My Top 5 YouTube Yoga Video Picks For Artists and Writers (No Flexibility Required)
by Thea Fiore-Bloom, PhD
Why YouTube Yoga for Artists?
Recent studies show yoga can calm fight or flight-related stress and anxiety. It does this by activating our parasympathetic nervous system.
Yoga can increase our confidence and help prevent burnout. (To read our post on burnout prevention for artists go here.)
Yoga can also preserve a writer or artist’s all-important yet vulnerable wrists.
It can loosen our tight lower backs and prevent us from walking around sporting that Mr. Burns (The Simpsons) hunch.
Never mind the fact that yoga can help us reconnect with our unique, soul-based, personal creative mission for our life on a daily basis.
And YouTube yoga lets you do all that for free, in your cowgirl pajamas.
No wait, that’s just me. You may have class and practice in some lovely LuLu Lemon getup.
Want to quickly up your self-esteem and creativity while lowering the chance of having chronic art-making-related body aches?
Let’s see which of these easy video picks below will appeal to you.
My First YouTube Yoga Pick for Artists and Writers
Yoga for Creativity with Kripalu Yoga Instructor Mara.
As an artist, your forearms are two precious commodities.
So here’s a fabulous 2-minute forearm stretch for jewelers, painters, and digital artists with a calming, kind instructor:
My Second YouTube Yoga Pick for Artists and Writers
Yoga for Wrists with Kassandra
This upbeat 11-minute video specifically addresses preventing carpal tunnel syndrome.
This video addresses wrist fatigue so it’s heaven-sent specifically for:
- My fellow writers typing away on tablets, computers, or smartphones.
- Digital artists working away on your Wacom tablets
- Illustrators, sculptors and painters, especially those of you who work very small or really large.
The first exercise is the hardest, it’s all easy sailing after that, IMO:
My Third YouTube Yoga Pick for Artists & Writers
“Ease Into It.”30 Days of Hatha Yoga with Adriene.”
My last go-to is a series that I can’t say enough nice things about.
Episodes range between 14 and 28 minutes each.
No six-pack abs goals here. Instead this earthy, intelligent and funny Texas actor & teacher stresses curiosity and kindness to the self.
It’s no wonder Adriene Mischler (banner image) has almost ten million followers on YouTube.
Her furry Australian Blue Heeler dog Benji often sits (usually sleeps) by her while she teaches, and he’s become a celebrity in his own right now.
Adrienne offers a strangely compelling way into a healthy habit.
She will help improve your flexibility, balance, capacity for optimism, and a general sense of well-being.
Those are four things that would serve any artist right?
For 30 or so minutes of prana-riffic yoga every day for 30 days, check out Adriene’s fantastic “Revolution” series here.
Or try my favorite 30 day series of Adriene’s called “True,” here. It only takes about 20 minutes a day.
Because of Adriene I now have a yoga practice.
Writers often have sciatica or lower back issues from sitting a lot. So if that’s you, look at Adriene’s Yoga for Sciatica.
A Bonus, Final YouTube Yoga Pick For Artists and Writers
Sometimes we creatives have trouble creating because we don’t feel great emotionally.
On days you feel blocked or anxious give this lovely, chill video of Adriene’s a go:
Yoga for Anxiety. Also, Yoga for Depression, Or:
Other Relaxing Resources
If you liked this piece or want more ideas on how you can best let go of stress and come back home to yourself and your art, check out these other Charmed Studio posts:
- How To Set Up a Hummingbird Feeder and Gain Peace of Mind
- How Tea Helps Artists: With Tea Lovers Booklist
- Bye Bye Facebook: How Artists Can Succeed Without Social Media
- Aromatherapy Toolkit for Artists: Prosperity and Peace
- Meditations For Artists: Reduce Your Fear and Ignite Your Creativity
- How Art Can Heal a Broken Heart
- Remedios Varo: For Artists and Writers
- O’Keeffe’s Love Affair With Herbs: Recipes and Gardening Tips from the Artist’s Magical Kitchen Garden
Check out The Charmed Studio’s Mostly Free Resources for Artist’s Page to get a link to my favorite free meditation app.
Free Resources
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*Good illustrated article by Jo Malby with 7 important asanas for creatives.
Please let me know if you have any Youtube yoga favorites to pass along in the comments below!
Thank you for suggesting Yoga With Adrienne, 30 Days of Yoga. Just what I needed to get back to my yoga practice.
Hurray. So glad you are trying that one. And thank you for commenting and letting me know. That yoga channel has helped me so much. Adriene has a new free 30 day series you might like called HOME. I think it’s my new favorite. The first two intro episodes drag on a bit if I remember right, but the rest are amazing.
I will try it after I finish the 30 Day Series.
Awesome. Let me know what you think when you are done if you’d like.
Yoga is a life saver no matter how old you are. My favorite place to do yoga is outdoors, say in the garden! You might enjoy my post: Yoga in the Garden. ~namaste https://canativegardener.blogspot.com/2017/04/yoga-in-garden.html
Thanks for taking the time to comment Kathy. I enjoyed that post you linked to. Hummingbirds and yoga go great together!
Yoga is so important for me me and I wish everyone would embrace it.
Thanks for the article and great YouTube references.
-S
“Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self, to the self.”
–The Bhagavad Gita
Thanks for leaving your comment Steve, you look so young, you’re a walking advertisement for yoga.:) How long have you been practicing yoga?