“Nurturing yourself is not selfish – it’s essential to your survival and well-being.”
-Reneee Peterson Trudeau
As we face the stresses of distance teaching, balancing work with family and coping with a global pandemic, it’s important to prioritize wellness. Taking time to look after your physical and mental health is vital to your well-being. Our Stronger Together educator group has shared a variety of at-home fitness and wellness options, which are listed below (along with my personal favourites!)
Yoga & Meditation
Bad Yogi
badyogi.com
Erin Motz is one of my favourite online yoga teachers. I’ve been following her for years. She’s got great free classes, plus her Bad Yogi Studio subscription is awesome if you want new classes every week.
The Prairie Collective
https://www.theprairiecollective.com/
Local yoga instructor Rachelle Taylor recently launched The Prairie Collective. I am supporting local by subscribing to The Memberspace, which includes yoga classes, guided meditations and recorded speakeasy workshops. You can also check out their social media pages for pop-up free offerings.
Devon Caldwell Education & Wellness
devoncaldwell.com
My teacher bestie and co-founder of KG Education is also a wonderful yoga teacher. She’s got free classes on her YouTube channel and she’s been doing lots of free livestream classes on the Devon Caldwell Education & Wellness Facebook page. (Bonus: she’s got kids’ classes too- share them with your students!)
Insight Timer
https://insighttimer.com/
Wellness includes mental health. Insight Timer offers 40,000 free guided meditations. My current favourites are the Re-Centering in Times of Uncertainty guided meditation and this Yoga Nidra for Sleep and this Yoga Nidra for Calm and Focus. I like using the app on my phone to do a guided meditation after I workout or do yoga in the morning or to take a “nidra nap” when I’m feeling worn out.
Workouts & Fitness Programs
Heather Robertson’s Free 12 Week Workout Plan
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2ov72VWpiOrZliY8_Upde97LVtSx8pCA
I’ve gotten into HIIT workouts and I’m really liking this free 12 week program from Heather Robertson. I was just doing 2-3 workouts per week to start and now I’ve been following the 5 per week schedule.
Beachbody on Demand
https://www.beachbodyondemand.com/
Some of our group members use Beachbody for their at home workouts. With a variety of strength training programs, yoga, dance and cardio, it looks like there are lots of workouts to choose from!
Aaptiv
https://aaptiv.com/
This one was new to me when it was recommended in the group. It looks like there are tons of options here too: treadmill, strength training, yoga and more.
If you’re looking for a positive and supportive community where you can share ideas and connect with other educators, join our Stronger Together group.
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