I’m just scuttling in, quietly laying out our collective (and virtual) yoga mat, ready for the next week.
And thank you all for all the chatter about props, or plank alternatives and various tips to amend the practice for sensitive knees and ankles.
All this certainly keeps me coming to this forum, which means I have to keep coming to the mat!
So this is just our weekly header post for the Yoga with Adriene’s 30-day FLOW series, a place where we can share any thoughts we might have about the joys or struggles on this journey. A sort of ‘our very own YWA FLOW Club’.
(Of course, feel free to also post in the main channel, whatever feels good! 😉)
So upwards and onwards with YWA’s FLOW, and feel free to share your joys and struggles by reply!
Hi CBDB, thank you for posting the links. I have been inspired by your post and signed up…..better late than never. Yoga has never been my ‘thing’ but going to give it a go, I hope it is for beginners 😬
CBDBAdministratorGraduate Gold in reply to skysue16
I think it is, if you just follow her advice of “Find what feels good”. So feel free to use pillows, blocks, blankets… whatever you need to bring the earth closer to you in those poses where it just seems too far away. She will remind everyone often how to amend as necessary.
I love the 30 days of yoga have done it for many years it’s like a re set. This year because of illness and generally not being myself due to many circumstances it is a real joy to have a routine! Also major news the hubby is doing it too 😱
Hi I joined on 2nd Jan. So far, so good. I did find Day 6 - Centre a bit of a struggle but I know it is important to have a strong core. To get a reasonably good seated position I have to sit on a blanket and even then it feels uncomfortable. I have a spinal stenosis (slight curvature to the left) which makes sitting up straight difficult. A good thing about the videos is that you can adapt the poses to suit your own strengths and weaknesses. The main thing is to show up and give it a go. Enjoy this week and Namaste. 🧘
I sit on a couple of firm cushions, so quite high, then a folded pillow under one knee, and a rolled up bath towel under the other! Find What Feels Good indeed! 👍🏼😉😄
Did Day 7 this morning. I’m quite enjoying these flossing poses, I don’t remember her doing them much before. Interesting to be doing them in high lunge today too. Plenty of planks! 🥵
Yeah. I do find since I’ve started doing YWA that she slowly moves towards something inbetween yoga and Pilates. Not quite halfway, but the repetition of movements are -I feel - more Pilates than yoga.
No, I've never done those flossing things before, and I've done a lot of YWA. I like them in a runners lunge, couldn't really feel anything doing it in a high lunge - could you? Though it challenged my balance, I guess. Just that in a low lunge it really stretches my hamstrings.
I'm trying hard to fit in some of the daily Flows, but not managing every day! However, it's not easy on the wrists and knees and has reinforced what I knew, that I have no 'core' 🤣🤣. So I will persevere and add an NHS strength video which I WILL get my hubbie to join in with, though he makes every excuse under the sun not to ( bad knees, back.. notice, not now....). I just wish Adrienne gave more ideas on alternative moves/positions to help wrists and knees as Finding What Feels Good is sometimes tricky 🧘♀️🧘.
CBDBAdministratorGraduate Gold in reply to apatsyf
So many people have mentioned the issue with wrists. I think I’m keeping that in check for my own wrists by using blocks.
However, I recently was signposted to these “yoga wrist buddies” (see pic), which are designed to take the angled-weight from our wrists,
I’ve never tried them, and YWA does never mention using blocks to relieve the angles or wrists. But I have a feeling that this is due to safety concerns, as blocks can slip depending on type of mat one has.
But these might be a solution, although they are annoyingly not cheap.
There is also the option of using floor based grips. I have used those and I’ll look out for a pic.
I found the post with some floor standing grips: healthunlocked.com/strength... see picture in the middle. These were cheap (charity shop) but worked well when I started yoga.
Thank you. I will have a look at those..... oh dear, missed today's practise - later once my dinner has gone down. Had visit from son just as I was about to do it and then forgot!! And not even a running day 🤣
I'm with you on this one. I have to move my foot as far forward as possible and then manually move it a bit more by which time Adrienne is onto the next move!!
Exactly that! And by the time I've managed to get my foot far enough forward on one side and lift my knee into a high lunge on the other it's practically tomorrow!
