YWA: April daily yoga thread getting onto the mat with a Spring in our step

[Sooverthemill]

Hello everyone. This is the April thread for those of us attempting a daily Adrienne practice. All welcome. Center, Move, true, even Kassandra we love them all!

@Sooverthemill thanks for thread! Looking forward to a new 30 days!

Thanks. I think I might try Home in April.

Hello. May I join?

I have done pilates in the past but I'm new to yoga and have just done 3 weekly in person classes. We now have a two week Easter break. I've really really enjoyed it.

I have found the yoga quite challenging as I've been surprised by how stiff I've become and the huge difference between my left and right side which was nowhere near as pronounced when I did pilates.

It's felt good though, a bit like a massage from the inside and I've found the breathing very relaxing.

I'm not sure where to start with a daily at home practise, other than being very aware that I'm a beginner and that I seem to have poor intuition wrt to positioning my body correctly (e.g. I'm not sure whether my back is straight, or knees are under hips without checking visually). Any advice would be very welcome.

@freckles20 welcome! Glad you have found us.

One option is to just.pick a different video to do each day. Adriene has a number of beginner videos here https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLui6Eyny-UzzWwB4h9y7jAzLbeuCUczAl I am pretty sure I started with the 20 minute video there. But any of them would be fine for you to get started. She also has a Foundations of Yoga series - each video focuses on one pose where she explains the alignment.

Another option would be to do one of her 30 day series. I believe these are designed for all levels, but I know sometimes beginners find some of it a bit much. Though quite a few people started with Center earlier this year and enjoyed it a lot.

Whatever you decide to do just remember it doesn't matter if you have to rest or make adaptations. In terms of knowing if you're in the right position, I think that will come with time. Just get into the shape so it feels right.

@Weepingwillows12 I'm going to do Home as well!

@freckles20 please do join us! I suggest you start with CENTER which is the most recent of the 30 day challenges. It builds up very slowly and mindfully so you don't have any big surprises any day. They are also fairly short so feel achievable. All her 30 day challenges are excellent but I've found that the more recent ones ( say from true) are better designed to build on each day. Personally I love seeing my progress day by day. She also has a beginner series but you don't get the progression in the same way as they are stand alone. Everyone on here is very friendly and happy to answer questions and offer support. I'm utterly rubbish at the moment as I'm recovering from a nasty virus and a shoulder injury but I do my best. Until recently I did practice every single day and it's saved my sanity ( and my hips)

Joining too!

Thanks for the new thread @Sooverthemill
I’m going to be doing the original Yoga with Adrienne for April.

Welcome to the new joiners. I started on the daily yoga last February and I’ve got so much out of it.

Thanks for the new thread. Two weeks off now so I have no excuse! I’ll be doing Center again I think. Ease my self back into it.

Good timing, I am determined to get back into a daily practice in April -did a little tonight and my flexibility is definitely not as good as January. I can't quite decide between Move and Home, probably Move due to the shorter sessions.

Hello! Would love to join this too. I do in-person yoga once a week and it really helps my arthritic hip! In between, my hip starts to cease up again so daily practice would be much better. Are these yoga videos on YouTube completely free?

@Sooverthemill love this would love to join! Be a good motivator

Yogawithadriene or YWA is free. You can search on YouTube or you can search on her web site https://yogawithadriene.com/
Click on the menu then free yoga videos. I like the 30 day courses but you can search for anything

If you enjoy her yoga videos you can donate but you don't have to.

Also this page shows individual poses if you want detailed guides on how to do a particular pose

https://yogawithadriene.com/free-yoga-videos/foundations-of-yoga/

Thank you very much for the warm welcome and suggestions. CENTER sounds like a good place for me to start so I'm going to begin that tomorrow.

I hope that it's a habit that I can stick to.

@freckles20 Center is a good place to start. Hope you enjoy it!

@Loveandhappiness and @tax19 welcome! Glad you are joining us!

Thanks @Sooverthemill !

Thank you @Sooverthemill 🌷

Welcome @freckles20 @C1239 @Loveandhappiness and @tax19

This is a lovely gentle thread.

Day 1 of Home. Gosh it was long, but it was good to slowly go over the specific movements.

@Sooverthemill Thank you so much for the new thread! I had to stop yoga (yet again!) after my shoulder got bad yet again. I hope your's really starts to heal and that you feel better fast.

Part of the reason I keep injuring myself is my hyper mobility. I'm embarrased to say that I'm in my early 40's, plus I'm a health care professional...and it's taken me all this time to realise how much being hyper mobile affects me. (My excuse is that musculoskeletal stuff is not my specialty - I work in a jack-of-all-trades master-of-none one!) My hyper mobility didn't get picked up until I was in my thirties (knees first by a physio), and then I realised a few years back that not everyone's shoulders go in quite the positions mine do.

So...all that said, I'm going to be doing Center this month, but extremely slowly and mindfully. I naturally prefer a more active practice, but I have to admit, Center is just what I need right now, as it's slow enough for me to take the time to be really mindful about my joints. I'm also using some great resources on an app called the Zebra Club. It will probably take me more than a month to do it, but glad to be along for the journey with you all.

Morning All. I decided to try Move today. Lots of talking at the beginning and lots of tabletop and downward dog. I remember my wrists aching last year but they were OK this time round.

Thanks @Sooverthemill for starting a new thread and hello to everyone. Hope we can all enjoy a month of yoga.

I can't believe I've made it to April and done yoga every day. But you get into the routine, don't you?

This week had a bit of a streaksaver - I was completely knocked out by a bug and spent Tuesday in bed, but I felt stiff and started doing some lying down stretches and twists to ease it off a bit so decided to try a very short and gentle video (5 minutes!) and I think it did help.

I did root to rise from the April calendar this morning. I've got one day left of move and then might start working through one of the others using the same approach I used for move of mixing it in with other practices.

@SunUpSunDown ah so I recognise that! I think a few regulars have hyper mobility issues and my DD has hEDS. Yoga done carefully can help I know. Good luck

Thank you for the new thread @Sooverthemill
I will be starting my April practice once my lunch has digested a bit. I was going back through the 30 day archives and can't make my mind up. Some of the older ones have some very long sessions, 30-40 minutes but it might be good to do the occasionally longer practice. I may need to mix them up and do longer ones on days when I'm not doing other exercise or going into the office.
So, I think I will go right back to the beginning and give the OG series a go!

For those of you that do yoga regularly what benefits have you found from it? I’d love to make it a regular habit that I stick to.

Yes! I did find myself muttering "get on with it Adriene " after being in forward fold for what seemed like days. 😁