Yoga recs

December 11, 2022 5:25 PM

What's your favorite internet yoga these days that is not influencer-y?

I did a 30 day yoga challenge on YouTube and I'm ready to continue doing yoga frequently - like 5-6 days a week. My aim is to steadily increase my strength, balance and flexibility - challenging myself as I grow while avoiding injury. I want something that feels exertional, 30 to 60 minutes per session.

I prefer to avoid yoga-for-instagram vibes, do not enjoy most yoga video explorations of spirituality, and am not into diet culture stuff. I am a middle aged masculine queer person and looking hot in spandex is not the goal. I would like the focus to be on how to safely and effectively build my yoga skills.

Adrienne is fine. I like Tim. But would like to know what else is out there.

What app or channel do you recommend? I will pay.

posted by latkes to Health & Fitness (18 answers total)

Try The Underbelly, by Jessamyn Stanley. It's a flat rate per year, but there's a free trial to see if you like it or not.
posted by Sparky Buttons at 5:53 PM on December 11, 2022 [4 favorites]

Check out the Down Dog app! It's very straightforward yoga for yoga's sake, and highly customizable. You can choose your session length, type of yoga, what body areas to focus on, music, etc. It's a subscription, but I believe they have sales with some frequency that make the price reasonable, and I believe you can try it out for free. It's been so great for my own practice and hope it works for you!
posted by carlypennylane at 7:18 PM on December 11, 2022 [3 favorites]

I get a huge amount of value out of my Glo subscription. Give it a try - there is a huge variety of instructors and styles. It also includes Pilates.
posted by hilaryjade at 7:20 PM on December 11, 2022 [1 favorite]

I just did a mini-retreat online (in real time) with Earth & Sky Yoga Studio and really enjoyed it. The teacher is down to earth and very solid and comfortable in her practice. It's a normal yoga studio that has some online offerings these days, rather than something developed purely as an internet business.

I'm currently working my way through the fascial wellness series at Aligned Living Tasmania. Here again, the teacher is solid, strong, down to earth and brings a comprehensive knowledge of anatomy, muscles, connective tissue etc. She offers different online, on-demand courses.

I am also a middle-aged person and find much of what is available online unrelatable. I like my yoga to be free of woo and marketing.
posted by lulu68 at 7:38 PM on December 11, 2022

Yoga International is a bit expensive but has a ton of classes with the regular subscription with a diverse set of teachers, especially in age, which appeals to me. Many types of yoga and seems to be geared toward yoga education.


I also enjoy the Down Dog app already mentioned.
posted by hellogoodbye at 7:43 PM on December 11, 2022

Best answer: Do Yoga With Me

I think this could be exactly the vibe you’re looking for. It’s very low-key, non-pretentious and not at all hip. Additionally I like their mission and values, including accessibility, which you can read about here. They have recently moved to an optional subscription model but there are still many high-quality videos available for free. I enjoy classes taught by the founder David Procyshyn but you can choose from a lot of other teachers too.
posted by Weng at 8:14 PM on December 11, 2022 [4 favorites]

Five Parks Yoga
Heart Alchemy Yoga
Lesley Fight Master (unfortunately she passed away a couple years ago; her husband and son continued with some Yoga videos on the channel, but the ones I have experience with are the ones she teacheS)

All of these classes are pretty "exertional", and fairly straightforward and not "influencer-y".
posted by bearette at 8:31 PM on December 11, 2022 [1 favorite]

More on doyogawithme.com:

Michelle Rubin

Some of Josh Chen (also a physiotherapist)'s stuff

I like the online yoga that is targeted at seniors because I trust the teachers to be a little more cautious in what they're suggesting I do without an expert watching me do it.
posted by aniola at 9:45 PM on December 11, 2022 [1 favorite]

I'm a fan of Yoga With Kassandra . I don't find her overly woo, she gives solid curs and has some minimal cues videos, I find her videos accessible to all levels and she's encouraging about meeting yourself where you're at. She does a mix of Vinyasa, Yin and Hatha.
posted by brookeb at 10:14 PM on December 11, 2022 [2 favorites]

Another vote for Five Parks Yoga. I love her wrist-free classes and she’s never asked me to like and subscribe while in savasana.
posted by fairfax at 4:17 AM on December 12, 2022 [1 favorite]

I like Tuck barre and Yoga, very non pretentious and not diet culture oriented at all.
posted by sepviva at 4:18 AM on December 12, 2022

I'm a big fan of Inner Dimension TV with Travis Eliot and Lauren Eckstrom (and a host of other excellent teachers). Lots of variety and lots of 30- or 108-day programs with different goals so you don't have to make too many decisions about what to do on a given day. I've subscribed for years and use it every day!
posted by fiery.hogue at 5:21 AM on December 12, 2022

Another vote for Jessamyn Stanley!
posted by Kitteh at 5:43 AM on December 12, 2022

I like the yoga on Apple Fitness, especially the ones led by Jonelle Lewis. No spirituality other than some have you "set an intention" at the beginning and "reflect on your intention" at the end. Nothing about getting toned, etc. The workouts range from 10 - 45 minutes.
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:30 AM on December 12, 2022 [1 favorite]

I also like the Apple Fitness Plus yoga, especially Jonelle and Jessica (and previously Dustin). Dice's sessions are a bit much for me. I don't like music during yoga but it's quiet enough here it rarely bothers me. I also want a bare minimum of "spiritual" stuff and there's next-to-none of that here.

I think the one downside is that there's not much variety. There are faster and slower sessions, but they're all repeated flows of one kind or another. No sessions about the basics of specific poses or anything like that.
posted by fabius at 9:03 AM on December 12, 2022 [2 favorites]

2nd-ing Yoga With Kassandra.
posted by spilon at 11:57 AM on December 12, 2022

I like Kassandra too. She's better than most in offering longer practices, and her yin stuff especially proves that slow flows can still be challenging. Another favorite is Cole Chance, who has a way of making me stretch in a way I didn't know I needed. Her youtube videos are on the shorter side but she does offer longer flows on her website. Personality-wise, Echo is definitely hippy-ish and not for everyone, but the flows are excellent.
posted by TayBridge at 3:16 PM on December 13, 2022

https://www.yogadownload.com is my favorite. There is a huge variety of courses to choose from, there are curated challenges (eg, 2-week lunch break challenge), and the instruction quality is very high. They are constantly adding new content, too. Highly recommend.
posted by sickinthehead at 3:41 PM on December 13, 2022