Yoga has changed, and so has my practice. I wrote about how after 1 year of not practicing in a yoga studio or a full yoga class, CorePower hot yoga brought me back. I used to have a very rigid definition of an asana yoga practice. It had to have an opening, sun salutations—I had to do certain poses. I practiced consistently, but I see this approach limited me. Year 13 of my yoga practice, I did stretches and some poses, but I didn’t really do a full yoga class, as I would have define it. But I see now that I was doing yoga, but a mellow kind of yoga, one of surrender. Nowadays, I’ve incorporated drills in my practice–yoga drills with an interval timer. It has allowed me to practice anytime of the day, anywhere. A practice can last 5 minutes or 45.
25 Years of Yoga Timeline
- Year 1 – 4: Vinyasa and Hatha
- Year 5 – 10: Ashtanga
- Year 11: Vinyasa
- Year 12: Vinyasa / Ashtanga
- Year 13: Just stretching and breathing, still yoga 🙂
- Year 14 – 19: Corepower Hot Yoga
- Year 20 – 22: Vinyasa at home
- Year 23: Hot yoga Melt yoga
- Year 24 – present: Yoga with strength, Commune Online, Interval Timer Yoga, Hatha, Drills
Yoga Drills and an Interval Timer
Since the pandemic, my yoga has entered a new phase. I practiced at home during lockdown, tried hot yoga at a local studio when we moved to a different place, then went back to my home practice. This is the first time I’ve developed a home practice that wasn’t based on a set of sequence such as Ashtanga. I incorporate weights, resistance bands, stall bars, a pilates ball.
I think about my Ashtanga journey, and I believe that it wasn’t just my mindset of always pushing that led to discomfort, but lack of drills and preparation. It’s like when a tennis player wants to hit a ball harder and stronger, it doesn’t make sense to keep doing the same movement with the same racquet. They might try the same swinging motion with weighted vest or a weighted ball. It’s not a surprise that more yoga teachers on social media, even Ashtanga teachers are teaching them.
Arms and Core: 2 Minute Drill
Here’s a two-minute drill I started doing for my arms and core that has improved my transitions. I usually do this drill after warming up my wrists and quads.
- 50 seconds: Dynamic Lolasana with blocks: Sit on the shins and place a blocks inline with the knees. So the hands should be behind the knees. Exhale and lift the hips and knees off the ground while the top of the foot stays on the ground.
- 10 second rest
- 50 seconds: Seated extended leg lifts. Sit on the floor with the legs straight in a V position. Place one block on the inside of each foot. Exhale lift one leg over the block and then the next block until the feet are next to each other. Repeat until your legs are again in a V position.
- 10 second rest
Interval Timer
I created an Apple shortcut interval timer when I started incorporating drills to my practice, which you can access if you send a request. It works, but there are limitations give that the timer is a shortcut.
- ability to pause
- play music while timer is on
- you have to keep the screen unlocked
- if you get a phone call or if the the device needs to use the speakers, the timer’s sound will turn off.
- Although you can see the timer when using it, it’s not the most encouraging interface.
Overall, the shortcut works, but as I’m doing more drills, we have developed an app to address the shortcoming. It’s still in close alpha testing, but if you want to try it once we open the app to testers, you can send me an email at marianne@lifdb.com.
