I had basically stopped doing yoga, not on purpose but just by getting less inspired to do it, and then doing it less and less until I was hardly doing it at all. I had a few favorite videos, but I was getting tired of hearing the same patter every single time; and I was getting bored; but also kept getting discouraged when I tried to do new ones, and even by trying to FIND new ones to try. I was still doing the back-pain ones when I had back pain, but otherwise not.
Then I was assigned a shelf-reading-type task at work. You are familiar with shelves: tall at the top, medium-height in the middle, short at the bottom. So when I am reading the top shelves, I can stand; but at a certain point in the middle-shelves region I am stooping uncomfortably, and it becomes more comfortable to kneel; and for the very lowest shelves, it is most comfortable to sit on the floor.
Well. My goodness. I CERTAINLY NOTICED that I had not been doing yoga. When I was doing yoga, I DID notice that it was easier and more comfortable to sit on the floor, etc., but I didn’t think it was THAT big of a difference. (IT WAS THAT BIG OF A DIFFERENCE.) So I have started doing yoga again. The first day I went back to the 12-minute core video, my muscles complained for SEVERAL DAYS afterward, but also I could FEEL how it motivated me to stand up straighter. The first day I did the back pain video I like (which I like even more for leg/hip/knee stretching/flexibility), I was like whyyyyyyyy haven’t I been doing this when it is so NICE??? (And I was alarmed by how much progress I’d lost on some of the poses, including such classics such as Sitting Criss-Cross-Applesauce, as well as pigeon pose.)
But I do need to add more videos to the rotation, because I can now anticipate nearly every word of the scripts, complete with errors, and that is annoying. This morning I tried the first of a 30-day series, so that I could have 30 days of not having to figure out which video to watch. (I am not going to do yoga every day, but I mean I intend to work my way through this series on the next 30 days I DO do yoga.) (Or maybe it will take more than 30 yoga-doing days, because if I happen to LIKE one of the videos, or feel motivated in any way to repeat it, I will repeat it, thereby extending the number of days I don’t have to figure out which video to watch.)
On Day One (all I’ve done so far, so my report is…early), I hated it the way I almost always hate new yoga videos, and also it was a lot of my least-favorite things: downward-facing dog, three-legged dog, planks, and a lot of rotating quickly (for me) AMONG the things I don’t like, so that I ALSO felt as if I could barely get INTO a pose I hate before she’s already done with it and heading into the next pose I hate (often saying “No need to rush!,” INFURIATINGLY). As usual I got frustrated enough to cry, and wanted to quit, and thought viciously about how much I hated the way everything felt, and how much I hated yoga in general, and also hated all exercise. I felt my body and mind were in perfect alignment on these views. Plus, I have been watching older Adriene videos, so I hated the “new” intro (I don’t know how new it is) and the whole vibe of it, and also I felt as if Adriene herself had changed, and was now doing much more…of her…speaking…pattern where…she puts…irregular…pauses…in…her talking which…seems to go…on…and on…as if she doesn’t…know what…she is going…to say…or how…to stop.
BUT: I also thought about how with some exercises, the ONLY way to go from “hating the way it feels” to “liking the way it feels” is to keep doing it until the necessary muscles/skills develop. And I thought about how I DO WANT to get better at these poses and not hate the way they feel, if that is within my abilities; and I won’t know if it IS within my abilities or not until I’ve tried for awhile. And how “working on getting better”/”trying it to see if it improves” are achievable goals, absolutely INSTANTLY achievable goals, even when “doing it the way the instructor is doing it right now” is not. And how I really am not required by any law to do what the instructor is doing, and no one is going to force me, but I can at least TRY! I can just TRYYYYYYYY. If she says to do this odd plank thing, and I look at her and think “I cannot do that,” I MAY VERY WELL BE CORRECT—but that doesn’t mean I can’t just TRY it, just to keep myself from getting bored as I wait for the next thing. And sometimes it turns out I CAN do it A LITTLE BIT, for A FEW SECONDS, which is A START!; and other times I CANNOT do it, but it feels like the TRYING is still working on the very first step of those muscles/skills; and other times I find to my surprise that actually I CAN do it. So even if I hate it, and I hate the way it feels, and I hate being so frustrated, I still feel motivated to keep working on it, at least for now, and to make the “working on it” and “feeling better sitting on the floor again” the point.
