I bought some power yoga DVDs on recommendation of my co-worker and other fellow runners that are geared towards stretching and strengthening muscles specifically for athletes. I've been having some soreness in muscles I've never been in sore in before, including last year, so I'm hoping this will help out.
Anyway... yoga and I typically don't get along, because this is how most yoga DVDs seem to go:
"Bend your body this way. Twist into this which is completely impossible. BREATHE. Now stay there. DON'T FORGET TO BREATHE. Now turn your body in this equally impossible position. YOU'RE BREATHING, RIGHT?"
These DVDs came highly recommended and one review specifically mentioned his gentle breathing reminders, so I was hoping they would be different. They ARE, actually - instead of "BREATHE. KEEP BREATHING. WHY AREN'T YOU BREATHING YOU FAT INFLEXIBLE COW" he tells you to inhale into this pose, exhale as you move your foot here, inhale as you turn your head to the side. Instead of just giving you a bunch of directions and then barking at you to remember to breathe, he actually helps you remember to breathe AS you move. It was very helpful for me.
What wasn't helpful is I still don't know all these poses and my body still doesn't bend like that, LOL. At one point he says "swing your leg forward into pigeon pose."
I've got my head down because we're in downward dog, and I'm thinking "pigeon pose... what is pigeon pose..." so I look up at the TV and OMG!
This is pigeon pose:
NYAAAAGH! Okay, my body doesn't do that, let alone can I "swing" my leg into that!
I shall also mention that during one downward dog, Payton got underneath me, flung himself on his back, and proceeded to roll around on my yoga mat (I borrowed it from mom) staring up at me and making wookie noises and trying to mouth at my hands. That is not "doing the DVD" Payton. When I said "we are going to do the DVD!" I meant you would be like Auggie and go snuggle up in the crate for 30 minutes while I flail around on a yoga mat trying to twist my body in ways I'm pretty sure it was never meant to go.
Anyway, despite being a bit challenging and reminding me of when I was a kid and had a friend who was a dancer and could make her body do all kinds of bizarre things that my body wouldn't, I actually really enjoyed it. It was difficult at the beginning because it goes pretty fast and a LOT of the poses I am not flexible to do the way he is demonstrating, but I could definitely feel stretches where I'm sore, so hopefully it will definitely improve my flexibility and help in the long run. I think it will just be a matter of learning the poses I don't know so I can keep up without having to keep stopping and go "wait, what??" Then I should be able to cruise along and hopefully one day I can swing my leg into the pigeon pose...
As long as Payton doesn't do the DVD with me.
Anyway... yoga and I typically don't get along, because this is how most yoga DVDs seem to go:
"Bend your body this way. Twist into this which is completely impossible. BREATHE. Now stay there. DON'T FORGET TO BREATHE. Now turn your body in this equally impossible position. YOU'RE BREATHING, RIGHT?"
These DVDs came highly recommended and one review specifically mentioned his gentle breathing reminders, so I was hoping they would be different. They ARE, actually - instead of "BREATHE. KEEP BREATHING. WHY AREN'T YOU BREATHING YOU FAT INFLEXIBLE COW" he tells you to inhale into this pose, exhale as you move your foot here, inhale as you turn your head to the side. Instead of just giving you a bunch of directions and then barking at you to remember to breathe, he actually helps you remember to breathe AS you move. It was very helpful for me.
What wasn't helpful is I still don't know all these poses and my body still doesn't bend like that, LOL. At one point he says "swing your leg forward into pigeon pose."
I've got my head down because we're in downward dog, and I'm thinking "pigeon pose... what is pigeon pose..." so I look up at the TV and OMG!
This is pigeon pose:
NYAAAAGH! Okay, my body doesn't do that, let alone can I "swing" my leg into that!
I shall also mention that during one downward dog, Payton got underneath me, flung himself on his back, and proceeded to roll around on my yoga mat (I borrowed it from mom) staring up at me and making wookie noises and trying to mouth at my hands. That is not "doing the DVD" Payton. When I said "we are going to do the DVD!" I meant you would be like Auggie and go snuggle up in the crate for 30 minutes while I flail around on a yoga mat trying to twist my body in ways I'm pretty sure it was never meant to go.
Anyway, despite being a bit challenging and reminding me of when I was a kid and had a friend who was a dancer and could make her body do all kinds of bizarre things that my body wouldn't, I actually really enjoyed it. It was difficult at the beginning because it goes pretty fast and a LOT of the poses I am not flexible to do the way he is demonstrating, but I could definitely feel stretches where I'm sore, so hopefully it will definitely improve my flexibility and help in the long run. I think it will just be a matter of learning the poses I don't know so I can keep up without having to keep stopping and go "wait, what??" Then I should be able to cruise along and hopefully one day I can swing my leg into the pigeon pose...
As long as Payton doesn't do the DVD with me.