I’ve been doing a bit of yoga every day for the last five months and it’s been ridiculous beneficial. Like, most of my (previously daily) neck and shoulder pain is gone and my crummy arches have strengthened up enough that I ran my May 10K in neutral shoes.

But I don’t go to classes, because, oddly (?), I find it stressful at the yoga mills around town because they are often crowded and I judge myself too harshly if I can’t keep up (I am still one of the least flexible people I’ve ever known, but also competitive as fuq). Hell, just the getting there is difficult enough because their schedules and mine don’t meld too well.

Oh, and being in a group of strangers is not very calming or meditative because I’m me and not great with (new? all?) people.

So here’s a plug, especially for those with a bit of yoga experience but don’t dig the group environment, or have budgetary constraints that preclude paying $10-15/class: Yoga with Adriene. She’s great. She has videos for beginners (and others) on fundamentals. She offers alternatives and modifications for the less experienced yogis and yoginis (her motto is ‘Find what feels good’). She is not very woo-woo and is funny and genuine. And she has hundreds of videos on YouTube that are free. I’m doing my second round through her Yoga Camp right now and it’s just what I need in the morning before work. Bonus: I can do it my pyjamas.

Oh, and she’s also an actress, it turns out, and was in one of the only non-laughably bad Nicolas Cage movies of the last five years. So, uhm, bonus?