I’m not a yoga person that much but take an exercise class.
My mantra is “I can do anything for a minute” one minute at a time.
My daughter has some yoga dice she enjoys. She listens to music of her choice and every time she does it it’s different.
I’m in a similar boat. I don’t do yoga consistently, but notice that it helps a lot with body mechanics and posture. Taking a class again would really help me to stay with it. I like the real time corrections and the interaction with a teacher. In my area most classes are on-line right now, but I’d love to do it again in person once all **this** (waving at the pandemic) is not such a thing any more.
I just finished up Adrienne’s newest 30 day series, I think it was called Move, and I was very disappointed with how much traditional ab work (sit ups, bicycles, leg raises, etc) there was in the series. I really try not to do those types of exercises because they have a tendency to exacerbate my POP. I don’t remember if the other 30 day series are as intense on the abs, though, and I have done them all. I was in your same boat a number of years ago and wanted to try to do yoga more often, but didn’t want to have to pick which video to do. I made my way through every 30 day series and then started using the calendars – which is something else you might try if you don’t like the 30 day ones. She puts out a monthly calendar with a theme and videos for each day. If I don’t like the video I just replace it with something else.
A few weeks ago I got an instagram ad for Jessamyn Stanley and I thought the bit that they played in the ad was fantastic. She had some great alignment tips and was really relatable. When I searched for her name I found a Gentle Yoga video that I want to try.
Hmmm. Thank you for posting about this — yoga is one of those things I feel that I should try and intend to try, some unspecified time in the future. Maybe I will try the back pain series you link starting — soon, as that is something it sounds like I could benefit from.
Dumb question, but particularly with familiar videos is turning the volume — off — an option? I find avoiding allowing people to talk at me can be much better than the alternatives (sometimes if I need to know what they are saying I will use the CC feature on e.g. Youtube, but other times I really don’t need the words/noise at all, depends on what it is).
I did Move this year. I was coming back to yoga after a six month break and man I felt the lost strength. I often had to go back to the warm up version of the pose. And some stuff I just noped out and held the basic pose while Adrienne was firing up her abs. :)
I’ve been slowly working through yoga with Julia Marie on prime. I’m doing her couch to yoga introduction and my 5yo is doing it with me. I find her chatter not that annoying and once I’m tired of doing the yoga the video ends, as it’s a shorter video. Every day it’s different poses and I like that and the focus is core strength.
If you don’t want to try a new instructor could you mute the instructor on your videos and play a song playlist you enjoy?
I just have to chime in with solidarity as someone who enjoys yoga but does not like downward dog. Sometimes it feels like half the class is spent in that pose and I have done videos/classes where the instructor has the gall to say “come back to REST in downward dog”. I do not find it restful. My hands are slipping, my arms are shaking, I’m trying to make sure my armpits are turned in or “kissing” as one teacher told me. Ugh. Like you, I have found it is getting easier and more comfortable the longer I practice but I don’t ever think it will be my favorite.
I started with that very same Adriene Back Pain video, and I have also been at the very same almost-not-doing yoga anymore point, just from feeling monumentally depressed and hardly being able to do the bare minimum. I will also try to start again, because I agree it did make a difference. And after shoveling a whack ton of snow today, I will need it.
I stopped doing yoga for years because I sick of being suffocated by my own rack. Turns out there’s a thriving community of fat yoga instructors who account for things like NOT BEING A SIZE ZERO and it brought the joy back for me. Also excellent because they have built in modifications in each class so if my bad knees are bothering me there’s always another way to do things. Turns out I really love low pressure yoga when I feel like oh, my body CAN do things, just not kiss my own shins during forward fold.
I love Yoga with A – I even subscribe to her app because I use it every day – but I WILL say that the Move 30 Day Series seemed harder and more “athletic” than her other 30 Day Series. If you have access to her previous 30-day series, I would go with one of those. I hate downward dog, I dislike “flows”, when she does the down dog to cobra series, I just go straight to plank. I am an excellent planker!. So I’ve saved tons of her videos as favorites – today I did Hands-Free Yoga , because no DD! I can’t believe how after a few days off I am so stiff and crabby, and how hard it used to even be cross-legged!
