I prefer to do yoga in the privacy of my own home.
There. I said it.
When I do online classes at home, I can close my door, light incense, take a few minutes on my mat to just be before I press play. I’m not worried about whether I accidentally grabbed my “home” yoga pants. You know…the ones with the little hole in the crotch that would be hugely humiliating when doing down dog in the front row. Nope. Perfectly safe in my ragged, favorite pants in the privacy of my own home.
I don’t feel pressured to throw on a little makeup and a cute matchy-matchy yoga outfit that cost a small fortune. My feet don’t have to be perfectly pedicured. Chipped polish is A-OK in my home studio (ahem…bedroom).
If I need to stay in a pose a little longer while working to get my alignment just right, I’m not distracting anyone.
And let’s just not talk about the huge elephant in the room in any given yoga class. You know. The one where you try to remember everything you’ve eaten lately and whether it’s going to come back and haunt you…and the rest of the class.
Nope. Let’s just not talk about that.
Let’s talk about what being able to really dive into my home practice has done for my mind and body.
Mind:
OMGSTRESS.
Lots of stress comes with homeschooling one’s kids. Or at least my kids. Sheesh. Yes, it’s wonderful. No, it’s not easy and all cutesy fun and games like it seems on Pinterest. By the end of the many school days my shoulders are up to my ears, my jaw is clenched so tightly I can practically hear teeth cracking, and every muscle in my body feels like some mixture of sand and weathered, cracked cement. Point is, I don’t carry my tension well.
At that point, if I had to throw on a cutesy yoga outfit, fight my mean case of road rage, and find a parking spot to go to yoga class, well….I’d be on trial for some sort of violent crime before you knew it.
I’m a loner, Dottie. A rebel.
I need my alone time to stay sane, calm myself after a tough day, and just collect my forward-moving thoughts.
Thanks to The Yoga Collective, I simply shut my bedroom door, roll out my gorgeous mat, and get right to centering myself. In fact, there have been times that upon completing a video I feel floaty and giddy — almost like I’ve had a drink or two. Ha! That’s what I call my Yoga High. Not once have I gotten that kind of satisfaction from a group class.
Body:
I think we all have this idea in our heads of the “perfect yoga body”. That’s not what I mean. Well, not entirely. Daily yoga practice certainly can give you a killer butt and crazy-awesome deltoids, but what matters is how your body feels.
I think I’m not wrong when I saw that most everybody lives with some level of chronic pain. For some, it’s just irritating and inconvenient. For others, it can be the difference between being able to get out of bed or brush your hair, or bend over and pick up a dropped pencil. I struggle with a couple of back injuries. One is inconvenient, the other -on a bad day- can keep me floored. Literally. Stuck flat on my back on hardwoods with tears. This is no way to live. To those of you who struggle with pain so much worse than mine, I send you all my love and (gentle) hugs.
After different medical treatments, I got no relief. I sure as heck wasn’t going to live on pain pills. I had to find something.
Enter yoga.
I started using some yoga DVDs to learn the basics. I practiced daily and I felt myself getting stronger quickly. After a month or two, I realized that the frequency of that lightening-bolt pain had decreased. After 6-9 months of 1-2 hours of yoga every day, the pain was all but gone. I can think of just a couple of breakthrough “attacks”. Yoga had all but cured what medicine couldn’t simply because it opened me up and strengthened my erector spinae so that it thoroughly supported and took the stress off of my damaged spine. That, my dears, is priceless.
So let’s talk about The Yoga Collective and our giveaway, cool? Cool.
(They have an studio in Venice Beach, CA, so if that’s your area, go pay them a visit.)
Right now, I’m hooked –like big time hooked– on their online classes. After quite some time of not practicing a fraction of how much my body asks me to, my back has been angry. Thanks to their awesome instructors, I’m getting my groove back and feeling much better!
I was fortunate enough to be contacted by them and was given a year membership so that I could share my experience with their online studio with you guys.
They offer a great variety of styles, class lengths, levels, instructors, and class focus, so you can personalize it to suit your mood and needs.
Their site is especially perfect for beginners who just aren’t sure where to begin. Check out their Just for You section to help you narrow down where you should start to achieve your personal goals.
Know what else I love about The Yoga Collective? They donate 50% of their profits to charity! Word.
One day, I hope to attend one of their retreats which just sound just amazing. Who’s with me?!
Anyway.
I’ve yet to explore and experiences all the videos and teachers, but I’m loving everything I’ve tried so far! Right now I’m loving Happy Hamstrings, Gentle Flow, and Hip Opening Flow. Man, am I a sucker for hip openers!!
You ready to give it a shot? Whether you’re a guru or haven’t done a minute of yoga in your life, you are sure to find videos just perfect for you on The Yoga Collective.
You can join monthly for $12/month or experience a year of getting in tune with yourself and building strength for $130/year. Don’t overlook that 15-day free trial!!! Take a look here to see which plan is right for you.
Here’s the really fun part. I get to give away not one, but two one-year memberships!!
Yep! Two lucky winners each get a free year membership to The Yoga Collective. You guys are scoring big time! Enter using Rafflecopter below. Don’t forget that you can earn more entries every day by tweeting the message in Rafflecopter!
I would try Corr Strength Vinyasa first!
I would do the beginning classes. I just bought a yoga collective AM/PM yoga dvd
This is a great post, Abbie. And seriously? Anytime you want to do a yoga retreat, I’m down. Anytime – you name the time, place and location – – not. even. kidding.
Thanks for doing this post & the giveaway – fun fun!
I would try Restorative classes first…many spine/joint issues and fibromyalgia mean starting very gently and slowly, but I would LOVE to make yoga part of my daily life again!
Oh I would really love to win this. This winter has made me embarrassingly heavy.
AWESOME. Hip openers sound really good, but restorative would likely be the first I would try….the arm balance one looks REALLY neat but way beyond me.
Was just feeling bad i have not gotten into classes after starting the year right with a wonderful yoga retreat in the Bahamas. This sounds perfect. Would start with beginners.
I would try the inversion class, I love being upside down! Is that wierd?
This would be wonderful. Thank you for your inspiration.
I would definitely be trying the beginner classes!
Heart Opening sound loverly! <3
I’ve been thinking for weeks that I would love to try out yoga but going to a class is really intimidating. I would absolutely love to try this at home.
I would try the most basic one first.