I haven't done day 7 yet, but I did day 6 yesterday. I didn't do all the reps but was a bit confused as afterwards I didn't feel like my core muscles felt it. Until I woke up this morning and tried to move! My belly is so sore!
CBDBAdministratorGraduate Gold in reply to Fiadh79
Day 7 done! It was hard to do this after dinner 🤣🤣 but hubby and I muddled through it. But we both loved the ending breathing section, and hubby, who always has said that the sitting cobblers pose is uncomfortable, for the first time sat very relaxed after that breathing section.
day 8 is exactly what it says ift is gorgeous I am so RELAXED..I am definitely enjoying this year ..last year I was tense and looking at my watch to see when it would end this year the sessions are going so fast and I am so calm....LOVE it
Done day 8 and I loved it too. Very relaxing which was good as I did my Pilates class this morning so didn't start the day with yoga and was wondering if I'd be able to raise the energy. Was determined not to miss a day and really grateful that it wasn't too much of a challenge!
Oh! Looks like I did the wrong day 7 yesterday cos I'm sure mune was called Nourish 😍 🙈🙈🙈🙈🙈I better get up and find the one I should have done! Maybe I'll do that now and save today's 'Relax' til just before bed!
oh bother! Due to problems Monday, didn’t do Day 7. Then saw reviews for Day 8 and thought that I could do them both tonight…but I underestimated how stuffed to the gunnels I would be after a fab Italian meal out with friends 🤦🏻♀️😬
Oh my goodness. Just done day 9. Reminded me so strongly of why I gave up last year. So much I couldn't do. Not feeling great for some reason this morning so that probably didn't help but once again the planks, downward dogs and moving into lunges were just too much for me and i kept getting very left behind. Looking for the positives: I turned up. I like the warrior poses. My cobra is always pretty good. I'm just going to let it go if I can. I can't remember who said to me on this forum years ago that there is no such thing as a bad run, it's all miles in the legs. Maybe I can take the same approach with yoga: it's all movement even if it's slow and clunky movement! In a little while I'm going to do run 4 of the nrc 10k plan. It's called the best ever run so that should perk me up!
i was definitely clunky too but I moved I liked and loved what i managed to do ...not exactly like Adrienne ..i loved the end bit though cant remember what she said it was but i loved it...I did it yes ..stroll on day 10
Sounds great! I've decided that what I need to do is to work out a different way of going from downward dog to a lunge. I can't manage the step forward so I just need to have an alternative. Funnily enough I can't remember what we did at the end but I do remember liking it!
i love this challenge so much its a shame that this might be her last year of doing this but I can find her others and do them next jan....I cant do the lunge thing either I have to stand and lunge maybe my arms are too short
I can’t do that either. I come down onto both knees (kind of tabletop) then move the relevant foot forward, (usually needing a bit of help from my hand!), then finally straighten the back leg. It’s very clunky!
I think I need to do the same. By the time I've tried to do it as adrienne does and faffed about putting it right I'm way behind. New strategy for tomorrow!
Loved Day 8 and Day 9, both done today as I had no time yesterday. This year’s Day 8 was lovely and I didn’t fidget like I do normally in those slower sessions. 🙏
Had a ton of fun with Day 9 too. Loved the transitions from Warrior 2 to high lunge and felt strong. Bit of a wobble on the first balancing side, but solid on the second. And it’s so much fun ending with Knocking on Heaven’s Door! 😅🥰
I've had to play catch up a couple of times last week. I found the first couple of days a bit "boring" not really the right word, but it felt like we were doing the same thing for several day. This week so far seems more interesting. Like others have said, I definitely felt day 6 when I woke up the next morning 😂
Loved knocking on heavens door at the end of today's session ☺️
Day 10 done. Although there was a lot here I can't really do I've realised that what is hard for me tends to be the transition between one posture and another so I've given myself permission to achieve that in any way I want and to focus on the posture when I get there. This means I don't spend so much time beating myself up and every now and then I get a tiny glimpse of improvement! Long run for the 10k plan tomorrow but as it's the first week I don't think it's very far!
