Whether you are looking to start doing yoga or looking out for something new to try, here is a simple list of what I use for my yoga at home practice and has given me real beneficial results.
My journey with yoga started when I was pregnant with my eldest child. I was about 7 months along and I experienced the worst back pain I ever had in my life. Being the researcher that I am, I was led to do some simple yoga poses such as the downward dog. Almost instantly and to my disbelief, the terrible pain that I suffered for days was gone instantly by doing some basic yoga poses for about 5 minutes or so within a day span. And that, to me, was magic.
From then on, I looked at yoga in a different light. Although yoga encompasses a deep and wide scope of knowledge. I began to look at it as something that gives me relief, ease and energy.
Yoga at Home
This is the very first yoga app that I used. 8 years ago, I bought it via one-time payment of 3.99 cad. Now they have upgraded into a monthly subscription type, but they add more content than ever and more yoga categories are now available in the app. Yoga studio covers a wide range of yoga routines with levels from beginner to advance. The classes are categorized into easy, intermediate and advance and are also grouped according to duration ranging from ten minutes to 1 hour.
The classes are also grouped into the kind of body benefits you will be working on namely flexibility, strength, and a combination of both. You can easily choose, any time, the kind of class that you want to practice depending on how long you want it to be, the level of difficulty, and the kind of “work-out” you are looking to achieve. Overall this is a very good yoga at home app. The advanced levels are really advance, with headstands and all. But this app is generally a very friendly one for all levels.
I love the soothing voice in the videos and subtle background music. The yoga videos are straight yoga and no talks, so if you are one who likes to go straight into the routine without any chitchat, definitely try yoga studio. The thing with Yoga Studio is that sessions can feel a little serious after a while so I like to mix things up depending on my mood. That is the reason I have this list, so read on.
Tara Stiles is the owner and founder of Strala Yoga. Strala yoga offers online yoga and in-person yoga. Their online yoga can be paid via a monthly or yearly subscription. What I am familiar with is Tara Stiles’ Youtube Yoga channel. They are free and Tara has a lot of yoga videos she has done over the years.
Tara’s style is soft and easy. Her videos are not so lengthy that you can find 5, 10 and 15 minutes videos if you want a quick yoga session. Tara’s videos go straight into the yoga routine as well. There’s a little bit of talk here and there but overall, she goes straight into the poses, and that makes her videos perfect for busy people who want a quick yoga at home. Tara’s yoga style combines grace and effort. While she asks that you use only what you need and relax the rest of your body, you will definitely feel the grind and it’s enough to make you sweat. After each session with Tara, I feel alert, energetic and confident.
Just like Tara Stiles, Adriene Mishler of Yoga with Adriene has a Youtube channel with lots of free yoga videos that you can do at home. She has lots of yoga routines with many different themes, naming them after the specific result that you aim to target. She has “Let it Go Yoga, “Ocean Flow Yoga”, “Yoga for Neck and Shoulders”, “Yoga for Tension Relief” and so much more. The length of her routines ranges from 10- 60 minutes, , so there is a lot for you to choose from depending on your allotted time.
She also has founded the yoga online community called Find What Feels Good. It is a paid subscription and this app is a vast library of yoga routines, meditations, and vlogs from Adriene herself. Adriene has built a fun and supportive community of yogis. I think this is mainly because Adrien’s style of yoga is fun, light and very approachable. Practicing with her on video is like doing yoga with a friend. She can be chatty in some videos and it is actually nice that she takes the seriousness out of yoga making it very light and relatable. If you like the idea of being a part of a yoga community, the FWFG community is a good one. And I love the fact that Adriene has a very simple and down to earth approach to yoga without losing its very essence.
I think that aside from the physical benefits, Adrien is able to touch people internally thru yoga practice, enabling them to cultivate kindness, joy, ease and acceptance within while maintaining a light and simple approach in doing so.
Behind Boho Beautiful is a wife and husband tandem namely, Juliana and Mark Spicoluk. They have a Youtube channel with a rich library of yoga videos for free. The yoga videos are mainly done by Juliana, and her style is more like a fusion of yoga and pilates but they are very much diversified in that she has some flowy routines, hard-core and some gentle routines. The routines range from 10 minutes to 50 minutes.
If you are looking for a more “work-outy” type of yoga, Boho beautiful is perfect for you. Although they have lots of beginner yoga videos, a vast number of their routines specifically targets working out your body. They will make your heart race and your body sweat, but she always has this gentle reminder to breathe, and that the breath should always remind you to be present with your intention in your practice.
I use Boho Beautiful any time I need to feel bad- ass, strong and confident and whenever I need a good shaking after being idle for a long time.
So there! I hope that you try one of these if you are new to yoga. These have definitely made me love yoga more and more. I swistch between each of them, depending on my mood. I am subscribed right now to the FWFG app, and I love it so much. It is my current favorite. If you have other apps or other yoga gurus you follow, please let me know so I can check them out too. Namaste!