Dreaming in Asana

My Groupon is done.

When I started my yoga practice back up in May, it was fueled (funded?) by a Groupon to my nearest neighborhood yoga studio.

But that Groupon has expired and with school the year’s start around the corner, I’ll need to wait before I can become an official member of my studio.

So my strategy is to begin my home practice again and do some drop in classes when I want more of a challenge or I want to check my form on some poses. I used this strategy a couple of years ago when I needed to save some money then as well. It worked out even made me inventive with my practice.

This time, I have a couple of options for my flow and a couple of things I can do to continue my yoga journey.  Here’s what I have in mind to save some pennies but still get my down dog on.

Perfect my sun salutations

I know it sounds not that glamorous but sun salutations can be challenging, especially sun sal B.

The upside to this is that since I’m returning to vinyasa, this allows me to practice linking my breath and to focus more on the form of the poses. I can play with pace by going faster or can make it my workout by going slower.

I can’t stand chaturanga but it’s a pose that can help me transition to down dog and other important poses so I should work on my form and my strength in it. I can do that with the salutations.

In addition, from my sun salutations, I can add poses like the warriors and triangle poses. So I can grow that way and have a bit of fun!

Yoga Download

I’ve written about Yoga Download before (a free podcast with 20-25 minute flows) but they also have a website. While there is a nominal fee to join, there are some free videos on there that could be quite useful including alignment and meditation.

I’ll probably continue using the podcast as I can use my Bluetooth earphones to listen to the poses being called out and just surrender to the flow.  It also maybe a good option if I’d rather take my practice on the road, i.e. the nearest park or if I travel again.

Grokker

I LOVE Grokker. I love it, love it, love it. In fact, I learned about one of my favorite yogis to follow Celest Pereira on the site. If you haven’t heard of Grokker, it’s a website that is all about healthy living. From recipes to exercise, it’s all about living your best life. I highly recommend their yoga section. It’s fantastic. In fact, the first time I did the wild thing pose, it was during one of the videos on back-bends. It was surprising and exhilarating when I did that pose for the first time!

Good ole’ Youtube

Youtube is awesome in that there are so many videos online. Some are good and some are eh. I recommend two yogis on Youtube. I’ll be exploring this option a bit more as my home practice expands so in a couple of months I’ll be able to recommend more.

Obviously, I’m going to recommend Celest Pereira whose channel not only has how to videos but actual flows. (I hope one day to travel to London and take one of her classes. I’m sure she’d be fun to take live.) I like Celest because she’s really good at demystifying yoga and believes that this practice belongs to everyone, not just the super skinny and athletic among us. She explains how to get into the poses well and she’s so encouraging.

 

I am also going to recommend Yoga with Adriene. Adriene is just funny and quirky. She practices out of Austin, TX and has practical practices. By that I mean for different activities, traveling, gardening, stress, humility, morning, night, etc. It’s not just a practice with Adriene but a practice for the people.

Yoga Journal resources and videos

Yoga Journal is a magazine and website that gives yogis lots of info and inspiration. Though I’d like them to have more yogis of color on the cover of the magazine (hint, hint) the website is filled with great resources for the home practice.

The website has a section specifically for a home practice. There are several sequences you can try. In addition, the site has several very short videos on different poses and even how to train for certain poses. One training video caught my eye as I was researching this post that could prove useful.

Meetup.com

FREE YOGA CLASSES! Depending on your city, you can go to Meetup.com and see there are many places that do free yoga classes or classes for nominal fees. You may have to drive to different areas around town (I do) but if you are jonesing for a class and need some community, this may be an option!

 

Alright, that all I have! Hope this is enough to start on your own home practice! I’ll definitely keep you updated on mine!