Why has YogaToday’s Stay at Home Free Spring Yoga Challenge been the antidote for my stay-at-home torpor and quarantine quandaries? The Spring Challenge is a curated selection of 10 online classes offered free of charge on the online platform YogaToday.com. One of the things that I’ve appreciated about the opportunity to engage with these classes is that they are completely free—I didn’t have to sign up for a trial, but after this experience, I’m ready for more.
In the midst of how the pandemic has put some parts of the world on pause, I’ve found myself doing web searches for islands I’ve not yet seen and going on mini vacations in my mind. I see what I’m wearing, where I’m walking, attempting to feel the breeze or sun on my skin and fill up my eyes with the new wonders around me. It’s my new guided meditation within my stay-at-home environs.
10 Classes in the Stay at Home Spring Yoga Challenge
One of the great things about these 10 classes in the Stay at Home Spring Yoga Challenge is that they completely fulfill my personal meditation and my desire for indulging in dreaming of beautiful destinations–while keeping up with my practice. The practices were all filmed in gorgeous outdoor locations around Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Arizona, Utah, and more. While I usually love the motivation of going to the studio and sharing the space with the camaraderie of fellow yogis, I’m having to find another source of motivation for movement. If an island jaunt is not on today’s itinerary, I can fill my screens with National Parks, canyons, stunning mountain views, and flower-filled fields for practice with Yoga Today. And I can easily imagine the wide-open spaces, expansive nature, and the grounded feeling of the earth beneath me.
I found that I could choose a practice by tuning into what I needed in the moment. Too much time binge watching TV on the couch? “Healthy Happy Hips” is a mellow solution that helped me hit the internal reset button. After hunching over to return endless texts messages? I found relief in “Backbending” with teacher Simon Park instructing a progressive series of poses that focus on spinal extension and decompression. “Creating Space” with Mona Godfrey helped me tune into subtleties. After indulging in that second helping of boxed mac n’ cheese (no judgment, please) “Yoga Sculpt Full Body Exhaust” with Bea Whitton combined invigorating standing poses with weighted repetitions.
No matter what is happening in our lives these days (or any day), we can use our practice to continue to be comfortable in an uncomfortable, changing world. “Embrace Change” with Sara Clark gave me the chance to flow through all the feels right now. Rather than take this time to learn a new language, it feels to me that self-healing is one of the best uses of my time. Amanda Botur offered a powerful reminder for this to “Explore Self-Healing.”
Engaging with all of these practices, I love the fact that if I wanna bust it out, I can do a hardcore practice, like that “Yoga Sculpt”. If I’m feeling inspired, I’ll go Pro and try a pose I’m usually nervous to try in a studio filled with expert yogis (the tripod headstand in “Embrace Change”). Feeling blue and introspective, I can find some relief in “The Power of Presence” with Neehsa Zollinger. Sarah Kline’s “Kundalini Kriya for Elimination” is invigorating with focus on the core and a bit of detox.
I also loved the opportunity to cross-train with a refresher of Pilates’ fundamentals. These classes not only help with the physical practices, but they’re great for managing to build resilience with encouraging words and inspiring thoughts to embrace change, heal, and “spring back” from setbacks.
Connecting through Practice
Connecting online has become the new normal and has reinvented our definition of the word “connection”. And instead of memes or getting sucked into political conversations or pandemic mania, why not spend time with others in the beauty of nature and let yourself go there, move with the breeze of your breath and connect with others in this new way. In this space of connection, a friend and I did a class at the same time – she was in LA while I practiced in Atlanta and chatted about it later over a glass of Rose. We’re reinventing connection in real time.
Learn More about YogaToday
YogaToday offers a comprehensive subscription service covering a range of yoga, perfect for everyone from newbies to pros, people looking for pain relief as well as prenatal yoga, and weight loss along with hardcore training. Its $15 a month and $119 for the year. But for this special time in history, you can take part in the Stay At Home Spring Yoga Challenge for free and connect with other yogis teaching and practicing in breathtaking locales. Bring new meaning to the term binge watching by creating a home yoga retreat, or practice one class per day for ten days at home alone or with your quarantine buddies. You can always skip a day. And practice any class in any order.
Yogatoday.com combines great yoga practices with beautiful visuals that make you happy and keep boredom at bay. Aside from the great classes, they also provide informative weekly Blog posts (archived on the site) to help support your lifestyle off the mat.
And, it’s accessible on multiple devices. If you have Roku, Fire TV or Amazon Fire, Apple TV, and Android or iPhone, you can find the YogaToday app.
Feel the breeze, move your body, take a shower and namastayathome.
Laurie Searle is an international yoga teacher leading workshops and trainings with Yoga and Fitness to Go and the Sphota Yoga school. She’s the creator of Lady Yoga, Superhero and F.E.D. Fight Eating Disorders, a 501(c)(3) in Los Angeles: YogaAndFitnessToGo.com.
Meet Lady Yoga and her Super Hero Wellness Team. Follow them on exciting adventures as they promote healthy living and well being. Learn fun easy ways to relax, stay fit and enjoy life. Watch out for their arch enemy Cookie Couch Man. The big meenie who tries to turn everyone into couch potatoes with his powers of persuasion.