That's good. It took me ages to get the hang of the transition from downward dog to lunge, and it isn't important! I still don't do it (don't even attempt it) if I feel like I don't have the time or energy to focus on it. I just go onto my knees and move my feet into the right place, then get into the lunge. Also I made a complete mess of the transitions into pigeon today (day 11). Once I got there it was good though!
There is no need to beat yourself up!
CBDBAdministratorGraduate Gold in reply to Fiadh79
👍🏽
Yeah, I love pigeon for a good deep glutes-stretch, which I often need because of my rowing. But annoyingly my toes sometimes cramp up, and I have to flex them, which changes the pose a bit.
The long run was good thanks! It was only 4k as this is the first week of the 10k plan but I deliberately ran in a slow and relaxed way with the aim of finishing with more, rather than less, energy. And it worked!!
I’m already feeling some improvement and am always amazed how fast one can experience the improvement.
Which poses do I feel I have improved already? Upward dog ; I feel my innards and stomach muscles are getting to be more flexible), warrior poses are more stable, and rolling as lowly down into corpse pose has improved massively since a year or so, when I tended to “FLOPPP” down, whereas now I slowly “t h u n g k” down.
I did the same as Gwenllian1 you the right knee fwd thing isn't possible so I stand up and get into position... Saying that I enjoyed it and it was a fast session... Very enjoyable.... Can't wait for day 11😊
I enjoyed it too although it was perhaps a bit too fast for me here and there but I am finding that getting into position in an easier way makes the whole session flow better!
Day 11 was amazing! I did it after my run and it was perfect for getting into my hips, and stretching my hamstrings. Also love a little foot rub!
I did day 10 before a long day at work yesterday and really enjoyed that one too. One of the things I like about following these programmes is that it forces me to not always choose the easy practices! I can't remember much specific about day 10, just remember feeling good!
Loved Day 11 yesterday. So stretchy and relaxing. I’d done a live class in the morning too, so I’m happy Adriene was kind 🙏 Will be doing Day 12 before PR in a little while. 🧘♀️
Agree completely- the focus on the midline was a really good way of thinking about it. I was pretty wobbly in places though! Doing the twisted lunge thing.
CBDBAdministratorGraduate Gold in reply to Fiadh79
Yeah, twisted lunge thing looks a bit different with my short upper body, but it still felt good!
I caught up again by doing both Day 11 and 12 and now feel very proud of myself, as well as chilled and relaxed!
I do have a problem with often getting cramps in my pointed toes, if I put weight on them, so often have to flex them. (In pidgeon pose for instance, or upward dog) . I seem to remember this improved when last I did daily yoga, but not sure.
Still here, still going at the Red January in conjunction with it, Thank goodness for the yoga, the weather here has meant much outdoor activity is either not happening or brief!
Day 13. Good start to the day. I can't always do the yoga first thing. A couple of days a week I have other commitments which mean I do it later in the day. After nearly two weeks of doing this I'm finding that I really like starting the day with yoga. Might have to get up earlier on my busy days!
Still here. Only had to play catch up once this week. I loved days 10, 11 and 12. Day 13 was a sneaky one ☺️ all lovely and relaxing then some core work thrown in at the end
caught up with day 13 last night. I’m adding this to my favourites! Yes there was sneaky core work at the end…but it was all lying on back, so no kneeling. Loved that it was slow, so for once I could focus on the breathing…and properly breathe out with pulling in the core. So often on the upright flows my breathing suffers…obviously I’m breathing 😬 but it’s not focused…if you get my meaning.
My only problem is I can’t ‘relax’ my neck, so I support my head with a pillow for supine work. I’m ok when you have hands behind your head for the support…but I struggle when your hands are behind your leg, and then you’re meant to peel your head up. Perhaps it’s my lack of strong core that’s putting the strain on my neck 🤷🏻♀️
…oh…and I definitely felt my core had a workout when I got up this morning! 😉
Nice. I somehow have reverted to evening yoga, so am in awe of those getting to the mat first thing in the morning.
(That was my preferred yoga time a year ago, but somehow it has changed. I think it was due to having only partial heating for a year, so the house was always coldest in the morning)
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