This App Has Changed My Life
I normally don’t gush over apps (except, apparently, Candy Crush) but I read about a yoga app in a post that I was editing for BlogHer and decided on a whim to download it since it was only $2.99. Uh, now Googling it, I can see that there is an opportunity to preview a beginner class at the bottom of that app page. But I bought Yoga Studio without knowing anything about it. And it has advanced me ever-closer to my goal of never leaving my house.
I used to do yoga daily at a studio (and I’m honestly not sure how well I’d do with this app if I had never taken a yoga class and had no frame of reference for these poses). It didn’t really fit in my schedule and was expensive, but I wanted to take a yoga class, so I schlepped out daily, eating up over 2 hours of my work time to exercise. Then the yoga studio imploded with a very public fight on the town listserv, and when everything rose from the ashes, I decided to step back from yoga for the time being and reassess.
Since last October, I haven’t done yoga. To be honest, I’ve barely exercised at all. I tried a spin class, which I don’t love but my friends drag me to from time to time. I sometimes run, but not very often. Yoga wasn’t really about exercise though. It helped my back, and I stopped getting knots in my shoulders. It helped me sleep at night, shaving hours off my insomnia. (Yes, it can take me hours to fall asleep.)
I cleared a space in the living room and set up the iPad on a table. The instructor’s voice is deceptively calming as she leads you through chatarungas. I’ve been doing mostly the intermediate levels, and I created my own unique Vinyasa Flow class with dozens of sun salutations so I can break a sweat. The ChickieNob named the virtual instructor (who also calls out reminders for alignment during the class) Lily. She sort of looks like a Lily. We like her very very much. She is the yoga instructor I hoped to find; who never lets me down.
I’d love to also download a few yoga videos for those days when I want to cheat on Lily with a different instructor, but I need someone to recommend one from iTunes. Any videos you like? I prefer ones that are fast moving and filmed in normal locations… such as yoga studios. Yoga on sand dunes is a pet peeve of mine.
Also, I just told you a life-changing app. Now you tell me one.
15 comments
I’m curious to hear the video suggestions. I enjoy yoga too but the local studio just doesn’t fit with my life. This app sounds neat.
My current most-loved App (besides blog readers and Instagram) is MyFitnessPal. I’m sure you already use it. 🙂
I really love Total Baby. It saved my sanity as a student & new mom. It also acts as a virtual baby book so I can record cool stuff she gets up to quickly.
The Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood app changed my life. It allows me an extra 5-7 minutes of eating time in a restaurant without a kid-explosion.
Seriously, though, I’m very new to the world of iPhone, so I have no idea. I love the Pulse app on my kindle, since it so perfectly aggregates many, many news sources/humor sites/a few blogs, etc.
I don’t know about iTunes, but I have been doing prenatal yoga using videos from YouTube.
I like Pepperplate for meal planning and grocery shopping. And I have another called Keyring that keeps all my store loyalty cards which is really handy.
I use tideapp quite a lot…living in a flood zone makes it necessary to see when high tide corresponds to a big storm. its not sexy, but it is necessary
Like Amy, I use Geonet, our local list of earthquakes! But my current favourite is OsmAnd, a free, offline GPS-enabled map, so when I get lost here in Italy ( or anywhere) I can find where I am quickly and easily. It has saved my bacon a number of times (and countless dollars of roaming data charges). Also loving the italian- English dictionary. How did I travel before this technology?
I’m glad you found your way back to down dog.
How about Mindfulness Bell? It’s a Tibetan ringing bowl that randomly bongs at an interval you set (mine is at once every 2-ish hours) and prompts me to stop what I’m doing and take just a moment to be present. I then return to my task feeling more connected to the Divine, to mySelf.
My useless phone doesn’t have any life-changing apps, but it is nice to be able to continue to listen to the idiot morning radio show when I leave the car and walk into work and want to hear the next salacious segment. Also, the Groupon app was handy at lunch today – and it saved paper. Google maps is handy on my phone when I’m lost but with a general idea of where I need to be.
2 apps: Runtastic (also for many different types of exercising, not just running) and Pepperplate.
I don’t have any awesome apps. My kids like FindMyFriends because they use it as a homing device for me when I’m on my way home. But Yoga Studio sounds pretty awesome. Especially since I can never get to yoga any more, and can’t get to exercise during the week at all.
So I’ve wanted to try yoga for quite a while. I have chronic pain issues, much of in my back and neck and I’d love to see if it helps. I’ve never tried actually going to a class though. I did buy a couple of DVDs that are supposed to be for beginners but it seems like they move through the poses fairly rapidly and I have a hard time keeping up which is discouraging. Hmm, wonder if I should try this app.
The app that gets the most workout on my phone is still my trusty old kindle app….books anytime, anywhere make me happy. I also like Artkive for organizing all of E’s art….makes everything else less cluttered since I don’t have to keep every scrap of paper for my sentimental heart.
FilmOn – British and some French Tv channels streaming live. Among others I do not watch. If one is at all into that sort of thing.
I have nothing to offer here, but I am excited to see all these suggestions. Especially Pepperplate–I HATE meal planning. Trying it out now…