UKC

Hello UKC, hoping the collective wisdom can point me in the right direction.

Does anyone know of any quality resources for a daily 15-20min yoga practice?

I'm not a complete beginner, having done some Ashtanga intermittently over the years. However I've found I'm really poor at regularly committing the time needed to make real advances, and have more or less held steady for the last couple of years. I'd like that to change, and am thinking that a shorter routine that I can realistically commit to daily, will be of more benefit.

For a while I used David Swenson's 'Short Forms' routines. These are an espresso form of Ashtanga taking main elements of the Primary Series, and distilling them into 15, 30 and 45 min routines. With the two shorter routines I found these ultimately did little to move me forward in key areas (specifically shoulders and abducted hips).

Ideally:

- it would be free or a one-off fee, I'd prefer not to have a monthly sub.
- it would be complete from a range of motion point of view.
- it would allow progressive increases in difficulty in order to accommodate and expand on improvements.
- it would have a realistic approach to variability, allowing an easier routine if tired.

I will do the routine in the morning, after my daily cardio (indoor rowing). I already do this in addition to a number of different activities, so the last point of variability is really important to me.

In reply to Murderous_Crow:

Try the free Down Dog app for Android/ios.

You can set how long you want your practice to last and can choose from 5 difficulty levels from beginner to advanced (which is really quite tough in my opinion). It then creates a full practice complete with pictures/animations, spoken instructions on form and optional music. If you need further instructions on a particular pose, there are links to more in depth videos for most poses.

The practices vary every time so it will cover the full range of poses. If you find a practice that you particularly enjoyed, you can save it so you can keep coming back to it in the future.

Being able to set how long your practice lasts is great. Sometimes I'll set it to a full practice somewhere around 90 minutes. Other times, I'll set it to a quick 12 minute practice if I'm more time starved or just want to stretch after a long day at the crag.

The free version is so extensive that I have never felt the need to pay for the premium version. The premium version gives you the chance to set a particular focus for a practice such as backbends or hip openers etc. I just use the free version and use the save practices feature to keep a few practices with particular focuses. Generally, I let the app choose my practice though for a more rounded experience.

Downsides are that you need to have an Internet signal or WiFi and I have been told that the woman has an annoying voice (I never noticed).

In reply to Murderous_Crow:

The "ClimbFlow" series is based on a class that ran (may run again?) at The Arch climbing in London. It was Yoga targeted at climbers needs - core strength, flexibility, and a bit of balance work. It was run by a good comp. climber Tiffany Soi.

There is a 10 min - do each day video : youtube.com/watch?v=T05rCS4vCzk&

In reply to SDM:

That sounds great. Net connectivity may be an issue, but not too often.

In reply to Malarkey:

Brilliant, those three things are exactly what I want to address. Will check the videos out.



...Any further suggestions are very welcome.

In reply to Murderous_Crow:
this free series of videos is pretty good for something you can do each day, is designed to be done daily so has an easier session every 5 videos or so, the core and shoulder focused days have been really helpful. (warning, there is a bit of 'spiritual' stuff at the end of each video, but it's pretty minimal) youtube.com/watch?v=mfUcZY3EZvY&

In reply to elbeanio:

Thank you.

In reply to Murderous_Crow:

I dont know about Ashtanga, but I like Yoga with Adriene (partly because I find her reasonably down to earth).
Lots of free content including a 31 day course you can follow:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFKE7WVJfvaHW5q283SxchA

In reply to Murderous_Crow:

I would go to classes rather than using online videos/apps etc.

To get the best benefit and reduce developing incorrect postures precise body positioning is necessary. This can be difficult to get right using videos for instruction.

In reply to Y Gribin:

That link appears to be broken, however a quick Google took me straight to her YT page; there's a dedicated playlist on the front page entitled 'yoga for busy people' or something, looks good. Will do a couple as I try to find what works for me from all the excellent suggestions made.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLui6Eyny-UzxL6NjFMYD5-vESNii8_aLi

Luke

In reply to Skip:

Absolutely. When I began Ashtanga I found taking classes invaluable. I haven't been to one for a while, but you're right; I'll certainly review my practice periodically with a good teacher.

In reply to Murderous_Crow:

There's actually a ton of yoga vids on Youtube. Many are made by professional teachers in all different styles and different lengths for beginners to more advanced stuff.

Some of the popular ones are:

• Yoga with Adrienne
• Yoga with Tim
• Ester Eckhart
• Kassandra
• Neil Keller

and many more

There are also web sites with more vids like https://www.doyouyoga.com/ though some you have to pay for.

In reply to stp:

Yoga with Adrienne is well GUD - and she has recently released a climber specific guided practice.

BB

In reply to Murderous_Crow:

I tend to use free vids off Youtube, though you have to sift through some deeply irritating Yoga princess videos.

Or Yoga Studio as an IOS app. It's pretty good a refreshingly free from - youtube.com/watch?v=IMC1_RH_b3k&

In reply to Murderous_Crow:

Yoga with Adrienne on YouTube.

In reply to SDM:



Thanks, installed this last night and very impressed

In reply to Murderous_Crow:

Doyogawithme.com is pretty good and has a fair amount of free stuff.

Al

In reply to Murderous_Crow:

+1 for yoga with Adriene

In reply to Murderous_Crow:

Ive started this recently (3 weeks in of daily yoga...noticeably more flexible!)

Rather than going online I paid for a 1:1 session for a yoga teacher. It was great, not too expensive and she created a routine for me specifically around my inflexibilities and gave some great tips about some errors in my form.

In reply to Murderous_Crow:

+1 for yoga with Adriene.

Good teacher and has a nice approach and manner compared to lots of others (not too much chakra or 3rd eye gibberjabber and occasionally makes me laugh with her goofy Texas chat).
Dozens of sessions available and something to suit everyone - long/short; hard/easy; zoned; activity-based, etc.

I struggled to regularly find the time and effort required to attend local classes so this way of doing it suits me really well - pop the telly on and do a session whenever I have the time.

In reply to Murderous_Crow:

I highly recommend Tara Stiles - she has lots of good ten minute videos on YouTube. Nothing climber-specific but I find the hip opening one particularly helpful.