Daily Yoga in 2017!

[sunnyca]

Hi all!

As part of the health/mindfulness/wellness focus I have for 2017 (after a tumultuous 2016!), I've decided to start doing yoga.  I downloaded the Gaiam yoga app, and have been practicing daily for the last week.  I'm really enjoying it, for multiple reasons:

- Stress reduction.  When I'm stressed, I eat.  A LOT.  I'm like a bottomless pit.  Yoga helps with this.
- Increased flexibility.  Hey, I'm getting older.
- Improved sleep.  I have a horrible time getting to sleep.  There's a short (20 min) routine that's included with the app, which really seems to help me relax and fall asleep more quickly.

Anyone else like to join me?  I'm just a beginner, and any advice/input from yoga experts is also welcome!! :)

[renata ricotta]

I'm in! I have done yoga probably half of the days in 2017. My real goal is to exercise every day (am at 14/19 days for the year), but yoga is my exercise of choice which I end up doing about 2/3 of the times I work out. I also tried a wall yoga class last weekend that was a lot of fun (alas, doesn't seem to be available in LA - how is that possible??) and I'm trying an aerial yoga class this weekend that I'm excited about.  Doing new stuff with yoga keeps me motivated to do it a lot; if it's the same vinyasa flow over and over again, I get bored pretty quickly.

ETA: tips for a beginner - do not be shy about the breathing thing. The first two years or so I practiced yoga, I didn't really try with the breathing because it felt a little too new age/woo-woo/hippy dippy for me. But then I got into the habit, and now I'm one of those LOUD breathers in the yoga class, and I swear it makes a world of difference.  I'm better at yoga, and it's the thing that follows me through my day keeping me relaxed after I leave. Still haven't gotten to the point where I'll chant, though. :)

[tortoiseshell]

I've been doing this on my own already with Do Yoga With Me's 30 Day challenge; I'd love to keep it up for the rest of the year. I'm a beginner as well, so this was a very nice way to ease into a daily practice.

[Futtee]

I'm in too!  I have also been doing Do Yoga With Me 30 day challenge (today is Day 19), and I had planned to keep that going all year. Happy to have some friends to share the journey with!

[sunnyca]

Yay!  I'll have to check out the Do Yoga with Me Challenge. :)

Question for people who do yoga at home- how do you assess your form?  As a newbie, I want to make sure that I'm doing the poses correctly.

[SingleMomDebt]

If you can, I think its worthy to take a few beginner flow classes to understand the proper feel of poses. During the class the instructor will come around and correct your form if they find its not proper. And most studios have well priced intro specials.

[Futtee]

I agree with the suggestion that taking beginner classes in a studio is a great idea.  If that is not feasible, I would recommend searching on YouTube or other free yoga sites for individual pose tutorials that break down the pose step by step to ensure proper alignment.  Videos exist for almost every pose imaginable, so you could systematically review the videos to ensure that you are doing your poses correctly.  If you wanted to take it a step further, have someone film you in the poses, and then you can review and visually check your alignment.

[renata ricotta]

Also, once you intellectually know what elements of the pose are supposed to be there, try to practice in front of a full-length mirror. I've been going to yoga classes for 5+ years, but I still really benefit from checking my form in the mirror during class - sometimes what feels like a straight back isn't, haha.

[Vanguards and Lentils]

I'm in! I started with some Cody App series last year, and have joined a studio for the spring semester. It is very handstand/hand balancing-focused, so I plan to do some gentle home practice on my off days.

[MrsDinero]

I'm in!  I take weekly classes and fill in with www.doyogawithme.com

My goal is to begin teacher certification in 2 years.

[supermustacheman]

great challenge.  my goal is to do kundalini yoga for 40 days straight and then add or move on to hot yoga.

[sunnyca]

How's everyone doing?

I've been doing well with the challenge and have been averaging an hour or so per day. I order blocks from Amazon and just received them- so excited to see if they help.

[tortoiseshell]

I've kept up a 22-day streak with the Do Yoga With Me videos that I mentioned earlier. I think that I will do that 30-day challenge over again for February, and then move on to other videos and classes.

[Landlady]

What a beautiful goal to have! Does anyone else do Adriene's yoga videos from youtube? You can also pay $1 and download her 30 days of yoga videos in case you don't have great streaming internet like me. It's like doing yoga with a friend. <3 her!

https://www.youtube.com/user/yogawithadriene

[EricL]

It's a good idea to get a professional instructor with a solid pedigree to evaluate how you do your poses. Yoga can be tremendously good for you. But if you constantly do the poses wrong you can develop joint, muscle and back issues later on. It's often worse for women as they can leverage their natural flexibility early on and not notice the damage until it's too late.

[renata ricotta]

It's a good idea to get a professional instructor with a solid pedigree to evaluate how you do your poses. Yoga can be tremendously good for you. But if you constantly do the poses wrong you can develop joint, muscle and back issues later on. It's often worse for women as they can leverage their natural flexibility early on and not notice the damage until it's too late.

Even without damage, it's just really easy to get into bad habits. On the flip side, if you go to beginner classes enough you start to automatically do the adjustments before the instructor says them out loud, meaning you've got the muscle memory for how the pose should feel. 

[Vanguards and Lentils]

It's a good idea to get a professional instructor with a solid pedigree to evaluate how you do your poses. Yoga can be tremendously good for you. But if you constantly do the poses wrong you can develop joint, muscle and back issues later on. It's often worse for women as they can leverage their natural flexibility early on and not notice the damage until it's too late.

This is my first month of membership, and I've already had two or three of my bad habits corrected. I had been doing a home practice for about 3 months prior to this which is when those got formed. Specifically I had been 1) sinking into my hips in warrior two/reverse/side angle instead of squeezing the floor with my legs; and 2) letting my ribcage hang out in downward dog and downward dog at the wall.

My thread update: skipped class today to let my wrists rest, and did some forearm stuff at home. Having a lot of fun with baby crow!

[wordnerd]

Joining late, but joining! I'm also considering teacher training in the next few years, so would love to hear about people's experiences with that.

[Julard]

It's a good idea to get a professional instructor with a solid pedigree to evaluate how you do your poses.

I'd welcome suggestions as to how to spot a 'solid pedigree'?

I started doing 30 Days of Yoga with Adriene, but halfway through have ended up with a really sore right shoulder and lower back.  I think I overdid something with the cobra and a right-angle twisty thing that, having googled today, are known as problem moves.  Adriene is strong on pretty and likeable, but I'm thinking now that I'd rather take advice from someone experienced who gives out words of caution when appropriate.  I really enjoy yoga, but don't want to end up with a serious injury. 

Any words of wisdom and/or recommendations for on-line yoga would be much appreciated! Sounds though like I might be overly optimistic thinking free online yoga is suitable for a beginner?