Al or Nothing @yogaal - Tumblr Blog

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the-exercist

the-exercist:

Types of Yoga:

Overview

Ashtanga

Hatha

Bikram

Vinyasa

Free Online Classes and Guides:

DoYogaWithMe

Curvy Yoga

Yoga Journal

YogaYak

YOME

Yoga Pose Glossaries:

Yoga Journal

Yoga Point

Mind Body Green

Yoga Glo

Yoga Challenges:

DoYouYoga

Sassy Yogi

Yogi Peach (and here)

Modifications for Accessibility:

Eyes Free Yoga

Curvy Yoga

BodyPositiveYoga

Sun Salutations for Plus Size: DeColonizing Yoga (*)

Chair Yoga: Spark People

Yoga for Menstrual Pain:

SassyYogi

YogaPoint

FitSugar

Yoga TX (*)

She Knows

Yoga for Bedtime/Insomnia:

Bedtime Yoga Sequence (*)

Morning Routine: Tara Stiles (*)

Dashama (*)

Ekhart Yoga (*)

Prevention: Bedtime Yoga

Ace Fitness

Yoga for Stomach Pain and Sickness:

Joanna Soh

Nadya Andreeva (*)

Yoga with Adriene (*)

Shape [Not a “detox”!]

LiveStrong

Yoga for Flexibility:

SassyYogi

Becky-Fitness: rebloggable version here

Flexibility and Range of Motion: Tara Stiles (*)

Flexibility Flow: Tara Stiles (*)

Active

PopSugar

Brittani Sponaugle

Yoga for Posture and Back Pain:

LiveStrong Woman: Tara Stiles (*)

Sarah Beth Yoga (*)

BodyPositiveYoga

Yoga Journal

Yoga for Runners:

SassyYogi

WalkJogRun

Brandon Hofer

Runner’s World (*)

Self

FitSugar

Active

Yoga as Cardio:

Runner’s World

Yoga with Adriene (*)

Buttkickin’ Power Yoga: Duncan Yoga (*)

Cardio Warm-Up: BexLife (*)

Purchase Yoga Equipment:

Overstock.com Buying Guide (What You’ll Need)

Gaiam

Manduka

HuggerMugger

Practicing Yoga Respectfully and Consciously:

Examining Power, Privilege and Oppression in Yoga Service

Why I Left Yoga

Yoga and the Exclusion of People of Color

The Difference Between Cultural Exchange and Cultural Appropriation

Is “Fitness Yoga” Cultural Appropriation?

The Yoga Debate

WARNING! Links marked with (*) will open directly into a video or gif.

–> This post has been updated and edited so that all links are now functioning again!

yogawithmayon

Yoga for the splits !

A non-exhaustive list of poses for hips and hamstrings.

lovekarel

Yoga for Stress

Yay! So I have had a bunch of these written down and now I am finally going around doing my guides and flows. I arranged it so it would somehow flow, it’s not perfect.

Also, yes, we all know yoga is pretty darn not stressful but these are some great poses to do when your stressed out and just need to find your breath and wind down.

Downward Dog - Ground your hands into the floor and engage your inner feet. Imagine a string at your tailbone, pulling it up and back. Take a few breaths here. Feel free to pedal your feet out and feel the stretch in your calves. This pose helps calm your brain.

Cobra - Spread your hands onto your mat close to your shoulders. Push up and elbows in. Press the top of your feet and your pelvic bone into the floor. Squeeze your shoulder blades together.

Child’s Pose - There are a few variations. I like to touch my big toes together, with knees open and stretch arms out. You can also keep your knees together and lay onto your thighs. Find what feels yummy to you.

Cat/Cow - Make sure your shoulders are directly above your wrists and your knees are right below your hips. Inhale on cow, lift your tailbone and your chest toward the ceiling. Exhale on cat, round your spine, head looking down. Do a few cycles of this. Do them slow and take deep breaths.

