We may be living in the midst of a global pandemic, but acclaimed fitness expert and yoga instructor Desi Bartlett – whose celebrity clientele has included Kate Hudson, Alicia Silverstone and Shailene Woodley – is determined to help families around the world keep calm and carry on during COVID-19 with the launch of her YouTube Channel, youtube.com/desibartlett.
“The channel is a reflection of work/ home balance,” she says. “You will find corporate yoga, family fitness, and much more. I am committed to empowering people with the tools they need to stay healthy and centered, especially while so many of us are working at home and homeschooling. I am excited to do that on YouTube!”
Subscribers can step on the mat inbetween conference calls to access free guided meditations, chair yoga or power posture classes to help relieve neck, back and shoulder tension. “Most people who are working from home are working from a chair or sofa, especially if they’re on Zoom calls,” says Desi, whose chair yoga sequence was recently featured on ABC News. “After many hours of sitting, our posture starts to sink, our shoulders round and our backs hunch. This type of posture is associated with shallow breathing, back pain and can even effect our emotional state.”
To remedy this painful condition, Desi recommends incorporating tension-relieving yoga sessions into your regular workout routine. “My chair yoga practice and power posture practices in particular will help to strengthen you from the inside out with the added benefits of better posture, deep breathing and a positive outlook,” she says. “We can’t control our circumstances, but we can control our reaction to the current circumstances.”
And, for parents who recently added the title “teacher” to their resumes, Desi has created a new family workout series, aptly named “Kids Quarantine Recess.” All of the family videos on her YouTube channel also happen to co-star Desi’s two sons, Cruz, 11, and Rocket, 6. “My career has always been a reflection of what’s happening in my life,” she says. “Finding harmony working from home and homeschooling is a daily challenge. We all have different situations, but I think the global truth is we all want to be fully present for our kids while excelling at our professions.”
Although finding work-life balance is never easy, Desi hopes that her YouTube channel will help give parents and kids alike some semblance of normalcy during these uncertain times. “I am here to help you call on that energy,” she says. “When we don’t do our homework in any sector of our life; our family, our health, our job, we feel out of balance and out of sorts. Finding an easy program to keep you on track with short workouts each day will lead to small, progressive steps forward and a renewed sense of balance and harmony in our homes.”
Desi will also be producing new content for Manduka to accompany her EQua eKO Luna mat, which is finally back in stock after selling out three different times since it’s debut in May 2019. “My vision for the round mat was to help create sacred space in people’s homes and to ensure that the mat is eco-friendly and safe for families, babies, and pets to lay on,” she says. “The mat is beautiful and can be left out all of the time. I have one right in front of my home office and it is an invitation to move, breathe, and connect to my higher self. It’s also really soft and my boys love to play and practice yoga on it. I think that we have shown that there was a need for something new and special, and I am over the moon (pardon the pun!) that the Luna mat has taken off.”
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Photo Credit: De Visu / Shutterstock.com