I like to do Pilates videos rather than yoga but when I first got into it last year I started with a ‘24 days of Pilates’ series and it was SUCH a good introduction/motivation. I hated some of the classes but that was fine, I only had to do them once. And I loved others and took note so I could go back and do them again in the future. It was very satisfying to see myself and my strength improve as the series went on, and because it was a deliberately scheduled mix of hard and easy, and focuses on different parts of the body, it never felt too monotonous or as if I couldn’t do it, even if I found a particular video really difficult.
Her name is Lottie Murphy if anyone is looking for inspo, they’re all free on YouTube. I did the arms and abs one from the series this week and OUCH my arms were sore the day after but it really feels like it’s changing your body.
I also do yoga with Adrienne’s 30 day challenges sometimes. I have found a few videos I really liked that I otherwise wouldn’t have tried through them so that’s nice. But I have the same issue with the “flow” sections where she goes quickly between all the most uncomfortable poses, I usually will do it along with her for two or three repetitions and then transition into poses I actually like until she’s done. I’ve also found it helpful to back talk at her when she says things like “go at your own pace” lol but then I live alone so no one judges me for cursing at a YouTube video.
LOL, love the idea of back talking the instructor!
I’m bookmarking all of these recommendations! The Swistle Community is the best!
I do yoga with Adriene every damn day. Because if I stop, I think I’ll never start. I do not and will not pick videos. I do the 30 days in January (2 Januarys so far) and then do the calendars. Sometimes I”m like “nope” and do the next video or the previous video again. But I like that I also don’t have to choose the pace of the exercise and am always pretty stoked when it’s a resting day.
I did Breath and Move. I think the length of the move videos was more consistent (20ish minutes every day) which was nice. I hate core work and usually do as much as I can stand and then yell at her – “hahahaha Adriene, I”m done”
In fact, I just finished doing a video when I saw this post. I feel like I am no closer to sliding into updog than I was before but I’m definitely stronger/more flexible in other areas. I moved a literal ton of snow yesterday and my muscles are barely complaining (I think that’s both my snow moving technique and all the yoga).
Doing yoga on my own has certainly removed some barriers for me that otherwise would’ve kept me from trying at all (money and weight being among them). Unfortunately I have trouble with my shoulder and wrists, so it’s been a while since I did any. But the improvements I noticed were surprising, and like you I noticed with some dismay when they didn’t stay.
I’m about to look for some practise that is easy on those body parts, but it cuts me out from a lot of what is offered. Especially Adriene with all the downward dog :) But she was the one that got me started, and I did appreciate the “do as you are able to” vibe.
What I did have some trouble with was that there was no real adaptation guidance if my bigger body got in the way of doing certain positions, boobs and stomach in particular. I am actually super flexible, so had no issues bending or similar, but some movements simply get blocked by mass.
Several friends now have recommended two options for that (I’m member of a small online community and we have a yoga channel were we recommend stuff and also talk each other through the various 30 day programs) :
– Jessamyn Stanley and the Underbelly app (friend: “I love that she acknowledges one’s various body parts that may get in the way, and how to move them around to make things more comfortable”)
– Yoga with Kassandra. She apparently also gives great guidance and also considers bigger bodies, as well as doing great sessions/lessons in general. She also has a free two week trial. Friends love her set of 10 minute, 30 day morning sessions.
One of them also linked this 30 minute morning yoga of hers – I’ve yet to try it, but the commenters seem very happy:
I love Yoga with Kassandra (and for some reason really dislike Adrienne). She has a ton of free YT videos of all different lengths. Sometimes I’ll do one base on time of day or if something is sore. She’s pretty good at starting with a lighter version and moving into a deeper stretch, so you can account for your body shape.
I’ve discovered that I don’t like Yin yoga which is getting into a pose and holding it for a bit, but maybe someone else here will want to try it.
Sorry, I wasn’t aware the video would directly post in the thread, I hope that’s ok.