Sitting Forward Bend - Sit on the floor, if it is uncomfortable, sit on a pillow, lifting your tailbone up about an inch. Stretch forward, head down. Do not force this stretch. Reach to a comfortable place.

Plow - Roll onto your back, slowly bringing your legs up and over your head, with your toes touching the ground. Soften your throat. Stretch your arms onto the floor.

Happy Baby - Lie on your back, bend your knees to your belly. Reach to grab your toes. I like to wrap my arms around my legs and hold onto my feet. If it is difficult to reach your toes, grab a strap or a belt around your feet to help you reach. Rock side to side, close your eyes, breathe.

Reclining Bound Angle Pose - Bring the soles of your feet together, forming a diamond with your legs. Lay down carefully, arms out. Close your eyes and breathe. If it is uncomfortable, find a yummy position. Move your feet away from you until you are comfy.

I hope this helps you destress! They are very simple poses. You can easily do these when you wake up or if you need to wind down and want to sleep. You can do a few cycles of this. I like to take each pose with three deep breaths before moving on. If you find a pose particularly yummy, feel free to hang out there! (:

Mat: Manduka Black Mat PRO in Mod (Limited Edition) Extra LongWearing: Nike PRO Compression Shorts, unknown top, and Live Towards Love Energy Crystal Yoga Bracelet Stack

youtubeyoga-blog

“1A — YOGA TO LENGTHEN & STRENGTHEN THE LOWER BODY– 16 MIN”

Instructor: Sarah Beth Yoga

Difficulty of the poses/sequence: Beginner. She offers excellent instruction making it easy to follow along with. The most challenging posture in this video is Warrior 3.

The class: I wanted to do a class today, but didn’t have time for a long one, this was the perfect solution! The sequence was great, it flowed very well! Sarah offers wonderful cues and I felt like I could follow along without even looking up at the video. I enjoyed how the class began and ended with the same poses. I appreciated the simple music and liked that it didn’t overwhelm the class. Overall: I loved the class. I think Sarah is a great instructor! <3

My review on one of Sarah’s other video: Bedtime Yoga Practice - 15 min Sarah Beth Yoga’s tumblr - here’s her page!

Yoga Challenges!

If you're looking to start yoga, especially a home practice, I really recommend starting a yoga challenge! Yoga challenges are great because rather than having to come up with your own flows or trying to decide what Youtube video to pick next, it's all laid out for you. My favorite challenge is the 30 Day Yoga Challenge with Erin Motz. Erin is fun and easy to watch especially for a beginner. Each video is only about 20 minutes long and includes a full sequence with detailed instructions and modifications.

#yoga #yoga challenges #erin motz

I mean, I don't really have a clever caption for this except maybe please don't mind my stomach.

rachaeldee

Yoga for hip openers

hello friends! ever since these photos of me started making the rounds on tumblr, the most common question i get asked is “what are hip openers?” so i thought i would make my next guide focused on that. hip openers are poses that help to loosen the muscles that connect to the hip joints. remember that these muscles are often very tight and be careful not to overstretch yourself. loosening the hips happens very very gradually. incorporating some of these poses into your yoga practice can help to achieve both front and side splits!

ps. i tried to put these in a coherent order so that you can flow through them with one leg, then go back and repeat the flow using the opposite leg!

standing wide-legged forward fold - put your feet wider than shoulder width and bend forward while keeping the back as straight and flat as possible. you should feel the stretch in your hamstrings - hold for a few breaths, then rotate around to downward facing dog.

lizard pose - start in downward facing dog and raise one leg up behind you, then swing it through to place your foot next to your hand, on the outside. keep your front knee at a 90 degree angle and sink into a deep lunge, with your back knee on the floor and leg extended. you’ll feel this one in your back leg’s hip flexor (along your hip crease) and also deep in your front leg’s hip joint.

