Union Square ambassador Rima Rabbath embraces her inner homebody
Ever have trouble making it to the yoga studio? Busy schedules, travelling, difficult weather - it can be hard to keep up your practice. Don't let a change in routine stop you. Our friend Andrew (from Ottawa's Rideau Centre store) has just the ticket to celebrate the great indoors and keep your yoga practice alive at home or on the road.
This 66-minute playlist will keep you focused and relaxed while you practice yoga sans studio. The music is a great complement to a DVD or podcast. Once you're comfortable doing the series of postures, ignore the verbal cues and play the music over the audio track. If you're practicing from memory, it's even easier. Just hit play, breathe and begin.
I've broken the playlist into three sections. If you have the full hour, do the whole playlist. If you're short on time, just tackle one half of the list and finish with the savasana track.
standing postures
These first five songs will accompany your opening sun salutations and flows. Nothing too loud or too mellow, just a great mix of smooth and calming tracks to get your mind and breath on track.
I Walked - Sufjan Stevens
Samskeyti (Track 3) - Sigur Ros
Happiness - Jonsi & Alex
Blank Pages - The Album Leaf
The Road West - The Appleseed Cast
seated postures
The next four tracks take you through your seated postures. Again, nothing sleep-inducing here - just some nice beats and atmospheric tracks to keep you focused on your breath.
Silent - The Field
Into The Sea - The Album Leaf
Too Late - M83
Your Hand in Mine - Explosions in The Sky
savasana
This last track is just over eleven minutes long and is perfect for your savasana or final meditation. I consider it a challenge to be still for the entire song and give my body the proper chance to heal and restore. I challenge you to the same.
Midnight Souls Still Remain - M83
set up your studio
The beauty of practicing on your own is that you really don't need much. Here's what we suggest to get on your way.
- DVDs We are in love with Eoin Finn's Blissology Project yoga DVD right now.
- Podcasts Yoga Journal has a great one that's free.
- A mat We have three yoga mat options online. Click on each one to read more.
- Optional accessories You may need a microfibre yoga mat towel or dense foam brick to support your practice. You decide.
We're loving Andrew's playlist so much we're thinking about staying in for the weekend. What about you?
