For some of you, this may not sound like a new concept, especially if you’re not a frequest Instagram user or if you are maybe not as involved with the yoga community as you’d like to be.I only discovered this last year, after having done yoga for nearly three years at that point, and boy do I wish I knew about this before.
So, what are Instagram yoga challenges? Essentially, a few Instagram accounts work together to construct and host a challenge – encouraging people to take part, usually being give a pose of the day by following a special hashtag and posting a picture of yourself exhibiting a variation of said pose. Now, how is that beneficial for anybody? I’ll tell you.
If you are anything like me and struggle with daily motivation, challenges like these will serve as a reason for you to roll out your mat and work on your practice. Sometimes it requests still photos of a certain pose, and sometimes it’s more liberal, inviting you to take a video of yourself transitioning in and out of it, or maybe come up with your own flow. Another thing it creates is a huge pool of asanas or pose variations you may not ordinarily include in your practice. By following a designated hashtag you have an opportunity to discover many pose modifications available if you’d like to take it easy, or the opposite – take it up a notch. Plus, it’s great for finding out new ways to include your props to help your practice.
Most challenges encourage you to follow the hosts’ accounts and get actively involved with other participants – a good way to find fellow yogi accounts that may serve as inspiration, or even make new friends and host your own challenges down the line.
It’s worth mentioning that most challenges come with a sponsor or a few, so if nothing else, you have a chance to get a prize at the end of such journey. I personally try to focus on the aforementioned oppotunity to make connections, and find new pose variations, but it doesn’t hurt if you get a new yoga mat or a pair of leggings at the end of it, does it?
I must warn you though – I found Instagram yoga challenges to be extremely addictive, so be careful to only bite as much as you can figuratively chew. If you follow @bendandascend on Instagram, you’ll see what I mean. A great account to follow if you’re interested is @igyogachallenges where you can find a challenge that you fancy, depending on the theme, duration, or conditions for entering it.
Good luck!
Bend and Ascend 