pigeon pose - from lizard pose, move your hand to the outside of your front foot, keep the knee bent, and pull your foot across so it’s near the opposite hand. bend the knee as generously as you want - the closer it is to being parallel with your body, the deeper the stretch. rest here, or go down to your elbows, or even lay forward as you advance in the pose. hold for 5 breaths.

seated wide-legged forward fold - extend both legs wide as far as is comfortable. rest here, and then bend forward with a straight back. i also like to stretch by reaching toward one foot and then the other.

head-to-knee forward bend - extend one leg and bend the other at the knee. gently bring your head to your knee while keeping your back straight and your core engaged. if you can’t get down far, just keep your back straight and hold for 3-5 breaths.

wind relieving pose - come on to your back, bend one knee and interlace your fingers on your shin bone, about two inches below the knee. pull gently toward your body, keeping your back flush with the ground and engaging your core. you can also rotate your knee gently here.

happy baby pose - bend legs and grab for the inside of your heels, and try to keep your back completely flush with the mat - this will give you the deepest stretch in this pose! you can also roll a bit to massage your lower back.

reclining goddess pose - release legs from happy baby and let them fall open to the floor. try to keep your lower back close to the ground and put arms wherever is comfortable. relax here and appreciate your fantastic body!

hopefully this helps to answer some questions about hip openers! these the poses i focused on when i was trying to achieve the splits, but having loose hips can help with all kinds of other yoga poses and can also release a lot of tension from your lower back. happy hip-opening! :)

mat: Manduka Pro Black Sage

clothes: sports bra - lululemon flow Y IV, shorts - nike, hoodie - lululemon scuba, socks - smartwool

Yoga Nidra

Yoga Nidra - or "yogic sleep" as it's sometimes called - is a type of state that people can achieve during meditation. Now, my experience with yoga nidra might not be perfect, because I actually did fall asleep during the practice which is one of the things you must try NOT to do.

The purpose of yoga nidra is to find a place of stillness in our terribly busy world. Again, your must strive to not fall asleep during this practice which can be one of the hardest things, because it is so. relaxing.

If you want to try it for yourself, here's a Youtube video to start with!

#yoga nidra yogic sleep

yogipeach

Beside that helps you in your practice, keeping a journal has mental health benefits. How can this be possible? Because if you feel frustrated in your practice you can write down in your journal, if you’re happy, if you finally reached wheel pose then you write down and this will make you don’t keep those feelings bottled up, you’ll be free and you’ll advance in your yoga practice. How can I start a Yoga Journal?… [continue reading]

My Favorite Pose

Out of the hundreds and hundreds of yoga poses there are, my favorite would have to be Cobbler's Pose. It's the most relaxing pose because it's not inherently difficult, but there are sooooooo many benefits that you gain! If I don't have the time to do a full sequence, I always try to open my hips by doing at least thirty seconds of this pose. Usually, it's when I'm sitting in my bed on the computer!

Here's a handy picture from Yoga By Candace to better understand Cobbler's pose!

#yoga #cobbler's pose #yoga by candace

So, I work two jobs where I have to stand for 90% of the work. Basically my legs end up feeling like they're going to fall apart afterward. Here's some yoga videos that i use to help break up the tension in the legs!

After Work Treat Yoga for Tight Hips

20 Minute Deep Hip Opening Yoga | Level 1

Yoga for Flexibility | Hamstrings

15 Minute Yoga for the Low Back & Legs

After Work Wind Down Yoga

#mini masterpost #yoga #yoga hip openers

From February to November - A Reflection

So, when I started practicing yoga, I had two main goals:

be able to do a headstand

be able to do the splits.

As you can see from a few posts ago, I completed my first goal! It's one of the craziest feelings to actually be able to do something that looks IMPOSSIBLE in the pictures just from trying (and falling) every day for like a month.

The second goal I can feel just within my reach. I've never been flexible enough to do the splits, even after ten years of ballet. My hips were basically like, "LOL NOPE NICE TRY."

But after months and months of practicing, I'm seeing improvements.