Maintaining regular exercise can be difficult—doing this at home can even seem impossible.
I often start a workout program at home and give it up after a week or less. This is because of discouragement, insecurity, running out of time, or simply getting sick of it.
Maybe you yourself have tried workouts at home during this time of quarantine and can relate.
For me, I usually turn on a video or follow a program from Pinterest. In the end, this simply puts my body through the motions of a bunch of different exercises for better “results”. I watch ripped, gorgeous people do the workouts, which leaves me feeling worse than I started.
Fitness can often be intertwined with a toxic view. Our society glorifies a hardly-attainable body type, especially for women. Many fitness instructors and gurus who need to make a profit play into this.
Perhaps this is where my bad exercise experiences have come from: going into it from a place of wanting to “fix” what I looked like.
I cannot tell you how many times I would be doing a fitness video and had the instructor unnecessarily focus on appearance, weight, or “results”. This brought an unneeded element of self-criticism into my workouts that made it more difficult to feel good about my body and what it was doing.
This is why, when I was looking for a new workout a few years ago and found Yoga with Adriene on YouTube, I was totally drawn in.
Photo by Kelsa Katzfey ’21
Yoga with Adriene
Yoga with Adriene emphasizes body positivity and getting more out of your time on the mat rather than just looking skinnier or more toned.
Her motto is “find what feels good,” which sounds a little silly, but it has had a strong impact on me. She encourages viewers not to focus on what they want to change about their bodies, but on working with their bodies to move in a way that’s connected and fun and feels good.
Yoga may seem intimidating for people to try, but I find her teaching style to be approachable and easy to follow. As a person who has always tended to be clumsy and not the most athletic, I was able to follow along and get the hang of the poses she taught.
During this time of being at home, there is a lot of stress. I find Yoga with Adriene to be a fun way to let that go. Working out alongside her videos gives me a chance to move and let go of stress while building strength and flexibility.
Interested in giving it a try?
She has posted regularly for years and has diverse content that can apply to almost every person’s needs and abilities. She also makes monthly calendars with a theme that have a video for each day of the month.
Every January, for instance, she also makes a 30-day yoga journey where a new video is posted every day and viewers are encouraged to follow along, whether you get through them in “30 days or 365 days”.
Not only are her calendars fun to follow along with or reference when you are not sure which video you want to do, but also they bring out the Yoga with Adriene community. Thousands of people are doing the same practices every day and following each other’s journeys.
Want to try out a couple of videos? Here are five of my go-to videos:
5. Cozy Yoga
Adriene recently created a playlist called Yoga for Uncertain Times. This playlist has a mix of relaxing and strength-building practices that are really fun and useful.
Hopefully, as you are at home during this time of social distancing, you will be able to take care of yourself holistically through the Yoga with Adriene channel and by other means. Get some exercise, feel nourished, extend grace to yourself, and stay in a positive state of mind.
Photo by Kelsa Katzfey ’21
Stay healthy, Warriors!
– Victoria Anderson
