Yoga

neviditelny · 3 Jun 2018 at 00:15

I've been thinking about taking up some yoga but got no idea where to start. Anyone got some youtube-channels or similar to recommend?
Classes will be difficult to attend due to me mainly being on night shifts at work so I thought youtube-channels could be used from home

Psymonkee · 3 Jun 2018 at 21:59

I've had some success with DDP Yoga (which I admittedly haven't done for a while....) and there are plenty of inspirational stories out there. Usual DVD's and what not available but also an app so you can run the workouts on your phone and do them pretty much anywhere.

It can be a bit over bearing but DDP's enthusiasm is infectious!

Somnambulist · 7 Jun 2018 at 14:58

neviditelny said:
I've been thinking about taking up some yoga but got no idea where to start. Anyone got some youtube-channels or similar to recommend?
Classes will be difficult to attend due to me mainly being on night shifts at work so I thought youtube-channels could be used from home

Something like '30 days of Yoga' with Adrienne on YouTube is a good place to start if you're an absolute beginner. After that there's endless flows/classes on YouTube which you'll probably find via the suggestions box.

The thing you miss out on not having a good teacher is having someone who can physically adjust you if your alignment is out in certain postures, get to know your body in terms of strong/weak areas and give you options to make a pose more/less challenging. There's also many different types of yoga so it depends on why you want to start the practice of yoga - taking into account stretching is only a small part of it - if you want stuff that's more regimented and like 'exercise' (Ashtanga, Vinyasa flow stuff) or slower and more focused on holding poses for longer and body awareness (Yin, restorative).

/someone who has practiced yoga for nearly 3 years

neviditelny · 7 Jun 2018 at 17:50

Somnambulist said:
Something like '30 days of Yoga' with Adrienne on YouTube is a good place to start if you're an absolute beginner. After that there's endless flows/classes on YouTube which you'll probably find via the suggestions box.

The thing you miss out on not having a good teacher is having someone who can physically adjust you if your alignment is out in certain postures, get to know your body in terms of strong/weak areas and give you options to make a pose more/less challenging. There's also many different types of yoga so it depends on why you want to start the practice of yoga - taking into account stretching is only a small part of it - if you want stuff that's more regimented and like 'exercise' (Ashtanga, Vinyasa flow stuff) or slower and more focused on holding poses for longer and body awareness (Yin, restorative).

/someone who has practiced yoga for nearly 3 years

I'm mainly looking for the more stretching/flexibility and body awareness with the yoga to start with. I will try get to classes when I can but work restricts it quite a bit unfortunately. At the moment I would say my entire body is a huge weak blob

Somnambulist · 8 Jun 2018 at 00:06

neviditelny said:
I'm mainly looking for the more stretching/flexibility and body awareness with the yoga to start with. I will try get to classes when I can but work restricts it quite a bit unfortunately. At the moment I would say my entire body is a huge weak blob

It's always worth going to a class, at least if it's taught by someone who's serious about yoga vs. an exercise instructor who knows a few yoga poses and can be a super humbling experience.

Just do the 30 Days series and then follow some of the vids by yogis (rather than fitness people), watch vids on specifc poses by people like Kino Macgregor. Get a yoga mat (something like the Warrior 2 on Amazon is cheap and a good starting place) - no socks please - a yoga strap, brick and block and you'll be good to go. Instagram is also a great source for yoga content, although there's a lot of ridiculously advanced people on there who seem to be able to do everything effortlessly, so don't get discouraged by that - it's a personal practice after all not a performance.

neviditelny · 8 Jun 2018 at 00:56

I've added a yoga mat to my shopping list on Amazon and will look into what yoga classes I can find in my area (Chelmsford) and which would be suitable for me.

Stusteel · 8 Jun 2018 at 03:55

I had to stop doing Yoga as I detested the happy clappy "namaste" we all love you aspect of it. I could take only so many lessons of people chanting or singing before I wanted to knife them all.
However, Pilates, much better for me. If you just want to tone and srengthen then maybe consider that.

neviditelny · 8 Jun 2018 at 10:37

Stusteel said:
I had to stop doing Yoga as I detested the happy clappy "namaste" we all love you aspect of it. I could take only so many lessons of people chanting or singing before I wanted to knife them all.
However, Pilates, much better for me. If you just want to tone and srengthen then maybe consider that.

I must say I didn't think of pilates at all, but it is definately worth looking into as well though.

Euro_Hunter · 8 Jun 2018 at 21:05

Stusteel said:
I had to stop doing Yoga as I detested the happy clappy "namaste" we all love you aspect of it. I could take only so many lessons of people chanting or singing before I wanted to knife them all.

Haha, yes I would hate all that fakeness.

Somnambulist · 8 Jun 2018 at 21:48

neviditelny said:
I must say I didn't think of pilates at all, but it is definately worth looking into as well though.

Pilates is very core-centric compared to yoga (well, asana, which is the postures bit), which is more gymnastics, breath techniques, plus mindfulness, although there is a lot of core stuff as well:

(advanced practice, obviously)

neviditelny · 8 Jun 2018 at 22:37

Somnambulist said:
Pilates is very core-centric compared to yoga (well, asana, which is the postures bit), which is more gymnastics, breath techniques, plus mindfulness, although there is a lot of core stuff as well:

(advanced practice, obviously)

I would definitely need a lot of work on my core, breathing techniques are always welcome too, and mindfulness is always useful too. I got plenty of stuff to look into now

Will spend the next week looking into it a bit more and then aiming to start in end of the month

Doing some research for exercises to do at home for strength and stamina as well with the small space I got and few pieces of equipment I have.

jpaul · 10 Jun 2018 at 21:17

Stusteel said:
I had to stop doing Yoga as I detested the happy clappy "namaste"

I thought someone would have referenced the new channel 5 yoga series - some shaking limbs in there as folks tried to maintain balance.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2018/06/06/channel-5-revived-tv-keep-fit-live-yoga-class-tried-home/
found it aspirational.

(... not sure if I get the return of the group exercise fad (?) was around in the 80's but has now returned with spinning classes etc etc.
as opposed to doing things at your own pace under self-discipline ... beyond some initial instruction )

SPG · 20 Aug 2019 at 12:52

Iyenga Yoga i found very good, I still think the best bit of a Yoga class is the last 5-10 mins when you lie back and try not to fall asleep

manic111 · 20 Aug 2019 at 14:06

There's an app called Down Dog, which is good

popeye123 · 9 Sep 2020 at 12:47

jpaul said:
I thought someone would have referenced the new channel 5 yoga series - some shaking limbs in there as folks tried to maintain balance.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2018/06/06/channel-5-revived-tv-keep-fit-live-yoga-class-tried-home/
found it aspirational.

(... not sure if I get the return of the group exercise fad (?) was around in the 80's but has now returned with spinning classes etc etc.
as opposed to doing things at your own pace under self-discipline ... beyond some initial instruction )

--
yoga is fantastic, but all the classes are pretty much closed. Online yoga on youtube can be good if you can get the time and space to do it, but for me staying in sync with a video is a bit easier said than done.