Challenge Accepted: How to Do Yoga Like Hilaria Baldwin
Last year, yoga teacher and celebrity Hilaria Baldwin set herself a challenge to upload a picture every day on Instagram incorporating various yoga poses in day-to-day life (#hilariaypd).
The photos are extremely fun and sometimes downright outrageous. We here at Lots of Yoga are fans and have often discussed the pictures (i.e. how does one cook dinner in Matsyasana (fish pose) exactly?).
We also believe that yoga should be accessible to everyone, so with this in mind we decided to send our editor, Kat de Naoum, to try out some of these poses and check out their feasibility.
Here are 11 of the (more successful) poses Kat tried and tested, with her take on the whole process. We're glad that Kat was unharmed in the making of these photos (but it was a close call).
Hilaria makes this pose look so easy but I wonder if in reality, she was in the same complete agony as I was, but just managed to hide it better.
The hardest part of this picture was finding a helicopter to be honest; my local heli-rentals had just given their last one out so I settled for posing in front of a moped on a helipad instead. (I jest, of course; we trespassed this helipad, took the picture as quickly as possible and ran out of there before we got arrested.)
My pets were not half as entertained as the spectator in Hilaria's photo, but on the plus side, my car was sparkling clean.
Sun dress? Check. Sunny day? Check. Beautiful pool? Check. Triangle pose? Check. Now if only Champ wasn't photo-bombing and Hugh wasn't about to pee on me, I would have nailed it.
As soon as I saw Hilaria's photo on a tree stump, I was extremely happy because, guess what? I also had a tree stump in my garden so I knew a reenactment was in store. I just happened to have a gripped audience. (Confession: there are treats in my hands, otherwise they wouldn't give me the time of day.)
How do Hilaria's dresses stay in tact when she is upside-down? My dress hiked up to my head even before I was all the way upside-down. Does she have a specially designated member of staff who protects her modesty? Mine just went out the window... (It's a bikini, people!)
A couple of things... One, either Hilaria is extremely short (I am only 5.2" myself) or her doorway is unusually large. Secondly, this pose was much scarier and harder than it looks. The look of terror on my face and the fact that I'm holding on to the door-frame for dear life says it all (and there's a safety chair under me).
Ah, I'm very familiar with this pose and have found myself in it many times on various occasions. This was fun. My back-bend is not as deep as Hilaria's but my zoned-out state definitely is. (Thank you, sun stroke.)
I think this is pretty self-explanatory. We were all rather squashed. *Sad face*
This was NOT fun. I was scared. Very scared. I'm glad that even Hilaria admitted to being scared in this one. There is something insanely wrong with being upside-down on a flight of stairs and I hope that this is the one and only time I ever find myself in this position.
There was one more pose that I really wanted to try, the "Let's annoy the manicurist" pose...
http://instagram.com/p/l7p6rCg8eL/?tagged=hilariaypd
...but my manicurist told me not to be stupid and just sit in my chair quietly and behave.
Finally, the rest of the Lots of Yoga team suggested I do this one...
http://instagram.com/p/pyy6h1A8Yi/?tagged=hilariaypd
...but I flat out refused since I don't have a death wish. Madness, I tell you!
These crazy yoga pictures were very fun to do, and that's probably how Hilaria managed to get through a whole year of them. It's worth saying, though, that Hilaria probably had a lot of help with most of these poses and people on standby in case of yogic emergencies. Beginner yogis should not attempt this craziness. (I had to be rescued by the photographer from poses 8 and 11... but let's just keep that between us.)
Messing around with yoga can be fun, but make sure you stay safe. Did you guys try out your own crazy yoga poses? Send them to us, we'd love to see them!
We also believe that yoga should be accessible to everyone, so with this in mind we decided to send our editor, Kat de Naoum, to try out some of these poses and check out their feasibility.
Here are 11 of the (more successful) poses Kat tried and tested, with her take on the whole process. We're glad that Kat was unharmed in the making of these photos (but it was a close call).
1. The "There must be more comfortable ways to sit" pose
http://instagram.com/p/prRwyDg8aE/?tagged=hilariaypd
Hilaria makes this pose look so easy but I wonder if in reality, she was in the same complete agony as I was, but just managed to hide it better.
