When I was a kid, I sometimes watched and followed along with Kareen’s Yoga. This long-running 1970s show, out of British Colombia, was hosted by German-Canadian yogi Karen Zebroff. I think I even owned a copy of one of her books.
Occasionally I think of those early experiments with yoga and give it another whirl. I have tried Yoga with Adrienne but it never stuck as a habit.
I experimented with chair yoga during the depths of the pandemic work-from-home period. I checked out Yoga with Kassandra on Youtube with hometown Ottawa yogi Kassandra Reinhardt. I connected most with Paula Lay (yoginimelbourne) and did many of her short videos focusing on spots that hurt or to help me sleep.
I’m currently on a break from ballet, swimming more frequently, and I have been working hard to change how I engage certain muscles thanks to my awesome physiotherapist. The downside is that I am feeling more tight than usual. So, once again, I am poking into doing yoga.
It’s all a bit random, to be honest. I’ll do nothing for days, then suddenly get the urge to do an hour’s worth of videos focused on hip mobility. Or do a couple of shoulder/neck stretches while standing in my kitchen waiting for something to heat up.
I would love to figure out a way to become more consistent (that doesn’t involve changing into yoga gear first thing in the morning, or going to a studio). Maybe I just need to acknowledge that my yoga practice will always be random, but I will keep coming back, just as I have always done.
I have to admit it: what works for me is having others expect me to show up. Otherwise, the days just slip by – no yoga, no work on pushups – and suddenly, the week is over. Right now I am attending a weekly class that was formed with a teacher I always liked at the gym, but which I left when I retired. A couple of guys still at the gym and she started a Zoom class during Covid, and I found out about it when doing a Christmas count (birds) with one of them. There are only 3 of us, and we do pay the teacher, so I like to show up if I am not too many time zones away.
Since I do it pretty regularly, various yoga poses have become my regular go-to when I am standing around waiting for something to start, or when I feel a tight spot.