Who Knew Yoga Could Be So Difficult?!

Who knew yoga could be so difficult? Definitely not me! My sister does quite a bit of yoga and I always bug her when she says its hard. Because yoga isn’t that hard right? It’s only yoga. Well, I was wrong. Yoga can be very hard and it’s like a full on workout ( I mean not really, but it seems like it to me).

I used two different tools to aid my learning journey this week. The first thing I had to do was download Chrome onto my computer as it seemed like there were very few options for  Safari. I’m actually glad I learned how to download Chrome because I am more familiar with it and like it way better than Safari. The first tool I used was Distraction Free YouTube. I found it very helpful because I wasn’t looking at at other yoga videos but focused on the one I had selected. Looking at other videos often makes me feel overwhelmed at all the different types of yoga there it. The second tool I used was Lightshot – it took a screenshot of my screen so I can share it with you guys! I had to crop my original image so I could insert it onto my blog, but you get the idea. The only thing on my screen is the YouTube video I had selected to watch!

Photo By Me

Distraction Free YouTube I think would be helpful in the classroom because students don’t get to see any other videos that may be distracting and they don’t see what I (as the teacher) may have looked up previously. I think ultimately Distraction Free YouTube would be best if it was implemented on all school computers, so when students are using the computers, they will hopefully get less distracted. It also cleans up the screen and makes it look that much more aesthetically pleasing. Within the SAMR model, Distraction Free YouTube fits into the Augmentation section. It’s not redesigning the task but helping as a tool to aid learning. It can also make YouTube easier to navigate without all the distractions.

I think Lightshot has many uses, especially in the today’s world where everything is online. Lightshot would be the most beneficial in online classrooms. When doing an online tutorial, the teacher can use Lightshot to screenshot their screen so the students can see what their screen should look like. An example would be navigating a website when trying to find something specific. Lightshot also fits in with the Augmentation section of the SAMR model. It is a great tool used to make learning more beneficial.

Now onto week 4 of yoga…….

I am finding it easier to manage my breath when holding poses. When I first started I really struggled with breathing, I would get into a pose that was hard to hold and I would forget to breathe. Seems silly, I know. Then I would release the pose and I would be gasping for air.  I did do a couple sessions that focused strictly on breathing and I think that really helped.

Photo By Me

Photo By Me

Out of the poses I did today, this one was my favourite. It was easy to hold and I could really feel it stretching out my hips. Ideally, I should be able to bring my legs all the way to my chest, but that was not happening! Maybe after a couple months of steady yoga I will be able to do it.

I chose to use YouTube this week, because it would work best with the tool extensions I had chosen, and it’s personally my favourite way of learning yoga. I didn’t do Yoga with Adriene this week, but instead I used this video of a different creator.

I didn’t like it as much as Yoga with Adriene because this video was a little more rushed and this instructor I felt like didn’t talk me through the poses as much. However, it was still a productive session of yoga.

Have a good week to everyone who is reading this,

Meghan.