I’ve been feeling really blah this week; the daily grind + the end of a training cycle have me in a mood that only wants to come home, eat everything in sight and fall asleep watching TV. Today is my day off work, and I want it to be as productive as possible, while still taking it easy. No running, but I plan on walking 1.5 miles to the dog park, and then back, so Zooey can get the desperately needed exercise she craves. Some low impact cardio and sunshine for me also sounds like a real treat! In order to get moving, and address some of my aches this week (I carried a too heavy grocery bag the mile home from the store and my back got all out of whack). I wanted a light vinyasa flow combined with stretching to get my energy levels up without feeling too winded or sweaty so the rest of the day can be active! Here’s the group of videos I chose this morning:

Yoga with Adriene’s Yoga to Get the Juices Flowing – This ditty is under 10 minutes and always makes me feel incredible afterwards. I love lunges, warriors and triangle pose, and it combines all of those. It’s my favorite video to do anytime I need a little more spark in my step.

Yoga with Adriene’s Travel Yoga: Revitalizing Flow. The YWA YouTube channel has many morning routines to choose from, but I like this one because it’s short, it combines a lot of poses, and it succeeds in revitalizing me, as opposed to a slower, stretchier practice. The goal this morning was to really “wake up” and get my day started.

Yoga with Adriene’s 6 Minute Yoga for the Hips. After the first two videos I felt tightness in my hips and I am a huge fan of these hip stretches, especially for running.

I am such a fan of this YouTube channel, as well as the Tone It Up channel. I am at a place in my life where my budget is very tight, so a gym membership is not an option. Neither are public classes at studios. But if I’m completely honest with you, I’m a little burnt out on gym culture. I’m not saying I was ever a gym rat, but I’ve had a handful of memberships. I never got super fit with my memberships; I’d run on the treadmill and elliptical, but with the TVs on, and my smartphone, I was calling in the workouts. I also felt uncomfortable using the weights for a few reasons: not being 100% sure what I was doing and personal trainers roaming around. It bred all kinds of insecurity in me! On top of the time it takes getting to and from the gym – it just doesn’t appeal to me right now. I enjoy working out when I want to, in the privacy of my own home. I know this isn’t for everyone, and gym culture is super motivating! It can be fun to hang out there with like-minded people! Which is totally the reason I like run clubs, it’s just a different version of the same type of thing.

If you are in the same boat as me, but need a little more structure to get motivated, may I suggest Sarah Bowman’s Find What Feels Good (FWFG) Yoga Calendars? She designs them every month and they are a huge hit in the YWA community! I was able to follow one, and she puts so much thought into the themes and workouts, but the rigors of training for races have taken over my life. You can also try YWA 30 Days of Yoga, Yoga Camp and Yoga Revolution. 30 Days of Yoga changed my life! Following those workouts for 30 (cough, 45, cough) days was the catalyst that got me back into running!