The YWA March Calendar is here! Us VWBs are still popping in and out of various Yoga practices, so to create one virtual ‘room’ for us to chat all things YWA, I’ll pin the monthly calendar here.
And big WELCOME to any new Virtual Workout Bodies joining us, the daily practice of YWA calendar is perfect to get started with Yoga.
And feel free to - as Adriene says - “find what feels good”, meaning if your knees feel too sensitive, amend that Child’s Pose, and if you need to, rather do half planks than full ones. And definitely get creative with props.
Here is a hopefully helpful post about YOGA props.
That’s fantastic CBDB I wondered if there was a March one I’ve really enjoyed the targeted February sessions alongside repeating Breath - all have kept me on my toes! Many thanks for posting
Yes, I find myself completely ‘sold’ and now wouldn’t want to go without my daily practice from the YWA monthly calendars.
There is something about exploring an unknown daily YOGA practice with 10s of 1000s of other VWB across the world (and 10s/100s on HU, that makes it special. The toned muscles are just a very nice extra!
Day 1 🤩 LET IT GO! First day, first day, first day of MOVE 🤸 (!) It was a nice little flow with down dogs, knocking, a tiny opportunity to chose to do some planking and some steeple hand stretching in mountain pose. 👍🏽
Really excited that I’m now in my 3rd month of daily Yoga practice! Who’d have thought ..... 😄😃
Thank you! I was about to go to bed but have done Day 1 of move instead. I like the fact that so many of these sessions are around 20/25 minutes, so it's fairly easy to fit them into the day. I really enjoyed the January "breath" series and may repeat that. This is the first time I have seriously attempted yoga. It's been great for relaxation and flexibility 😊
Day 2 - MVMT MEDICINE - Energy: 17 min of down dogs, cobras, planks and warrior 1 like poses. Good effort. I added some glut strengthening repetitions just to give my knees that movement medicine as well. 👍🏽👏🧘🏾♂️
DAY 3 - MVMT MEDICINE - Calm: 🚨Alarm for sensitive knees!🚨 This one was really hard on my knees as almost all of the 17 min practice is done on table top positions, child’s poses, sitting on knees, table top with lifting of leg and half lunges ...I managed to muddle through with some amendments but it was still hard on my knees. So not quite “calm” or “MVMT medicine” but maybe it did strengthen my knees a little bit?
Oh i wouldn’t have thought of the knee issues! I did this one before work this morning with my 4 year old. We both enjoyed it (but our knees are mostly ok!). Have you tried a really thick yoga mat? My friend found one on Amazon that has a lot of cushion and she is finally able to do yoga now
CBDBAdministratorGraduate Gold• in reply toannaruns
Yeah 🤣Extra thick mat and two blankets. 🤣 I wouldn’t be able to do this without my trusty props! I’m getting there, but being too long on my knees, and with one leg up which means the other knee has to take quite a bit of the weight.... and then stay in that position for quite a long time ... phew 😰... but slowly improving!
I'm playing catch up again having spent all of yesterday snoozing or just lying on the sofa. I've no idea if it was side effects of my Covid jab or just the result of several nights of bad sleep. Thankfully normal service has resumed so I've caught up both the Movement Medicine practices. I didn't attempt side Planks for safety reasons as I was practicing next to a lit log burner 🤣😀
Day 4 - YOGA FOR THE SPINE: Very nice spine-stretching practice. Only things I had to amend is sitting in non-extended child’s pose and hunching on your toes. Both are still difficult with my knees, but these could be adapted with extended child’s pose and twisting whilst standing on toes (not hunching on toes).
I gotta learn the names of poses, it might make writing about it so much easier.😆📚
Does anyone have a free Yoga app with moves described?🤳🏻
Day 5 - ANCHOR IN HOPE: a nice little 18 min grounding & balance focussed practice with some short doable easy planking ... did I just say “easy planking”?
I could do most poses (amended using yoga bricks and blankets) but right before pigeon poses I started to feel so dizzy I hat to sit 5 min out. Good, as I can’t do pigeon anyway and re-joined with figure 4 stretches on my back.
I think this is the hardest session I have yet done with YWA!
How did ever else fare? Is it just me or did others find this one quite hard?
Oh boy! I came on to see if anyone had posted about this before I attempt this later. Did a long 7k run this morning so maybe I should save this for tomorrow and do another one instead! 😅
Ok. I was glad for the warning so I think I mentally prepared myself for a toughie. I really enjoyed it. A lot of sweat dripped down onto my poor mat though 😂 and those glute pulses after the pulses yesterday and my long, hilly run today burned! But I’m bookmarking it to do when I want some heat again!
