Exercise is one of those bitter sweet things. Sometimes I love it. Sometimes I hate it. Sometimes I love to hate it. But it really is so essential to a healthy existence.
I love being healthy and the euphoric feeling you get after exercising. But as for the actual act of exercising itself, there are many other things I’d rather do with that block of time. A good home workout is my favorite way to stay active, and if you haven’t tried YouTube yoga you totally should!
See below for my 5 favorite YouTube yoga teachers, and links to each of their channels. All you need is a mat, a laptop and a little space in your home. How convenient is that?
DISCLAIMER: Jackson is in all of these pics, because the reality of me doing a home workout is that Jackson is 100% as into my business as he can possibly get. He never lets me do a yoga video without him being directly on my mat (he’s quite good at shavasana…). Look at his sweet little smashed face though, how could I possibly say “no” to those eyes?
I’ve tried it all. Half marathons, trail running, pi-yo, P90X, freestyling at the gym, tennis, and some others I’m sure I’m forgetting. But the one activity that I actually really enjoy and can therefore stay consistent with, is yoga.
Yoga gets a bad rap for being the equivalent to stretching, but this is oh so wrong! Depending on the type of yoga (hatha, vinyasa, asthanga, yin, many others) it can be one of the toughest cardio and strength workouts you’ll do. My personal favorite style is vinyasa. I love a continuous flow and to work up a little sweat.
It took many years of trial and error to find an exercise regimen that actually easily fit into my life and that I can consistently keep. There are certainly weeks I fall short, but for the most part YouTube yoga is a regular part of my routine.
The biggest obstacle was realizing I don’t have to run a marathon or finish an obstacle race through the forest or wake up at 4:00am to be healthy. Everybody is different, and everybody’s body is different. So as long as you get moving it doesn’t really matter how you do it. The key is to find something you love and that easily fits into your lifestyle and schedule. Maybe it’s the gym, or the track, or a home workout. Just find something you like and do it.
I went through a period of time when I felt like I had to be extreme with my workouts in order to stay fit. I ran several half marathons and hated every second of it. I also tried HIIT style workouts and literally felt like my life was ending (why why why are burpees a thing?!).
But y’all, once I accepted my fitness self for what it truly is, it was liberating. I really wanted to join a yoga studio, but my work schedule doesn’t allow me to go to more than one class per week. So I decided to step up my YouTube yoga game and it’s been fun and effective in keeping me active (and it’s free!). There are ALL kinds of classes, from 5 minutes to over an hour, for beginners to advanced yogis, vinyasa to ashtanga. Whatever you’re into, there’s a YouTube video available.
Here are my 5 YouTube yogi faves:
1. Tim Senesi
Tim’s vinyasa flow videos are amazing. I’ve done the 30 day challenge videos a few times through, most of the them are around 30 minutes which is just the right length for an early morning flow before work. Tim also has kind of a dry sense of humor, so you occasionally get a little comical entertainment while you’re flowing.
2. Michelle Goldstein
Michelle has a west coast hippie vibe which is perfect for a yoga teacher. Her vinyasa flows are a great balance between cardio, strength and stretching. I always get my heart rate high enough for it to be a cardio workout, but most of her videos are gentle enough to do first thing in the morning or after a long day. If you like a lot of sun salutations you will love Michelle’s videos (she’s like the queen of warrior one).
3. Anita Goa
Anita’s videos always leave me feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. Anita is adorable and has such a fresh, cheery outlook that is contagious in her videos. She has a lot of great shorter flows, like 30 minutes or less.
4. Brett Larkin
Brett is possibly one of the most popular YouTube yogis with over 317k subscribers. That speaks for itself about the quality of her yoga videos. Similarly to Anita, Brett has a variety of workouts ranging from a few minutes to over an hour, most of them around 30-45 minutes. She also has videos on nutrition, and several prenatal yoga videos (including a 15 minute meditation to ease breastfeeding, how neat is that?!).
5. Ali Kamenova
Ali was the first YouTube yogi I followed. She has a ton of videos anywhere from a couple of minutes to well over an hour. She also has prenatal workouts on her channel. Uniquely, many of Ali’s videos incorporate an aspect of HIIT (high intensity interval training), which are much more of a cardio workout than most of the other YouTube yoga video channels. If you really want to sweat, try her coffee cup series.
Namaste from me and Jackson.
What’s your exercise go-to? Are you a high intensity enthusiast, or more of an evening stroll type of gal? I’d love to hear some of your exercising tips.
P.S. If your YouTube yoga flow has left you hangry, try this quick and healthy dinner recipe.
