I’ve done yoga for several years now, but I’m very inconsistent. There are times when I do a lot at home, or go to class regularly, and sometimes I don’t do it at all for months.
Yoga is something I love, so why don’t I practice consistently? Time, of course, is a big factor. Committing to a 90 minute class every week (or more) is challenging, and doing it at home requires a lot of self-discipline.
This year, I’m striving to cultivate a strong habit around yoga. There are lots of free / cheap yoga options on the internet, and I’m trying to take advantage of that at home. My company recently also offered to pay for all employees to attend yoga at a local studio. I’ve gone twice so far, and want to continue to go to a class weekly.
Some of my friends have told me they hate yoga. I don’t get it. I’ve been to classes that I didn’t love and some that I outright hated (I’m looking at you Bikram yoga), but even when I hated it, I still felt better after doing it. There are so many styles of yoga, and many various teaching styles, I think there’s something for everyone, if only they can find the right match.
As part of my new yoga habit, I signed up for an aerial yoga class. I went once before and really liked it, but never went again because the time / location was a challenge. I live a lot closer to the aerial yoga studio now, though, so hopefully now I will be able to go more often. If you’re not familiar with aerial yoga, check out this video.
I don’t do a lot of product reviews, but since I’m on the topic of yoga, I should mention how much I love my yoga mat. When I first starting going yoga, I thought all yoga mats were pretty much the same. I bought mine at Target for under $20. All I cared about at the time was the color (purple).
After using that mat for years, I started to notice how much my knees, shins, and wrists hurt during and after class. At home, I used it in my bedroom, on carpet, and the softer surface under the mat seemed to prevent some of the pain.
I was at the point where I didn’t want to do yoga or go to yoga class because of the pain. This was probably one of the points where I just didn’t do much yoga for a while. Then I started noticing the variety of mats other students in class had, and the variations in thickness. I decided it was time to invest in a new, better yoga mat.
After doing my research, I settled on the Manduka Pro Mat. It’s 6mm thick and comes with a lifetime guarantee. It’s expensive, maybe the most expensive mat on the market, but I was convinced I needed a thicker mat and this one seemed like the best of the best.
The first time I used it, I felt like it didn’t have as much grip as I was used to, and I felt like I was sliding around more in down dog. The cushioning was amazing, and my knees didn’t hurt in low lunges or pigeon pose. Once broken in, the sliding went away, and now, I can’t imagine ever using the other mat on a regular basis.
I’ll keep you posted on how my yoga habit works out this year. So far, I’ve been to yoga class twice, signed up for a class next week and the following week, and I have done yoga at home 2-3 times per week.
Now if only I had some cute photos of Roxy doing yoga to end with. Unfortunately, it’s almost impossible to get a photo of her when she’s on my back while I’m trying to do cat/cow or sitting on my stomach while I’m doing a bridge pose.