Friday Favorites: Yoga With Adriene

I know, I know. It's been a couple weeks. But that's because last week, I was getting in as many hours as I possibly could at work before I'm forced to cut back to 20 hours a week with the start of the school semester. And this past week is the first official week of the school semester, and we've been pretty crazy busy. Hopefully, the routine settles in the next couple weeks.
Speaking of routines, remember how that was a big part of those goals I set?
Time for a little accountability. The morning routine has been pretty good. We're lacking in some things (like planning time for scripture study) and doing really great in others. For some reason, I've been sleeping really restlessly and can't bring myself to get out of bed with Tucker in the morning. So I've been laying there until he's ready to leave, then we have prayer, and he leaves. And then I lay in bed some more until Annie gets up, and then I start my day. It's laziness, and it's a struggle.
For the first two weeks, I was really great about my morning routine, but as I've been lazy, I started neglecting yoga. It's really true what they say about "the hardest part of yoga is getting out your mat." I'd just let other things become more important, but I've been missing it. So this morning, after we ate breakfast and tidied up the house, I unrolled the mat and opened up Yoga With Adriene.

I first heard about Yoga With Adriene back in February when we were in the middle of a health challenge with some family members. One of the requirements was daily exercise, and my sister-in-law (thanks, Heidi!) shared this awesome YouTube channel. I did a few days of her 30 Days of Yoga and then got lazy again and forgot about it. But then, this summer, I started having a lot of lower back pain. I think it's from lowering a sleepy toddler into her crib every night. That, on top of my other joint issues, made me feel it was time to get serious about some sort of low-impact exercise. I remembered the YouTube channel and explored it a little more, and it is just so cool!

Adriene is an awesome yogi who lives down in Houston. First of all, she seems like a totally awesome, down-to-earth person. We'd be friends if she was my neighbor.  She's got hundreds of free yoga videos on her YouTube channel, and a lot of them are centered around some theme. She's got morning yoga, bedtime yoga, yoga for beginners, yoga for when you're sitting at your desk at work, yoga for hangovers (yes, really!), yoga for weight-loss, etc. Anything you want, she's got it. I used to think yoga wasn't really my thing, but the more I've done it, the more I realized how silly that mindset is. Yoga is all about what feels good for YOU. There are so many different kinds of yoga and ways to do it that I promise you'll find something to fit your own exercise style if you really give it a chance.
My favorite video right now is the Yoga for Back Pain. Seriously, this every morning makes such a difference. Even when Annie thinks it's hysterical to come and sit on my neck or crawl under me during Downward Facing Dog or Cat/Cow. 
Have you ever tried yoga? Do you subscribe to the mentality of it's just not your thing? I challenge you to change your way of thinking and check it out. Browse her videos and find one that even just semi-interests you. Really pay attention to the way your body feels before, during, and after. And THEN tell me it's not your thing if it's really not. But I bet that it is.