New Year's Resolutions: Update!

I have been doing yoga every day since I made my New Year's Resolutions. I've actually been doing about 45 minutes per day, instead of my minimum of 15, but I still do 15-minute sessions when I'm not feeling up to a big yoga commitment

One thing I've noticed is that lots of people who do yoga focus excessively on mastering new poses, and trying so hard to look experienced and talented at yoga. I feel like this is the opposite of what yoga is supposed to be.


Maybe I listen too closely to the new-agey advice the yoginis in my videos give me -- in smooth, superhumanly calm voices that dole out esoteric instructions like "breathe into your hips" -- but I'm pretty positive that yoga is about even-keeled, calm, focused, personal progress that focuses on building a strong foundation before moving to more difficult material, not competing to see who can do the best poses, or pushing yourself to do poses that are too advanced.

Just because you can manage to get yourself into a Viennese pretzel (just made that up...it may actually be a sex position, who knows), doesn't mean you're doing it safely or correctly. 

Anyway, I've really been enjoying doing yoga at home, because I think that in a group setting, the competitive, show-offy energy could be really frustrating for me. Maybe I'm being too pessimistic, and group yoga would blow my little cranky mind.

Now to keep up with it for the rest of the year. I can do it!

Favorite Beginner's Videos

Includes 2 segments: one is a 20-minute "energizing" (morning) session with Rodney Yee, and the other is a 15-minute "rejuvenating" (evening) session with Colleen Saidman. You can choose to listen to full instruction (pose instruction + inspirational instruction), or simply one or the other. It's a great, versatile DVD for anyone.

This video can be found on Netflix Instant Watch. It's a 45 minute yoga session. It will help put you to sleep, but that doesn't mean it's easy! It's main focuses are flexibility and strength.