2. The "Helicopter" pose
http://instagram.com/p/pWrXyKg8ci/?tagged=hilariaypd
The hardest part of this picture was finding a helicopter to be honest; my local heli-rentals had just given their last one out so I settled for posing in front of a moped on a helipad instead. (I jest, of course; we trespassed this helipad, took the picture as quickly as possible and ran out of there before we got arrested.)
3. The "Cleaning lizard" pose
http://instagram.com/p/pbx4mAA8Zs/?tagged=hilariaypd
My pets were not half as entertained as the spectator in Hilaria's photo, but on the plus side, my car was sparkling clean.
4. The "Mini white dog on a camel" pose
http://instagram.com/p/rNDmbtA8b1/?tagged=hilariaypd http://instagram.com/p/zZrjekM41e/?taken-by=katdenaoum I have an array of animals but no small cute white ones and since I wanted to be meticulous in my remake of Hilaria's picture, I did what any thorough professional would do and kidnapped one from a friend. As you will note, I am on a couch because (a) this killed my knees and (b) I thought it wouldn't be good if the dog fell on the floor again...5. The "Triangle by the pool" pose
http://instagram.com/p/oJaTkzA8Y_/?tagged=hilariaypd
Sun dress? Check. Sunny day? Check. Beautiful pool? Check. Triangle pose? Check. Now if only Champ wasn't photo-bombing and Hugh wasn't about to pee on me, I would have nailed it.
6. The "Tree on a tree" pose
http://instagram.com/p/orDmUMA8Vc/?tagged=hilariaypd
As soon as I saw Hilaria's photo on a tree stump, I was extremely happy because, guess what? I also had a tree stump in my garden so I knew a reenactment was in store. I just happened to have a gripped audience. (Confession: there are treats in my hands, otherwise they wouldn't give me the time of day.)
7. The "Handstand on a tree while trying to remain ladylike" pose
http://instagram.com/p/pB2BRyg8Rp/?tagged=hilariaypd
How do Hilaria's dresses stay in tact when she is upside-down? My dress hiked up to my head even before I was all the way upside-down. Does she have a specially designated member of staff who protects her modesty? Mine just went out the window... (It's a bikini, people!)
8. The "Wedged in a doorway" pose
http://instagram.com/p/nDogPKA8TX/?tagged=hilariaypd
A couple of things... One, either Hilaria is extremely short (I am only 5.2" myself) or her doorway is unusually large. Secondly, this pose was much scarier and harder than it looks. The look of terror on my face and the fact that I'm holding on to the door-frame for dear life says it all (and there's a safety chair under me).
9. The "Passed out in the middle of nowhere" pose
http://instagram.com/p/lpqYR5A8Zd/?tagged=hilariaypd
Ah, I'm very familiar with this pose and have found myself in it many times on various occasions. This was fun. My back-bend is not as deep as Hilaria's but my zoned-out state definitely is. (Thank you, sun stroke.)
10. The "I need a bigger car boot" pose
I think this is pretty self-explanatory. We were all rather squashed. *Sad face*
11. The "I'm gonna die any minute" pose
http://instagram.com/p/kkIXvyA8ex/?tagged=hilariaypd
This was NOT fun. I was scared. Very scared. I'm glad that even Hilaria admitted to being scared in this one. There is something insanely wrong with being upside-down on a flight of stairs and I hope that this is the one and only time I ever find myself in this position.
There was one more pose that I really wanted to try, the "Let's annoy the manicurist" pose...
http://instagram.com/p/l7p6rCg8eL/?tagged=hilariaypd
...but my manicurist told me not to be stupid and just sit in my chair quietly and behave.
Finally, the rest of the Lots of Yoga team suggested I do this one...
http://instagram.com/p/pyy6h1A8Yi/?tagged=hilariaypd
...but I flat out refused since I don't have a death wish. Madness, I tell you!
These crazy yoga pictures were very fun to do, and that's probably how Hilaria managed to get through a whole year of them. It's worth saying, though, that Hilaria probably had a lot of help with most of these poses and people on standby in case of yogic emergencies. Beginner yogis should not attempt this craziness. (I had to be rescued by the photographer from poses 8 and 11... but let's just keep that between us.)
Messing around with yoga can be fun, but make sure you stay safe. Did you guys try out your own crazy yoga poses? Send them to us, we'd love to see them!
