Nowadays it is easy to find yoga and meditation classes online. The availability is pretty wide, so the trick is not about finding a class, but rather, it is about choosing the right one for yourself. I would like to share a few YT channels and apps that I use in order to inspire myself for classes.
Down Dog - this is an app which works like a constructor. You can choose between plenty of different yoga styles, lengths of classes, their intensity, language, etc. You can even choose the style of music you want to hear during the practice (if that's what you like)! Using the app is free of charge for the first few months, so it is worth giving it a try and seeing how it goes.
Headspace - the app that offers lots of meditation: daily guided ones, walking meditations, and also animations, articles and videos.
Waking Up - this is an app which I got to know after reading a book, 'The End of Faith' by Sam Harris. It is Sam's voice you hear during guided meditations in the app.
He also offers podcasts and lectures related to wellbeing and mindfulness. Sam is a neuroscientist and a philosopher, so it is incredibly interesting to get an understanding of the topic by listening to his point of view, as well as the guests that he interviews. This app gives a lot of insights related to meditation and mindfulness, not only from a practical point of view, but also from a theoretical and an academic one.
Yoga with Adriene - this is a Youtube channel where you'll find yoga and guided meditation classes to chose from, depending on your mood and how much time you can devote to the practice that day. Adriene definitely has her own style - coming from Texas; not only has she got a special way of expressing herself, but also a special way of guiding practice. She was one of the first yoga teachers to start posting her classes on YT, so you can imagine how many of them are available on the channel now. From time to time, she also organises "30 days of yoga" journeys, where you get a month of daily practices accompanied by short emails. The whole month is usually themed topic (for example, the breath).
Your yoga teacher(s) 😊 - if you've been into yoga and meditation for a little while now, you probably have teachers you like and/or feel a connection with. I have two of them:
The first one is Sunshine, the teacher of my Yoga Teachers Training course. She has some classes available on her YouTube channel,but also sometimes she also organises live sessions of vortex energy healing and yoga. Anyone can participate and the classes are online! On Sunshine's YT channel, besides classes, there are useful lectures about biomechanics, yoga anatomy, chakras, and many more. Usually, she announces online classes on her instagram page.
I am also happy to share with you my vinyasa teacher - she teaches vinyasa classes, live on Facebook from time to time. Anyone can join, and the classes are guided in Polish.
Finally, the best part is that when you actually get the groove on it, you can start creating/designing your own classes, according to the way you feel today, how your body is, your mind, what you want and need from the practice and how you want to feel after it.
What is important to say is that yoga classes do have a structure and usually it goes like this: warming up, gradually working towards the more difficult poses, cooling down, and relaxing (that's the typical structure for vinyasa or hatha-vinyasa classes). However, it does not mean that you cannot change core of your practice. Nowadays, the yoga we practice are doing is getting more "westernised" and less traditional, it is a new, different kind of yoga that has appeared. It is evolving and changing, new types arise. It does not mean that we shouldn't respect the classics, but it means that we have more and more freedom in terms of constructing our practice. Same goes for meditation.
I hope these tips will inspire you to try out something new. And if you'd like to share some of your personal findings of apps and channels for doing yoga and meditation online - I will be happy to hear about them 😊
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