Photo Credit: Athleta.com
I’ve always wanted to be a yoga enthusiast. You know, flexible and sculpted without looking like a female bodybuilder. Totally rocking a pair of purple cropped tights with a cute “Namaste In Bed” tank, strappy sports bra, and an armful of Pura Vida bracelets. I’ll casually throw on a soft cashmere wrap, beaded sandals and head out the door for lunch with the girls.
As a matter of fact yoga pants and tank tops could be considered my daily “uniform.”
But I’m a fraud. I hate yoga.
To be honest I haven’t given yoga a fair chance. When I was obese yoga was the first “exercise” I did. It was a weird kind of yoga - Kundalini to be exact - and you spent most of the time sitting on the floor moving your arms up and down. Great for a fat girl.
But soon enough I got tired of exercising on my butt, took up running and ruined my knees. Then my back gave out. Fast forward to the present…I’m super tight, inflexible and sometimes in pain.
Now I desperately need the benefits of yoga to go along with my trendy yoga duds.
Wondering what the benefits of yoga are??
- increased flexibility
- better sleep
- ease back pain
- relieve stress
- better posture
- weight loss
- muscle tone
- improves memory
- less joint pain
- improves balance
- more energy
- helps with asthma/breathing issues
- boosts immunity
- prevents osteoporosis
- and, they say, yoga can improve your sex life!
(Here’s where I found out all that cool info.)
With all these amazing benefits, and all my nagging aches and pains, I’m convinced I need to woman up and give it a real shot. I’ve never taken a studio class, but I’ve done random “beginner’s yoga” YouTube videos and I do have a book called “Yoga for Arthritis.” Sexy title, no? I’ve survived 30 minutes of the 21 Day Fix yoga, but the thought of being still, breathing, and holding poses honestly gives me anxiety.
I am scared to commit to daily yoga practice.
So what does a VERY RELUCTANT wanna be yogi do?
Write a blog post about it and beg for public accountability! Only partially kidding.
Some would say that when the student is ready the teacher appears, and that may have happened in my case.
The good folks at Beachbody are introducing a 3 Week Yoga Retreat.
It’s a yoga program designed just for beginners. (Hopefully reluctant ones.) They claim that if you’ve always wanted to try yoga, but were too intimidated to begin, this is the place to start.
The cool thing is I can do this in my own home, on my own time, wearing my cute purple capris. No embarrassing myself in class because I can’t master move #1, sitting cross-legged.
We’ve stripped yoga down to the mat. There are no candles, no chanting, no OMs. You’ll learn the basics in 21 classes, one per day for 3 weeks. Each one is 30 minutes or less, taught by one of four Yoga Experts. In just 3 weeks, you’ll develop a proper foundation and experience all the benefits of yoga. This is Simply, Yoga.
-Team Beachbody
Sounds…ok?
The program will release on August 31st, 2016 exclusively on Beachbody on Demand. It is totally free to BOD subscribers so I have zero excuses not to give the 3 Week Yoga Retreat a good ol’ college try.
(If you haven’t used a BOD free trial before, you can check it out totally free for 30 days.)
I did a sneak peek of workout one and, I’ll be perfectly honest with y’all, lasted only 15 minutes. Sometimes it’s good to start out slow… I can only get better, right?
Knowing myself… easily distracted with an intense dislike for yoga, ha ha…. I created a printable chart to (hopefully) keep me motivated and on track. I’m calling it a “Reluctant Yogini’s** Guide to the 3 Week Yoga Retreat Tracker.” (Once I make it cute and pretty I’ll share it with y’all here.)
(**A yogini means a female practicing yoga; while a male is called a yogi. I did NOT know this … had to look it up, ha ha.)
So please don’t make me do this alone. Let’s do this together. (Downloadable tracker coming soon.) Get set up with your 3 Week Yoga Retreat on BOD HERE. If I survive I’ll write a proper review.
If my reluctance to attempt yoga doesn’t scare you off, I’d love to support you in your health and fitness journey. I have a team of amazing ladies I coach in private online groups. You can learn more here…. http://weightomaintain.com/free-beachbody-membership/
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