Are You Ready for Some Yoga?

While the end of August/beginning of September brings with it pre-season football and fantasy drafts (only doing two leagues this year, but I still ended up with several of the same picks - Arian Foster better be a beast this year or I am screwed!), September is also known for being National Yoga Month. I hearts me some yoga! Yoga has innumerable physiological, physical, and psychological benefits. Personally, practicing yoga has really increased my flexibility, my mental calmness, and my physical strength (especially core strength). Because I have so little time to fit it in amongst my other fitness routines, I only do two long (60min+) yoga practices per week (although I do stretch for at least 10min after every workout). Yoga has become so popular that there are multiple online resources, no need to go to a class or purchase a DVD (unless you want to). Most are pay by month or pay by download sites, which helps if you have exercise ADD like me. Yoga Today, Yoga Vibes, Yoga Glo, Yoga Download, and My Yoga Online are all excellent sites with a variety of different types of yoga classes. Most of them have free trials so you can see if you like it before you commit to anything long term. There are even some totally free resources online like Yogis Anonymous. Many yoga instructors like Sadie Nardini and Jill Miller have their own YouTube Channels that offer several free practices, and, in honor of National Yoga Month, several different sites are offering free trials or free downloads, why not try kripalu?  

If you're not big on following along with a screen, try some MP3 downloads that simply talk you through, like Alive Yoga. It feels more like a classroom just without all of the other sweaty people in your space :) Yoga Journal and iHanuman have free podcasts for download. 

Now that I've shared all of that with you, I'm off to do my own practice for the day because after a weekend filled with school preparation and broken doggie doings, I sure need some relaxation!