/body needs/timeframe. Adriene’s attitude is calming and accepting, as well.
Adrienne was the first yoga instructor who didn’t annoy me. She’s chill.
I am very new to yoga and I’ve had the same issues when trying to do it on my own, which I do because sometimes I am just too overwhelmed with everything to even just put on a Yoga with Adrienne Youtube video, but sometimes I just say “I need to go lie on my yoga mat” and I lie on my back and figure out if I want to do anything more, and even if I don’t I’m glad I did it. I hear you on the hard positions that aren’t presented as hard though – like, you want me to put my arm where and do what with my ear? Is this for people with actual joints and ligaments?
I would like to throw out a recommendation for Yoga with Kassandra on YouTube. She has a whole series of 10 minute yoga, and I find it’s hard to make an excuse to skip when it’s only 10 minutes.
I will recommend Jessamyn Stanley to you. She is refreshing. I struggle with body hate and it’s healthier for me to do yoga “with” her. She is all about the modification and sensation.
YES! I went through a period where I really wanted to cut out screens from my yoga so I printed off a poster with my favorite poses in a pleasing order and followed it at my own pace. Such a game changer! I’ve seen some examples on Pinterest if you think this might be useful.
There are also yoga ‘flash cards’ you can buy so you can set up a sequence of poses you like and not have to keep trying to think what to do next. Of course, one could easily make a set of them with some index cards, but one would have to be a bit more motivated and crafty than I am.
I think you said you do Yoga with Adriene, as do I, and it took me a while to feel like I could just do it without one of her videos. That’s now more comfortable for me, but I only do it occasionally – I know myself enough to know that if I did it solo all the time, it would be the first stop on the train to quitting town as I went easier and easier on myself. So sometimes, when I don’t feel like any of the videos are what I want on a particular day, I will start one that’s the amount of time I want to be doing yoga for and then I will just … do my own movements. I still get the soothing voice of an instructor in the background, I can refer to her video if I run out of ideas, and best of all, it helps me feel like I’m doing a structured workout rather than just randomly moving through positions with no real “end.” Even though I know intellectually that I might be going longer on my own than I would be with a five-minute video, for example, using the video to start and end my practice makes me feel like it “counts” more. Plus it feel a little rebellious to say, “no, I won’t be going into that twist, I’d rather do head to knee, instead.” I mostly do this for shorter, wind-down type videos, especially if I know them really well, because then I have a good idea about when the video is about to end and can finish how I like. But Adriene also has her 30-day challenges, where, on the 30th day of each challenge, she turns off the microphone and just plays music while she goes through movements. You can follow along if you want, but mostly, you’re encouraged to do your own practice at your own pace. I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how I can fill 30 minutes with movements I want to do and just meet back at the end in corpse pose, or whatever.
I do the same thing! I find I’m more likely to stick with it longer (“it” being solo yoga) if I have some soothing background noise and select a set amount of time before I start… though it often happens that I select a 20 minute video and find myself already in some of the “lay on the ground” poses 12 minutes in :)