CBDBAdministratorGraduate Gold• in reply toannaruns
🤣👍🏽💪 yeah I’m not sure if I’m going to bookmark it yet, but it’s certainly perfect for runners!
Yes! And NEW! Day 7 - Yoga for a fresh start! Hubby and I liked this one as well, good new stretches and enough alternative transitions to feel this as a doable but work-out-y practice! Also nice flows, as well. Nice!
Day 8 - Yoga for Strength: Filmed in a different lovely outdoor setting, this practice was a bit much for doing it on day where I’d run 8k. So I had to adapt when it was doing the third time around the flow.
But I’ll save this one as it feels as if this one would be a good one to memorise and do freely.
(I’m already dreaming of doing some yoga outside and hubby and I have already chatted about possibilities: 2 picnic blankets, 2 yoga mats, my yoga blocks and one ancient iPad. Should do it, right? 🌳🧘🏻♀️🌲)
What is it with all the planks!?!I had already done #9 early on Monday...so picked another short (ish) one yesterday...#14. Even Adriene admits to being sneaky in this one...and she uses an extra blanket for her knees!
I might find another shortish one...I’m knackered today...😴
CBDBAdministratorGraduate Gold• in reply toLottieMW
🤣yeah, planks are overrated, I think. 😁 But then I used to loathe Down Dogs. I know, how can you expect to like Yoga if you don’t like down dog, right? But I really like them now, and especially with all this planking going around, down dogs become a rather relaxing posture! 😊👍🏽
Day 11 - YOGA FOR RISK TAKERS: ... not risky at all (except for the crow practice), but I loved this one. A lot about balance, and although I’m not good at it I really enjoyed trying.
But - when in tree pose - how do you get your feet🦶 to not slip from your bare legs or trousers 👖? I tried both but hmmm 🤔 ?Any suggestions? 🤨
And she goes really gently into the crow. I managed the first 10% of that transition (so loose squat pose 😁) but that’s 10% more than I ever managed before.
And, I think Dutch-Fraggle and some of our other crow yogis would like the sustained section focussing on crow practice! 👍🏽😊💪🦶👏🧘🏽
My yoga practice has been a bit hit and miss, but yesterday I did 60 minutes of yoga and the Pilates for knees session and I really enjoyed. So I've just done this session and it was great, I avoided crow as my knee doesn't like it and was happily doing my own thing instead. I've missed the daily practice 🧘♀️
Oh I agree normally 20 to 30 is great but yesterday I needed more as I'd had a couple of bad days.And it did the trick and I'm feeling like myself again now 😊 👍 😊
I’ll be looking for another short easy practice tonight then! Went for a short 30 minute run after work. I’m listening to a programme which finishes at 10:30, and I’m *really* knackered! 😂
CBDBAdministratorGraduate Gold• in reply toLottieMW
👏👏 Wow, so well done for still doing it. After experimenting with an evening daily practice, we just decided to get up earlier again and do it first thing in the morning whenever we can. It was really hard to do it in the evening after a long day, so big thumbs-up from me! 👍🏽💪👏
I was amazed at how much she squeezed into five minutes 😂
CBDBAdministratorGraduate Gold• in reply toannaruns
Yeah, me too. I just finished today’s 40min practice and I definitely like the shorter ones. Above a certain lengths and all the planks and folds and down dogs make me dizzy! So I might be tempted to replace the one or the other 40min practice with this 5min one but include one repeat.
Day 13 - SHAKTI (?) POWER FLOW: Gosh, these long practices (here 56 min! 😱) really take it out of me. All that planking, down dogging, folding makes my head dizzy. So I have a feeling these are just a bit too much for me, as I also had to take a short break at the last 46 min practice, feeling like I’d pass out if I didn’t sit out for a few minutes.
But good news is that I now have yesterday’s 5min practice that I can easily swap in if a future long practice just looks too daunting!
Now I’m off to look into what SHAKTI actually means.
Day 14 - YOGA FOR CHANGE AND DRAIN: I’m gonna look so forward to a much shorter, 20 min practice later today and having quickly scanned through, looks fab and not quite so intense as some of the longer ones last week.
Liked this one! Wanted a bit more heat (which I never thought I’d say); probably should have done this one yesterday post-run and yesterday’s marathon one today. But I think 20-40 minutes is my sweet spot for yoga; may end up doing a short wind down one tonight.
Still can’t believe I’m one of those people who does yoga every day all of a sudden.
