mobile yogi.
i travel. a lot.
so much that i could probably post ‘@ YVR airport’ to my facebook status permanently.
luckily for me i’m a bit of a nomad so i LOVE to travel…but what i don’t love about traveling is having to leave behind my studio and my practice.
it’s not the major cities that are the issue. new york, LA, hong kong…all have fabulous studios and best-in-class instructors just waiting for the chance to bend me into a pretzel.
it’s the smaller off-the-radar places i frequent, like china for work, or michigan to visit my family, that prove a bit more problematic.
usually when i know i’ll be traveling someplace where i won’t have a studio available, i’ll throw a couple baptiste or bryan kest DVD’s in my luggage. not ideal, but like double-sided tape, they’re good in a pinch.
for some reason, however, last thursday when i packed for my week-long stint in michigan i remembered to pack the 4″ wooden platform sandals but forgot the yoga DVD’s.
faced with the prospect of not practicing this week, i quickly hopped online and began googling ‘free power yoga podcasts’.
below is a list of the best 3 ‘OMG how can a podcast make me feel so sore’ yoga podcasts i found that are guaranteed to make you sweat and save your asana should you ever find yourself in the middle-of-nowhere fill in the blank with no studio and no DVD’s to feed your type-A ‘i cannot possibly survive a week without practicing’ self.
these are all power yoga classes, since that’s my preferred style of practice, however, they are great for all levels. (please feel free to add any other recommendations/styles below in the comments section.)
my number one pick, hand’s down. dave is a yogi based out of denver, colorado. he’s got a massive selection to choose from, he’s super easy to follow along to, and best of all: he’s funny. i’ve never done so many chatarungas in my life. usually when i work that hard i expect a proper introduction and a couple of drinks first.
2. http://www.yogatothepeople.com/tryOnlineClass.shtml
i love love LOVE yoga to the people. i used to frequent their studio when i lived in new york, and i love their philosophy toward making yoga accessible to everybody. since moving to vancouver, i am no longer a regular, however, i still occasionally hit up the YTTP website where they have 9 recordings of actual classes available free for downloading. i think it was class number 7 where i actually thought my thigh might give out.
3. http://www.baronbaptiste.com/podcasts/index.htm
the good baron has 1 full length 75 minute power yoga workout as well as a 20 minute meditation podcast for free on his website. if you’re good with sanskrit, you shouldn’t find the practice too hard to follow along with. i’m not that fluent yet, so i struggled…and i was just listening along while surfing the internet for other podcasts.
