Okay so I haven’t been following my plan (which I wrote out in my first reflection post on September 30th). I have been practicing yoga but a lot more inconsistently than I would have liked. But I think I’m beginning to realize that I should want to keep a regular practice, it shouldn’t be forced. I am extremely busy between 6 classes at school, work, recently moving into a new house, requiring more sleep than I usually need as the seasons change, and trying to maintain my social life. And I am borderline broke so I will not be paying for a membership at a yoga studio anytime soon.

In the past two weeks I have had two intentional yoga sessions (appx. 30-minutes) and many half-assed attempts that just result in me doing a ~10 minute stretch and then getting distracted. I still enjoy these mini stretching/yoga/meditation sessions, but I want to stop beating myself up that they’re so short and meaningless feeling. They are still meaningful. I am still moving my body and it feels good. I think that this inquiry project is going to have to surrender to my busy life a bit and just take what it can get. I am still practicing yoga more than I usually would so that is a plus! And I feel like I’ve learned a lot so far.

In the past two weeks:

October 17th – I did yoga for 45 mins with my friend Logan after complaining to him that I need to do more yoga for this project. It was a nice and simple flow that he mostly led. We have done a few classes/workshops in the past where you do yoga with a partner (I think its been called Thai Massage Yoga?), so I am comfortable moving body near or touching his. I am able to go into a much deeper stretch in many positions with the help of another person.

I’ve done quite a few (3-5 times a week) “mini” morning sessions of stretching/yoga/meditation as soon as I wake up. It has been helping me wake up and get out of bed (although I sometimes spend half the time stretching in bed – but I will eventually end up on the floor). I want to continue this.

Earlier today though, something really exciting happened. I was talking to one of my roommates about this inquiry project and she mentioned to me that she has a subscription to Alo Moves and that I can use it anytime I want! Alo Moves is an application with hundreds of videos to follow, that fall under the four headings: fitness, mindfulness, skills, and yoga. They are all different lengths and difficulties. I am so happy about this! I completed one this evening and really liked it – it was called ‘Evening Vinyasa’ (36-minutes). It didn’t feel like I was forcing myself to go something I didn’t want to do. I think from now on I will be practicing at home, either by myself or with the help of Alo Moves. I enjoy following a yoga instructor that isn’t in the room, at random times when I have time in my busy schedule. I don’t want to keep trying to keep an extremely rigid yoga schedule when it’s probably just not possible for me at the moment. I’m going to continue doing “intentional” yoga – whenever I feel like I need to or want to, and hopefully this helps me practice more.

Photo by Fabian Møller on Unsplash