CBDBAdministratorGraduate Gold• in reply toannaruns
Day 15 - REBIRTH YOGA: Nice doable 24 min practice. It went a bit speedy when going into a fast flow from down dog, lift leg, up to lunge, upright warrior with knees down, back to legs back and up, and down dog. Repeat ca 6 times?
I liked that flow, but could only keep up and my knees happy if I kept my knees on the mat throughout the flow, but that worked and still gave my glutes and core some heat.
Funny that: home workouts and solo runs have allowed me to become confident in amending everything to MY needs, with slow Japanese style running and in Yoga: amending poses and using props. But that is all good. Even better, if it helps me to keep going, it’s brilliant!
So for all out there struggling, feel free to adapt to your own needs. Find what feels good 😌.
This, I think, is one of the things Adriene has really helped me with! Knowing my body and doing what I need for ME. Looking forward to this one when the toddler naps
Very true! I do find if the flows are too quick, I forget to breathe...as in if she doesn’t say breathe in, then out...I'm doing it all at the wrong time 🙄🤦🏻♀️
Day 16 - GREET THE DAY: 39 min, so maybe a bit on the long side, but this is a lovely gentle, stretchy practice that allows more able Yogis to replace down dog transition with plank transitions. So one can very easily adjust the heat.
I really liked this one, it goes into my favourites. Having said that, I think I like being surprised be the daily practice more than returning to a saved practice. So far I have saved 10 practices in the last months, but never redid them as I am rather attached to simply following the daily practice. Hm 🤔 😀
Day 18 - YOGA TO GAIN PERSPECTIVE: Nice, adaptable 35 min practice, optional choices for planks. Some heat for those who are in to side planks. And a dolphin section with a restrained inversion. Nice, even if I opted the easier versions of planks and dolphins, but very enjoyable. My shoulders feel wonderful now!
Day 19 - YOGA FOR TRANSITIONS: Good balanced 22 min practice, choices between half and full planks and a kind of sideways crow for those without knee problems. It looked fun! Someday.... 👍🏽👏
Day 20 - SUNRISE YOGA: Did this easy 15 min workout (includes a couple of classic planks) after sunset, but still good in the evening despite its sunrise theme. Felt good to get any stiffness worked out from my 8k run, but I definitely was flagging and was more tired than in my usual morning practice.
Day 21 - YOGA TO START YOUR DAY: Big thumbs up for this 26 min morning practice, all about getting those stretches and that little bit of plank-heat to get you feeling ready for the day,- which it did for me..... Now, on to putting up those Easter 🐣 Decorations!
Day 22 - MORNING YOGA ON THE ROAD: 🦭easy breezy morning practice in serene lake surroundings, even including a seal.
Voice-over this time as it was recorded outside. And this seemed to have confused my screen connection with our TV, with video and audio being out more than a minute. So we rather ended up following her audio instructions, but it was still a shame as she makes these tiny comments on what is happening on the screen, including that appearance of a seal 🦭.
But we welcome the briefness on a Monday where we often tend to be a bit late with everything.
Day 23 - MORNING YOGA FOR BEGINNERS: ok, so it was late afternoon before I got to this session. As I did a run before work, yoga just had to wait.
And Yoga seems to feel good no matter what the hour, unlike runs, where I have to consider when I eat, how dark it is outside, how wet, rainy, muddy, hot or humid it is....
And this session was a lovely! Is there such a noun as a lovely? ☺️ If not there should be, as this was it. Stretchy, no planks, more stretchy, down dog. Perfect length of 21 min. This was also specifically nice after my burn 🔥 session yesterday from NHS/live instructor.
BUT WHAT IS THAT?! No ‘NAMASTE’ at the end!? That never happened before. Did hubby and I both miss it? No matters, still yummy.
Day 24 - ENERGIZING MORNING YOGA: Yup energizing. 24 min, more intense than yesterday’s session. Again optional adjustments are included. Planks, down dogs, lunges.
One reason why I didn’t like it as much is that it ends in child’s pose. I need a more relaxed cross-legged sitting position to relax at the end of a session, as child’s pose, even doubly extended, is still too intense for my knees that I cannot relax.
Day 25 - YOGA TO GET THE JUICES FLOWING: Super-quick, super-easy 8-min morning practice. I put it on my favourites list, not because it’s my favourite but rather I can imagine doing this one no matter how tired, how stiff, how exhausted I might feel. Tired-feeling Mr CBDB this morning really liked it as a wake-up practice and said: it still really felt like yoga without being strenuous. (He fell asleep on the couch last night 🥴)
Just thought I'd pop on to let you know that after giving the YWA calendar a few more goes I have to confess I've given her the push! I realised it was definitely irritating my knee, I suspect it was the down dog step to lunge to warrior moves that were the problem. But instead I've been doing a short daily practice each morning majoring on planks and side planks. So still daily yoga but to my own design 🧘♀️🧘♂️🧘
Wow! Planks. Sounds like a right plankathon! Well done! I’m quite impressed. My knees are holding up, but planks are definitely my weak spot! Great to hear, though! Thanks.