Can I give a small piece of advice? It works for me and I think it might work for you. My advice is to buy a cute outfit just for yoga, and then it feels like something fun. Even when the video isn’t quite what you like, at least you have a cute outfit for it. Make sure the top doesn’t ride up when you are in down dog, and that it’s nice and comfy. For me, a cute outfit changes everything. Is that frivolous? It’s frivolous.
I’d like to second the suggestion of Yoga with Kassandra, specifically her Yin classes. The poses are held for longer periods of time and are mostly on the floor, focusing on flexibility. She’s not a chirpy instructor; she gets you into the pose and then she shuts up. She is solely responsible for getting my very inflexible husband to love yoga.
Oh no – I don’t suggest Move as your first 30 day YWA challenge. I’d start with Breath, personally. I’ve done about five of her 30 day challenges (starting with Breath, then going back and doing others, and just finished Move when it ended in January).
Move feels like an exercise routine. It was much harder, much faster, harder to keep up – the general vibe was very different to me from past YWA videos. I didn’t care for it at all. It felt like she wanted to transition from yoga to being a personal trainer or something, if that makes sense – I felt like I was in gym class again.
Sometimes I change the playback speed on the videos if I feel that I am being rushed between poses; as long as it doesn’t make the speaking soundtrack too wonky, it works for me.
Have you looked at any yoga books at the library? I find them less annoying than videos. You could make your own routines just flipping pages.
I tend to do the same yoga videos over and over, too. I’ve been doing Yoga in Practice on PBS with 50-something Stacey Millner-Collins. She has two students behind her with real bodies and they’ll show different modifications. She explains alignments well and doesn’t rush as much as Adriene. The only thing that really drives me nuts is when she says to “enjoy the pose”. Nope. https://www.pbs.org/show/yoga-practice/
When I’m feeling a bit down or unmotivated, I’ll light a scented candle while I’m doing yoga; somehow it makes the experience a little more special.
I also wonder if you’d enjoy restorative yoga, which holds a “relaxing” pose for a few minutes before moving on to the next. It won’t have much down dog or plank!
I just want to say great job starting back again! It’s always hard to re-start any exercise routine even though we know the benefits that will accrue. And exercise is a lifetime of ups and downs. So you are doing great to do something that is good for you!
Seconding the Underbelly with Jessamyn Stanley!
Here to say that I did the whole Move series and I don’t think it’s going to be your jam! She mixed in a LOT of what I guess I’d call Regular Workout Stuff into the yoga for this series (I suspect the whole vibe shift had to do with the series being sponsored by Adidas) and as a whole I feel like it leaned too far into the grueling side of the yoga spectrum. Lots and lots of dismayed feedback in her FB groups for this series from new folks! I personally think Breathe is a better series to start with, or pay for her Find What Feels Food membership and then you can sort by time and gentleness. I’ve also really been enjoying the Down Dog app (altho I use the web version) which lets you customize literally everything, like “I want 7 minutes of chill-ass stretching and absolutely zero HOVERING PLANKS.”
I’m doing Dedicate for the second time, and find that one is good at gradually ramping up. Then again, I’m only a week into it, and don’t remember where it goes after the day 8 rest day :)
I second, third, fourth, whatever the thoughts above that it’s okay to try a different instructor. I like Adriene for beginners because I think she breaks poses down well, but I agree that her slow talking and asides can be crazy-making. (There’s some video where she goes into a long diatribe about the dog while having you hold a pose and it goes on FOREVER.) Also, as my body has changed and shifted over the years, I have noticed that she is NOT GOOD at giving cues for bodies that don’t look like hers.
I see folks recommending Jessamyn above and she is great! I’ve also been exploring Zelinda: https://www.youtube.com/user/rryogaroom She has a 7 day beginner challenge that might be a good test.
I think I’m slightly older than you and I will just say that yoga is absolutely critical the more I age. When I stop for a few days, I feel it. Right now I’ve been slacking for a bit from the winter blahs and my upper back is locked up as I type. So I shall consider this motivation to get moving, too.
Love to see Zelinda mentioned here, she is fantastic.