My yoga practice during COVID-19 has looked nothing like my yoga practice pre-COVID. Since the pandemic hit, and like most of us, I’ve been practicing yoga entirely at home. Because of this, I’ve had a ton of time to reflect on and build out my home practice. In this post, I share some shorter videos (i.e. 7-ish minutes of Sun Salutations) as well as some longer (30 – 35 minute) sequenced options. There is slower, simpler yoga here just as there are sequences of movements that correspond to one breath (a bit quicker, sweatier). All that is here comes from my mornings, and each video below represents how I’ve honored creating my own home practice, one that looks a little different each day, that feels good, and that supports my physical and mental well-being.
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Sun Salutations A
First of all: HI. I miss writing things down and also regularly teaching yoga. That’s been happening not at all. What has been happening is a ton of 5:45/6am solo yoga practices, all of which have given me much time to think about what a home practice means, devise and develop ways to keep this practice interesting, and remember exactly why I need it so badly (i.e. 2020 has been a train wreck of a year and Penelope is now two). My mind hurts, my body aches, and like everyone else, I’m just tired.
Here’s a non-yoga pic of this cutie in her Sunday best.
Sun Salutations A (or Sun As) remain one of the best series of poses I’ve come across that simultaneously warm, strengthen, and lengthen the whole body as well as help me calm down. They feel particularly good on my tight hamstrings and sensitive low-back, they remind me to breathe and to listen to air moving in and out of my lungs, and I was able to integrate modified Sun As into my routine during the first six weeks postpartum after giving birth to Penelope.
Sun Salutations are perfect for beginners, like my dad who’s in his early 60s. I created for him a short sequence similar to the videos below because he had been waking up during the night from hip pain. His little video is heavy with Sun As on the front end.
The first video of Sun Salutations are Ashtanga/Rocket-inspired. On many mornings, when I don’t want to think but move through familiar movements, I’ll take just five Sun As, one breath per movement and five breaths in downdog, and return to Samasthiti between each.
Sun Salutations A: 7 Minutes
Sun Salutations B
Sun Salutations B, or Sun Bs, follow Sun As in a traditional Ashtanga practice. In a vinyasa yoga practice, they usually follow Sun As, often with some [highly optional] “additions” (like Warrior II) or flair (like “knee to nose“). During my ‘yoga during COVID’ practice, they Sun Bs always follow Sun As, and they always bring on the heat.
Sun Salutations B are an efficient way to open the fronts of our hips, begin to get into the hip flexors and inner thighs, and really start sweating.
Sun Salutations B: 8 Minutes
Sun Salutations A + B
This 30-minute practice is a combination of Sun As and Sun Bs and a weeee bit of front-core strengthening with lots of options to level up or to simplify…yoga during COVID-19 requires a lot of simplification, for me anyway.
Rocket Standing Series
Typically, after Sun Salutations A and B, I often move into a “Rocket-inspired” standing series of poses, because, as Rocket has been known to do, “it gets you there faster.” I like how these poses are intelligently sequenced, offering heat, strength, and stretching in about ten to fifteen minutes. Full sweat after this, team.
This video is sped up *3; if you want a Rocket video in taught in real-time, this is something I’m happy to record…just drop a comment!
Hips & Spine
The video below has a hips and spine and core (drawing in toward center) focus, this another video that I made for my dad, which helps support stiffness and ease mobility.
35 Minute Flow
Is there an area of the body you want to target or yoga flow/vibe you’re looking for? Comment below! I miss teaching so much and now that I have AirPods (!!), I can start to record when I practice, have better audio, and not wake the fam.
Attempting some upside-down time with my best helper.
And here, a very different kind of COVID-19 yoga. Bed yoga.
