For years, I’ve always looked at yoga and yogis from afar, feeling like it was something I wanted to get into, but just never did.
That is, until recently, when I signed up for yoga classes at a local yoga studio. I soon felt so much better in my own body—the back pain I was starting to feel when I was waking up stopped, and I even went home one day from class and started doing handstands against the wall—something I hadn’t done in at least 15 years! I felt good.
Now, don’t get me wrong; I’m still a newbie. But everything I read and hear says to enjoy the learning process—it’s not just about getting that pose perfect and checking it off the list. It’s what you learn along the way. And so far, I’m really enjoying the journey.
Because I can’t always fit an in-studio workout into my schedule, I’ve starting using two apps that make it easy for me to continue to learn and increase my flexibility and strength. I’ve found both of them helpful—here’s the low down on each of them so you can figure out which one (if not both) is right for you if you’re looking to do your asanas at home.
FitStar Yoga
Fit Star (iTunes • website)
iPhone and iPad: Free to Download; In-app purchases for a premium subscription
Get started with yoga with this app, or challenge yourself with more difficult poses if that’s more at your level. Tara Stiles, yogi and author of Make Your Own Rules Diet (read my review here), is your teacher in this app. You can follow her lead in the sessions the app provides you, or you can try the Freestyle sessions, which focus on things like flexibility (“Flexible Finish”), hips (“Happy Hips”), and even winding down at night (“Before Bedtime”). These are nice to have, as some are shorter that you can squeeze in during your day if need be.
Stiles is easy to follow along with and makes sessions enjoyable. You’ll see her (or other yogis) doing the poses, with her voice narrating along with the poses. If you need a break or a pose is too tricky, just tap the screen for a rest and even to rate the pose as too easy, just right, or too hard.
You’ve got a couple of options with this app—you can use Yoga Basic and have access to one personalized yoga session and one Freestyle session per week. Going premium means you’ll get unlimited premium and Freestyle sessions for the duration of your subscription. (Monthly premium subscriptions run $7.99, which a year’s subscription fee is $39.99. Get a free trial of the premium trial using our code YAH9M1.)
Cody
Fit Star (iTunes • website)
iPhone and iPad: Free to Download; Plans and bundles are paid
This app is awesome. Think a combination of Instagram just for yoga lovers combined with classes you want to take from your favorite yogis.
After downloading Cody, you’ll get the Starter Training Pack, which is a selection of different workouts from the different plans you can purchase. This means that it’s a combination of different levels and different instructors, so it’s helpful to see what plans you may want to purchase.
I purchased the Journey to Handstand plan, taught by Kino MacGregor and Kerri Verna, which progressively teaches how to build up to a handstand by building strength and sustaining weight in the arms and shoulders, wrists, and core instead of jumping right into the pose. I’m enjoying it so far but was surprised at how difficult a one-minute handstand against the wall was! (Let’s just say that I took their advice to take a break in between the three repetitions!) Kino and Kerri make the course fun and give helpful and easy-to-understand instructions.
The good thing is that once you’ve purchased the course, of course, is that it’s yours to keep. As the course progresses for me, if it gets too tricky, I can go back and revisit the workouts that built up to where I was struggling.
You can even log your workouts and give details on it, even posting a picture that can be evidence of your progress—a digital journal on your improvement. You can follow other Cody users’ progress, and comment and like their workout and pictures, just like Instagram.
If you’re thinking about purchasing a course, follow Cody’s Instagram to get updates on new classes or discounts on plans you’ve been eying. While plans start at $19.99, with most in the range of $20–$40, it’s worth it if you’re really interested in working on that skill.
I’d definitely recommend both of these apps—I’d recommend trying out both since they’re a little different (format/instructor/price), and see which one is your fave.
Namaste!
