I know last week I discussed an app called FitOn, however I chose another app to get started with called Yoga; Stretch Bend Sweat. I will be using this app for a week while I have a free trial.

To begin, the app asks questions to get to know you in order for it to create workouts that are suitable to your needs and abilities. I put in that I was a beginner with yoga (because I am) despite my dance background and barre workout history. I told the app that I wanted to focus on strength, mindfulness and relaxation with a couple workouts a week for about 20-30 each session.

The app showcases all of the yoga poses in the Pose Library. It has images, a description of each pose and a video of a person demonstrating the poses. This is a useful tool for me to familiarize myself with some poses and practice before I begin my workouts.

My first couple of workouts I found were semi-relaxing. It felt good to take the time in my busy day for just myself without distractions. I found the transitions from pose to pose shaky. Maybe this was just me not used to some of these poses but I didn’t feel coached into how to move from pose to pose with flow. As a retired dancer, I like flow in my body movement. Throughout the workout, there is someone talking with relaxing and motivating music. It shows images of each pose instead of video. With my background of dance I find it easy to look at an image and copy what is being done, however I know that this would be challenging for other people to imitate what is being shown without a video on how to get there. In order to have steady flow from pose to pose, I think I would benefit from video instruction so I can learn how to move from pose to pose instead of just getting there. Maybe I don’t understand what yoga is supposed to be like but I think there needs to be more flow than what I am practicing.

Anyways… I am looking forward to exploring this app further before I move on to some others, including the FitOn app. I would like to see if I can find some video instruction too to compare to what I have been practicing this week.

Thanks for tuning in!

Today is the day that I am beginning my journey with yoga!

Before we begin I will give you some background about myself. I danced for 18 years of my life, I enjoy fitness classes of barre and spin, I am a new mom and am looking to get started with my postnatal fitness journey. I have always thought about how I would enjoy yoga. Not only is it proven to reduce stress and be good for mindfulness, but it it is good for gaining core strength and flexibility. It is time I do a little something for me at home as my baby naps throughout the day.

I want to create a realistic goal for myself of how often I wish to practice yoga and what I am hoping to gain from this experience. It is my goal to practice yoga 2-3 times per week. Throughout this time I hope to gain flexibility and spend these yoga sessions with mindfulness (not thinking about life, baby, and not getting distracted with my device). I would like theses yoga sessions to bring me a healthy way of giving back to myself through exercise and reducing stress.

So now I begin my first steps… I am not jumping into a yoga session right away. I am spending some time researching yoga apps/websites that I think will suit my needs as a beginner in yoga with sessions of about 30 minutes. I was told by another classmate that the FitOn app is really great, free to students and has lots of great workout videos (including yoga). I have created an account with FitOn and am excited to give it a try. This is the only site I have created an account with so far. I look forward to updating you all next week as I begin my journey with yoga.