I have been pondering about putting a more generic “how is everyone doing with their own S&F routines” post up, but am still working out the kinks.
Last week I was wondering if you had a weekly quest style post or general weekly catch up like on B210k and Marathon Support. I've realised that my B10k quests are really 50% Strength and Flex ones.
It’s my first attempt to provide something like a generic quest. As you can see it’s ended up being between a weekly chat and a challenge.
So I’m keen to see how people find it, or if I should simplify more (just a generic weekly chat?) or have more focus or something completely different.
It looks great to me. Have you posted it on the other forums as well? I'm sure you will have a I know you usually do.I'm really enjoying my S&F stuff and I'm sure if I'd started earlier I wouldn't have had the knee problems. I know a lot of runners know it's a good idea but like me probably don't start until they get injured which is such a pity. So anything that helps get people doing it more if brilliant 😊
Day 26 - GENTLE YOGA: very yummy practice! Perfect duration of 26 min and easy for beginners like me. Only one plank, I seem to remember, but the guiding of the transition into it from Cobra seemed easier than usual. I actually found myself in plank suddenly! 😃
Day 27 - YOGA MORNING FRESH: I didn’t do this exactly in the morning, but rather early evening 🌚 before dinner 🥘 , and after a snooze 😴 which came after my 9k run 🏃🏻♀️ this morning.
So actually between walking with hubby, running, snoozing, Yoga, baking a cake and wrapping some birthday presents, nothing much else happened but the day just simply felt wonderful!
And this 36 min yoga practice was perfect for doing after a snooze! (I know, the calendar said 26 min, but she was fibbing to get us to the mat! 😂🥰)
Day 28 - MOON PRACTICE: I seem to be completely out of sync with Adriene’s time of the day, having done her last few morning practices in the evening and this 15 evening practice in the morning! 🙃
But the joy was just the same. Relatively relaxed and stretchy. Lunges, goddess poses, child’s and down dog poses.
Day 29 - YOGA FLOW: Wowsa, this is the fastest flow I’ve done with YWA. So for all those who love vinyasas and flows, this 19min practice could become your favourite!
I could just about keep up by
- not looking at the screen and just following instructions
- skipping the plank -cobra -up dog -down dog transition and going straight from plank to down dog
Will save it for those times where I just want a flow practice!
Phew that was a whirlwind! Definitely worked up a sweat though. Also skipped a few of the plank-cobra transitions. Did the first few (and was just about doable as chattaranga to upward-dog speed wise) but then just gave up and straight to down dog for the latter half 😂
CBDBAdministratorGraduate Gold• in reply toannaruns
🤣🤣👍🏽 Yes, at the start I did. have to check if the speed was set to normal. 🤣🤣
Day 30 - YOGA PRANAYAMA FOR THE SPINE: 28min of which the first half focussed on breathing and stretching from sitting positions, moving to standing, hovering table, down dog, hunching and yes, a crow as well! Ending in butterfly. Nice.
I’ve fallen off the wagon slightly...some of them were just too long and I really don’t enjoy the lunges and warrior poses where I feel there is too much strain on my knees ☹️
However, I see she’s posted a calendar for April...“Renew”
and it looks a little more relaxed, and shorter! I’m up for it! 😉🥰
CBDBAdministratorGraduate Gold• in reply toLottieMW
Oh that sounds good! I fear I’m hooked to a daily practice now. I wish I’d find something like this for Pilates, but daily YWA is simply just too good.
Day 31 - HEALTHY ENERGY FLOW: The last 36min workout from the March Calendar!!! 😳 📆 Where did the time go!!
Another long one. My sweet spot is definitely between 20 to 25 minutes, and I wish these long ones would appear on weekends rather weekdays. It just jumbled up my whole morning routine a bit.
But I’m not complaining (too much). I love the daily practice and if LottieMW had not reminded me that the next calendar is out, I would have just found myself on April morning without any planned set-up!😱 Now for me, that is a nightmare worse than planks!
But, I’m all planned ‘in’ now. Our April virtual room will drop later today, and this morning’s 36min practice (which I had to do alone 😕as hubby is helping out again in our vaccination center) ... this practice was an intensive and long goodbye to March’s MOVE.
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