Day 15 of 30 Home Yoga Challenge during Covid-19

magicmonk (73)in #life • 5 years ago

Hello everyone! I have now been doing yoga every day for 15 days. Below is the video documenting my day 15 yoga practice.

What is the 30 day Yoga Challenge?

This is a challenge I started for myself. Doing yoga every single day for 30 days. It doesn't matter how many minutes you do it for. You can also break it up into multiple sessions per day, however you must practice at least once a day. Depending on your fitness / concentration level, you can start with however many minutes you like. I started with 10 minutes on my first day and now I am on 30 minutes.

Why is this a challenge? What is hard about it?

The first time I practiced yoga was a few years ago. I have not improved a lot after all these years, primarily because I'm not naturally flexible like some people are. If I stop practicing for a few months, I go right back to where I started. Practicing yoga also requires a lot of persistence. Even just getting through 10 minutes of it requires a fair amount of self discipline, let alone years of consistent practice.

What does doing Yoga have to do with Covid-19?

Since Covid-19, many places are shut, and you are most likely forced to stay home by your government. Staying home reduces the chance of infection - it's the best chance we have against the virus right now.
Sport is very important for our health. You can't just not exercise because you can't go outside. Even if you are still allowed to exercise outside by your government, it's still safer to do it at home due to the virus.
If you don't have a big space in your house, or if you don't have a home gym, then you don't have many options on what form of exercise you can do. Yoga is something you can do with barely any space.

Why Yoga?

If you do it right, yoga will increase your flexibility. In recent years I have experienced shoulder, back, and knee pain, all possibility due to a lack of flexibility.
If it weren't for Covid-19, I would be out rock climbing and running in groups. Rock climbing requires a lot of flexibility. Yoga would help me a lot with that.
Other than yoga I still go out for runs here and there close to my house. For someone who runs a lot, it is necessary to do some work on supporting muscles to minimise injury, such as glutes, quads, core and back, all of which yoga will help with.

What if I don't know Yoga?

It's so easy to get started in Yoga nowadays. There are many free beginner videos on the internet. On your phone there are also many apps for practicing yoga. I use one called Down Dog on my Android phone. The app currently is free due to Covid-19 but it usually costs a bit. I like this app because it has many different levels. I am currently on Beginner 1, but once I get a bit better, I might choose a more advanced level, such as Beginner 2, or Intermediate 1. Other than having a variety of difficulties, you can also pick how many minutes you want to practice for, and let it generate a different sequence each time, so you won't get bored.

Which poses are covered in Beginner One?

When you are picking a level in Down Dog, you are probably not sure what sort of poses you have to do. Below are some pictures showing what is covered in Beginner One, so if you are okay with practicing these poses, feel free to start on this level.
At my currently level of flexibility I am unable to demonstrate these moves to perfection. As I improve my flexibility these pictures will be updated.

Downward Dog