Welcome to my second week practicing yoga!
I found this week was A LOT harder for me because flexibility is a huge weakness of mine.
I started out by taking some photos to show just how inflexible I really am. Yes, that’s as far as I can go… I know, It’s bad. Look at those knees bend! YIKES!!
I’m actually quite embarrassed to show these photos however, I am hoping to show some drastic improvements throughout the course of my yoga experience!
Since I really enjoyed following along with an instructor last week I wanted to try it again but with a focus on flexibility this time. With the advice from a fellow classmate, I found a youtube yoga channel called Sarah Beth Yoga. Sarah Beth has SO many free beginner yoga videos to choose from! I loved how she provided a wide range of yoga variations including yoga for stress, morning, night time, as well as yoga focusing on specific body parts. I will probably be using her videos again in the future. I was able to find a 20 minute full body flexibility yoga stretch and decided to give it a go!
All I had to say after that was OUCH!
What I liked most about this instructor is that I didn’t need to know what the pose was in order to do it. She walked me through step by step instructions on how to do each pose properly, which helped decrease the amount of times I had to break focus and watch to see how she did the pose.
With this video, I learned my most favourite pose to date: the sunflower pose! For this one, you start in a rag doll pose holding your elbows, then you slowly rise along your right side (inhale while you rise) until you are standing straight up with your elbows reaching the ceiling. Then you lower down on your left side (exhale while lowering). Then you switch directions-rise on left side lower on right. This one felt AMAZING on my sides and my lower back.
I also learned my least favourite pose: half camel. I was in some serious pain for this one. Because I didn’t have a yoga block I had to hold onto my ankle while trying to balance and do the stretch. Not only did the stretch hurt, but the extra pressure on my ankle made this pose extremely uncomfortable. I do not recommend.
Next weeks plans:
- Buy a yoga block
- Learn the basic yoga poses
- Record my yoga exercise on my apple watch and show you guys my summary
- Use the ‘Yoga’ app workouts
Help!
Vote for what I should do next week!
8 Comments
Ian Mansfield
Hi Alexandra!
From what I can see you are doing great 🙂 . I am also coming to terms with the fact that I’m not as flexible as I thought I was, and the balance on my right foot is even worse than I could’ve imagined. I felt kind of embarrassed at times just like you did filming myself doing yoga, but I just tell myself this is all new to me and give myself a pep talk if I start being too hard on myself. Just know that you are not alone if you find yourself struggling with certain things, I am likely feeling the same 🙂 . Keep up the good work! Talk to you soon.
Ian
Alexandra Crammond
Hi Ian,
Good for you for having the confidence to film your yoga sessions! I am not there yet but hopefully near the end I will! Thank you for the support, much appreciated!
Megan
Hey Alexandra! It is so cool to see other people taking on yoga for their learning project. I tried out the video you shared and it was definitely a challenge. I also realized that I was not as flexible as I thought I was so this is going to be and are that I am going to add to my personal goals for my learning project. Thanks for sharing and I look forward to coming back next week for another update!
Alexandra Crammond
Hi Megan,
Right, the video doesn’t look too hard, but once I actually joined with her I realized I am so stiff! I’m definitely going to have to mix in a flexibility yoga every week to make some major improvements! I’m glad you added it to your goals as well! Thanks for checking out my blog!
Mitchell
Hi Alexandra,
I loved this blog and I could really relate with you flexibility is not my strong suit either. It’ll take time but it will be worth it in the long run. I like how you set an action plan for next week and I look forward to see the collected data you have next week. Keep up the great work! ?
Alexandra Crammond
Hi Mitchell,
I agree, it’ll take some time but it will be worth it in the long run when I am in less pain and proud of my progress! Thanks for checking out my blog this week and if you haven’t already, don’t forget to vote for which type of yoga I should try out next week!
Logan Fettes
Hi Alexandra,
I find stretching before bed each night and right when you wake up is a great way to increase flexibility! I say this as my flexibility is also a very big weakness. Through my experience in sport, I have learned that a muscle is way more flexible and less prone to injury when it is activated. Because of this, I like to roll out before stretching or even do a sort of workout or activity beforehand.
Alexandra Crammond
Hi Logan,
That’s good to know, I should definitely try stretching before bed to see more improvement! I completely agree, muscles are less prone to injury when they are warm. I have a back injury that was a result of not being warmed up and ready for heavy lifting at work. Unfortunately with my job I was unable to get warmed up beforehand. Yoga has seemed to help relieve some of this pain!