I love yoga, and I?ve been practicing for over five years now. But, being a work-from-home mom with two kids, I hardly have time to make it to the studio these days.
So, I turned to online classes. I?ve tried all the specialized yoga apps, both paid and free, but YouTube is easily-accessible and has some awesome videos (once you sort through all the fluff).
After challenging myself to 30 days of YouTube yoga, I have the top five videos that are actually worth practicing with.
Boho Beautiful?s Advanced Class
Throughout my thirty days of yoga, I did quite a few videos with Boho Beautiful. Not only is she calming, but her workout videos burn. Her classes were one of the only ones where I would wake up sore. To me, that?s a win.
It doesn?t hurt that her videos are set to breathtaking backgrounds as she travels the world with her partner.
I didn?t track my weight during the challenge, nor do I count calories. But to get an idea of my heart rate and how these videos measured up against each other, I did wear my Apple Watch.
POPSUGAR Fitness? 30-Minute Power Yoga Flow
This is one class I?d be happy to practice with multiple times. These girls are fun, upbeat, and much more energetic than regular yoga teachers. If you?re not huge into the spirituality or mind-body connection of yoga, definitely try this video out.
I also loved that they had beginner and advanced modifications. It really is the perfect yoga video for people to start out with, especially if you?re inexperienced.
Again, here were my stats if you?re curious about how many calories you may burn while taking this class.
Yoga With Adriene?s Yoga For Weight Loss
For an always positive yoga teacher, Adriene is the best. You?ll see her dog poke his cute head in, and she?s natural and fun. While I took a few classes of hers, this was my favorite.
You?ll definitely feel the burn, but there are also plenty of stretches that will help soothe aching muscles that you may have. Anyone from beginner to advanced can practice with this video and feel good about it.
This class is one of the longest ones, but it?s still just around thirty minutes! So, you can fit it into your schedule whenever you find the time.
Yoga With Kassandra?s 20-Min Full Body Yoga
I really liked doing this video when I woke up in the morning. Kassandra has a calming presence that helped me get deeper into the mind-body connection than with any other YouTube yoga teacher.
Her videos do seem to be a little more advanced (she?s obviously much more flexible than me, haha), but it?s not too hard to modify this one if needed. I like that she uses a bit more of the yoga philosophy than some of the others.
Yes, that?s my son?s ?I Love Milk? onesie. And yes, it?s 100% accurate. I took this picture differently than the others (sorry, mom fail!), and it was one of the shorter videos and didn?t burn as many calories. But it?s seriously an amazing class, so don?t let me lack of photography skills fool you.
Five Parks Yoga?s Vigorous Vinyasa Flow
If you?re looking for a hard workout, this is the one for you! You move the entire time, and she does some fairly advanced moves. That being said, there are plenty of substitutions for beginners and intermediate yogis.
I?d never done a YouTube class with her before this video, and I absolutely loved it! I plan to check out more of her videos, but this one is a clear winner for me.
I really enjoyed this thirty minute class and will gladly take it again.
What I Learned
While YouTube yoga is definitely not the same as going to a studio, it?s a good substitution when you can?t make it. Being so busy with two little ones, I really wanted to find a way to get a little bit of time to myself in the morning. I found myself excited to wake up and try a new class, and it was great getting on my yoga mat for thirty days straight. However, I did miss the spiritual/mind focus that often comes with studio classes. YouTube is catered more towards weight loss and burning calories???something my previous studios never focused on.
While I doubt I?ll keep practicing yoga with YouTube every day, I?m happy to know I have the option. Try out these five classes and let me know whether or not you agree with my choices. Namaste!
