I’m up in beautiful, wonderful Maine for our winter break and loving it!
But… there’s no Equinox and running outside in single digit weather on icy roads is neither appealing nor safe.
So I broke out my yoga mat and did a yoga video I found that was included in Amazon prime video.
Is it as motivating as a communal setting where you have peers for accountability and an instructor for corrections and trouble-shooting?
No.
But it was free, on-site, on-demand, and much easier to follow along than I thought it would be.
When I first tried to do a yoga workout video at home several years ago, I didn’t have enough experience to follow along. I assumed a Beginner Vinyasa Yoga video would be fine for someone trying yoga for the first time.
But I didn’t know Downward Facing Dog from Mountain Pose and had to pause the video at literally every change in the sequence and then try to replicate it.
It was an absolute disaster. If you’ve done a flowing vinyasa class, you realize that this means I was pausing the video approximately every five seconds, then getting out of the pose to unpause it. I kept repeating this viciously frustrating pause cycle and wondering why on earth anyone likes doing yoga.
I didn’t make it past the first Sun Salutation. Obviously.
The video description wasn’t at fault; it was a beginner friendly yoga sequence that avoided more challenging poses. But beginner friendly is not the same as an introduction to yoga, which I now understand should come from an actual instructor and not a video in order to receive adequately paced instruction and personalized corrections that will reduce your risk of injury. I highly recommend either a private lesson or a beginner series at a yoga studio if you’ve never taken a yoga class and want to start out. It’ll reduce your frustration and increase your ability to get more out of class sooner.
So… my first yoga video experience was a disaster.
Fast forward a few years, though, and I’ve taken enough yoga classes to follow verbal cues from a yoga video. The audio provided sequences and timing and was much better than me trying to lead myself.
The yoga video I did was comprised of four different shorter sections, so I could even use it to do 15 minutes of yoga on an off-day at home.
It was convenient, and a wonderful alternative to doing nothing on a day when other workout options weren’t going to happen.
If you haven’t given a workout video a try in a long time, it might be worth looking into one in an area of fitness where you’re experienced enough to feel comfortable without instructor supervision. Many streaming services like Amazon and Netflix have them included in your membership, so you can try a couple until you find one you like.
Instructor, background music, length of video, difficulty level etc. all vary, so don’t give up if the first one you try doesn’t mesh with your personal fitness vibe.
I would have preferred to go to a yoga studio for a group practice, but I love the flexibility of having an at-home option, and the thought that I could grow more in my practice by incorporating more regular practice at home to complement my studio workouts.
Hope you’re enjoying your last week of 2017!
Any New Year’s Resolutions on the books?!?