00:00I'm Lucy Fink and this is Five Days of Yoga.
00:04Namaste!
00:10Since its origins in ancient India over 5,000 years ago,
00:14the term yoga has been applied to a variety of practices and methods.
00:18It's physical, it's mental, it's spiritual.
00:21Tons of different religions and ways of life practice yoga for their own unique purpose in their own unique way.
00:27In today's society, many people have an idea of what yoga is or what it should be for our bodies
00:33and minds.
00:33Even I do.
00:34I think yoga should be zen and quiet and peaceful.
00:38But who knows if that's really the only thing yoga can be.
00:41I always say that I want to do yoga two times a week.
00:44I've been saying that for about four months now.
00:46And I haven't been able to get out of the house to just actually do it.
00:50So that tells me that maybe I just haven't found my practice yet.
00:54So this week I'm on a mission to find the type of yoga that works best for me.
00:59I started this morning hot and sweaty at Y7 Yoga, the original hip hop yoga studio.
01:06What we do a little bit differently here is that we have eliminated all of the mirrors.
01:11We practice in the dark and only with candlelight.
01:15We also use infrared heating technology and we play hip hop music.
01:18The music is blaring.
01:22And not having a mirror in front of me really changed the game.
01:25Because normally you're focused on how you look and how your body looks back to you in the mirror.
01:29Rather than how you actually feel.
01:31No judgement.
01:32Just loud music.
01:33A lot of heat.
01:34And a lot of sweat.
01:40I couldn't do five days of yoga without visiting my best friend's mom.
01:47She is a certified yoga instructor, a therapist, an eating disorder specialist.
01:52She is the absolute first thing that comes to my mind when I hear the words emotional well-being.
01:57So today I paid her a visit to learn how yoga can be done at home without a mat and
02:01without an instructor.
02:02Inhale, connect the breath with the movement.
02:05We reviewed the six movements of the spine and then we went through them in a fluid dance-like motion
02:10while sitting upright on chairs.
02:12She taught me the alternative nostril breathing technique.
02:19And lastly she reviewed the mindfulness technique, leaves on a stream.
02:24So today, it's already probably close to 11am.
02:27Have you had any thoughts that have been disturbing or distressing that you wish you hadn't?
02:30Sometimes our thoughts can make us react in ways that aren't productive for ourselves and they end up making us
02:35feel worse.
02:37Notice the thought and put it on that leaf, watch it go down the stream and see if it feels
02:41a little bit better.
02:42You acknowledge the thought, you see it in front of you and then you watch it gently float away.
02:50First of all, doing yoga in a chair really gets your heart rate up.
02:54And secondly, still has yoga's main purpose of attaining a goal, controlling the mind and body, and connecting breath with
03:00movement.
03:01It's a real life changer for me. Yoga in a chair!
03:08Yesterday was a calm day with Susan, so today I decided to kick it up a notch and try a
03:14classic vinyasa flow with a huge twist.
03:19I did a stand-up paddleboard yoga class on the Hudson River.
03:25What's really beautiful about this practice is we literally go with the flow.
03:28Based on whatever Mother Nature's doing on any given day, the class might change a bit.
03:33It was a windy day, I'll tell you that much.
03:35The water was choppy, my core was working really hard to keep me balanced because I did not want to
03:41fall into the Hudson River.
03:42But what an incredibly beautiful experience.
03:46The sun was shining, I took off my life vest, I felt so relaxed floating between the dock and the
03:52intrepid.
03:53Doing yoga on the water is such a novelty in New York City.
03:57Shavasana, or corpse pose at the end where you just lie on your back, was 25 million times better on
04:03the water than it is on land.
04:05What a day! I got to do downward facing dog and look through my legs and see New Jersey.
04:17Paddleboard yoga was absolutely the most intense workout of the week so far.
04:22So much so that I couldn't even make my bed this morning.
04:25My thighs just wouldn't.
04:27So because of that, today was all about restoration.
04:30I went to Laughing Lotus and did a restorative flow.
04:34Laughing Lotus, we have been around for over 16 years.
04:38And our mission is to really allow people to be happy, wild and free and really embrace who they are
04:44and how they move.
04:45We started with the mantra OM, but in song.
04:50Wait.
04:54We sung.
04:55I loosened up with some classic poses and some belts for stretching.
04:59And then my instructor Amanda used blocks to prop me up into various positions.
05:05She used blankets.
05:06She put eye pillows on my eyes to block the light.
05:09I was so comfortable.
05:11Restorative yoga is great for relaxing, of course, the mind and really allowing the mind to quiet.
05:16Especially in New York City, you need moments to really find that serene place.
05:20Poses are held for a long period of time, but they're not difficult or painful poses.
05:24They're more just like deep, deep stretches.
05:27The hardest part for me was staying still.
05:30This class was not my normal speed.
05:33Of course, I had an itch on my leg and then a tickle in my nose.
05:36Then I needed to readjust my toe.
05:38You know, I was that girl.
05:40I definitely think learning to be still is a huge part of mastering restorative yoga.
05:46And even though it's like adult nap time in there, it still is an art form.
05:50And at the end, I felt like I had just slept for hours.
05:54Wow.
05:57I'm gonna walk in.
05:57Be careful.
05:58Be careful.
05:59Bye.
06:00Hi.
06:00Now stay at home because it's Friday.
06:03I wanted to see how simple and fun some at home yoga with my twin sister would be.
06:08So we went up to a rooftop nearby, and we followed a YouTube video.
06:11Just type in yoga to YouTube.
06:12There are almost 12 million videos to pick from.
06:14But some are porn, so don't click on those.
06:16My coworker, Tom, once told me that he does yoga three times a week, and he loves it.
06:21I asked him, well, what happens if you can't get there three times a week?
06:24And he said to me, my life falls apart and everything goes to shit.
06:28I said, wow, what happens if you actually get there more than three times a week?
06:33And he goes, I become kind of psychic.
06:35So I was so intrigued and inspired by Tom's words.
06:39And now here I am, just completed five days of yoga.
06:42And at the start of this week, I asked myself, what is my yoga going to be?
06:46What is the one type of yoga that's going to actually push me and get me to go do it
06:50and
06:50practice it twice a week?
06:52You want to know what my answer is?
06:54I don't think I can select just one.
06:56I think it was really the mixture of the cardio-intensive yogas and then the restorative flows that really
07:01made this week special.
07:02End of story.
07:03I really loved this week.
07:05And after trying five different types of yoga, I have finally inspired myself to start adding
07:09yoga into my life regularly.
07:11Comment below letting me know if I missed any cool yoga practices.
07:14And as always, let me know what you want to see next time on Try Living With Lucy.
07:18Hey YouTube, have you seen five days of productivity?
07:20Click here to watch me TCOB, taking care of business.
07:25And as always, right here to subscribe to Refinery29 on YouTube.
Comments