I wish to yoga.
March 18, 2021 9:20 PM Subscribe
I wish to yoga.
I'm alone, and have a bit of space, and have a LOT of mobility issues. All of it needs a stretch, top to bottom, every joint and ligament and bone and squiggle. What do I do? I don't want videos, maybe a list? I have no clue.
I'm alone, and have a bit of space, and have a LOT of mobility issues. All of it needs a stretch, top to bottom, every joint and ligament and bone and squiggle. What do I do? I don't want videos, maybe a list? I have no clue.
Best answer: Are you up for audio? I use an app called Glo, which stands out in the market by having a ton of fantastic, respectful, and diverse teachers and teaching styles. They've got chair classes, if you're working back into mobility from intense restriction, a large selection of yin, classes on foam rolling, pilates, and strength conditioning (if you want the counterbalance for intense mobility work).
Their teachers are some of the best in the world (according to me, a yoga snob, who hates colonial white-lady exercise yoga with music and shouted affirmations like the devil). You could turn the screen of your laptop/phone to the wall and do poses with only the verbal instruction. (Jason Crandell, my favorite teacher in the world, specifically includes classes with minimal instruction, for folks who like to practice without a lot of guidance.) For the cost of a single class per month ($18), it's an incredible steal.
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 11:16 PM on March 18, 2021 [11 favorites]
Their teachers are some of the best in the world (according to me, a yoga snob, who hates colonial white-lady exercise yoga with music and shouted affirmations like the devil). You could turn the screen of your laptop/phone to the wall and do poses with only the verbal instruction. (Jason Crandell, my favorite teacher in the world, specifically includes classes with minimal instruction, for folks who like to practice without a lot of guidance.) For the cost of a single class per month ($18), it's an incredible steal.
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 11:16 PM on March 18, 2021 [11 favorites]
Best answer: I agree that Yin yoga sounds great for what you want to do.
My personal favorite is Norman Blair’s yin yoga videos on Movement for Modern Life. It does require a subscription but you can sign up for a free trial to see whether you like it. Norman is super calm and charming and low-pressure — he gives lots of options for modifying the poses to work for you.
I realize you said you don’t want videos — so I will add that there’s no pressure to do the poses at the exact same time or pace as the video. Once I had seen a few videos I got an idea of the common poses and transitions, and would sometimes just put a video on in the background while I did whatever motions I felt like that day.
Also worth stating explicitly that yin yoga is SUPER SLOW — like holding poses for 2-5 minutes, maybe only 3 distinct poses in the whole session. So if you don’t want videos because you’re not sure if you can keep up, that’s much less of a concern with yin than with other faster-moving types of yoga practice.
posted by mekily at 6:23 AM on March 19, 2021 [1 favorite]
My personal favorite is Norman Blair’s yin yoga videos on Movement for Modern Life. It does require a subscription but you can sign up for a free trial to see whether you like it. Norman is super calm and charming and low-pressure — he gives lots of options for modifying the poses to work for you.
I realize you said you don’t want videos — so I will add that there’s no pressure to do the poses at the exact same time or pace as the video. Once I had seen a few videos I got an idea of the common poses and transitions, and would sometimes just put a video on in the background while I did whatever motions I felt like that day.
Also worth stating explicitly that yin yoga is SUPER SLOW — like holding poses for 2-5 minutes, maybe only 3 distinct poses in the whole session. So if you don’t want videos because you’re not sure if you can keep up, that’s much less of a concern with yin than with other faster-moving types of yoga practice.
posted by mekily at 6:23 AM on March 19, 2021 [1 favorite]
Best answer: You may enjoy the yoga workouts on Darebee.com. They are simple, printable, one-page workout guides.
posted by yawper at 6:57 AM on March 19, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by yawper at 6:57 AM on March 19, 2021 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Jessamyn Stanley's Every Body Yoga is very approachable. She breaks down poses, gives some background to different kinds of yoga and the common vocabulary you'll run into, and is generally a reassuring voice. I also gifted myself a subscription to her The Underbelly (which is video based, understand if you don't want that) with my first stimulus check and have been very pleased with it.
posted by theweasel at 11:39 AM on March 19, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by theweasel at 11:39 AM on March 19, 2021 [3 favorites]
Best answer: Former yoga teacher here: I’m so glad to hear you want to work on your health and mobility issues! Yoga can absolutely help with that but I would heavily caution you against doing yin yoga. Your ligaments do not, in fact, need to stretch, and over stretching them-especially when you’re just starting out-can lead to severe and debilitating injuries. Check out Dr. Ariele Foster on YouTube-she’s a doctor of physical therapy and an excellent yoga teacher who I studied with way back when. She has many great classes of different lengths, some yoga and some on safe myofascial release which would be a way to feel the “stretch in every part of your body” you’re seeking without incurring injury. Her teaching style is direct and suitable for all levels. Please feel free to MeMail me if you have other specific questions. Also I just scrolled back to your question and realized you said no videos-the thing is, in my experience a lot of beginner yoga practitioners have to develop skills in proprioception-it’s very difficult to know where your body is in space when you’ve never done this stuff before. Having a video to model your movement after is crucial if you’re not able to attend classes in person with a qualified instructor. Just my two cents.
posted by sparringnarwhal at 3:20 PM on March 19, 2021 [7 favorites]
posted by sparringnarwhal at 3:20 PM on March 19, 2021 [7 favorites]
Response by poster: Being an idiot, I forgot to check previous questions and found a Down Dog - which seems to be all I want to be what I want, but with a lot of helpful extras on the side. Has anyone here used it before?
posted by Evilspork at 11:16 AM on March 21, 2021
posted by Evilspork at 11:16 AM on March 21, 2021
This thread is closed to new comments.
You can also watch a 20min vid and list the postures, then memorize.
Yin is a beginning phase with deep tissue relaxation, and long held stretches. It feels incredible and can lead you to more intense cycles.
posted by firstdaffodils at 9:24 PM on March 18, 2021 [2 favorites]