A beginner’s guide to YouTube yoga
I like to consider myself a forever-beginner when it comes to my yoga practice. Committing to the downward dog for over 10 years, I still have a long way to go before I’m successfully executing headstands while keeping my breathing in check. But like most, I enjoy the benefits of practicing yoga regularly, most notably through a more balanced mind and body.
A few years ago, I started really digging into yoga, regularly hitting up my favourite studios whether I was in Halifax or Toronto at the time. The steep price didn’t bother me - call it student loan rich, or a corpse-pose coma, I would regularly hit the mat in the heated studio, eager to stretch it out and twist into my favourite poses.
Five years and a reality of looming student loan payments later, I have traded in the heated studio and crowded classes for my own mat on whatever floor space I can muster (currently in my parents’ basement). While the studio will always have its obvious benefits, I have uncovered a great yoga discovery: the YouTube yogi. Perfect for anyone who can’t justify the expensive studio membership, or who wants to try it out without looking like a fish out of water in front others, YouTube yoga lets you squeeze in a session and all that is required is a computer, mat and the willingness to learn (or at least laugh).
Sticking to less traditional yoga formats, here are my top five YouTube yoga learnings:
It’s okay to get a bit weird. Yoga is all about practicing what feels good to you. Some days you’re going to get yourself into a pose you just can’t get out of gracefully - no one is judging. Yoga with Adriene is a favourite for these kinds of days. Her videos are filled with helpful information and gentle posture reminders while encouraging viewers to loosen up, feel the muscles working and, most importantly, listen to your body. If that means groaning through the entire workout and wishing you hadn’t started, or laying face-down on your mat (which I have admittedly done), that’s okay. It’s all about you.
The breathing in yoga is just as important as the pose. Sometimes we take something as simple as breathing for granted - most often I do while practicing yoga. It isn’t until I’m stumbling out of my downward dog, lightheaded, that I find myself gasping for air as if I’ve been under water for the last three minutes. Yoga Journal will provide these reminders, for the days when you forget breathing is necessary in both life and yoga.
Don’t forget to check-in with your body throughout the practice. If you are taking up yoga, it is most likely to balance your body, your mind or your health. Whether it’s for weight loss, to combat stress or increase strength and flexibility, yoga is like all other exercise. You will need time to perfect your practice, and in some cases, your practice will never be perfect. If your body is screaming with pain, it’s time to ease up on the pose. Don’t push yourself, just know the next time you try you will be closer to getting there.
We all have different levels of balance. And some days it’s better than others. One thing to remember (especially in dancer’s pose) is that our sense of balance is a result of our day, how busy we were and our overall health. Some days you will hold a pose for too long, and other days, you won’t hit the five-second mark without swan diving into the floor. But the beauty of YouTube yoga is you’re at home where no one else can watch you catch yourself with your face. If you ever want to focus on perfecting a single pose, most YouTube yogis offer instructional videos that are pose-specific. Yoga by Candace has an entire section dedicated to single poses.
You can target body parts in your practice. If your goal is beyond weight loss or achieving mental peace, and has to do with soothing the lower back or a stiff shoulder, yoga can act as a gentle therapy. Have you ever indulged in a big meal and didn’t have time to nap off the bloat? Find a digestion yoga tutorial that will get you mentally back in the game while fighting off any gastro issues. As the queen of poor posture, working 9-5 and constantly stooped over my computer, I have found a heart opener tutorial helps reverse the day’s damage, and reminds me to sit up straight (even if only temporarily). Having a particularly stressful week where there doesn’t seem to be enough time in the day? There’s a five minute tutorial for that.
The most magical thing about yoga is not how you can get into a pose that seems impossible to get out of without yelling for help, it’s that at the end of the practice your perspective is refreshed and your body feels lighter. There are many beginner practices on YouTube that will allow even the least flexible of viewers to get moving and stretching. Check out Madeleine Shaw’s five minute tutorial as a trial and get twisting.
In a world of student loans and $6 green juices (which I’m still guilty of!), it pays to save a bit of extra cash while working on your wellness. Go ahead, find a YouTube tutorial and get into that human pretzel you have always wanted to be. You can do it.
