Wave Exercise Guide to Finding Your Inner ‘Wogi’

I know what you’re thinking. Is Wogi even a word? To be honest, we’re not sure, but after extensive research into the realm of Water Yoga, we’re certain that it should be.

Now let us take you to Hot Tub Yoga, where novices and klutzes alike can display their teething problems from the comfort of their back gardens as they try to stay fit during the lockdown.

At Wave, we believe there is a viable new way to be kind to your body and your mind all at once. Self-care does not have to mean running a 10k across frosty pavements at 5 am, nor does it have to mean indulging in your nightly chocolate orange as you chuckle through I’m a Celeb like a Gogglebox cast member. Woga is a blissful intermediary, comfortably situated in 40-degree water between the ‘wellbeing’ extremes.

The fact is, not all of us are fans of ‘PDF’ =  public displays of fitness. Flaunting one’s lycra-clad glutes glistening under the summer sun is not everybody’s reality. Some of us, without naming names, prefer to have our teething problems concealed by the fortified walls of our garden fence.

Cue Woga. The beauty of water-based sports is that they support a large portion of the body’s weight, reducing the muscle strain encountered in regular exercise. Woga is therefore ideal for pensioners, those suffering from chronic conditions, or those in a post-operative state who are weary of over-exerting. 

Consider your attention grabbed, here are Wave’s top Woga moves that can be done from the comfort of your hot tub.

The Boat: This position is perfect for the water, if you’ll pardon the pun. Yoga often requires perfect balance as a prerequisite, let the walls of your tub aid your balance in this core building stretch. The perfect way to work on your abs without straining your back!

The Kneeling Twist: Almost certainly not the sanskrit term - through kneeling on one knee and twisting your torso in the opposite direction with arms raised, this move can improve spinal flexibility whilst simultaneously improving digestion. The bonus of the Woga version is, if you fall, it hurts significantly less.

The Table-top: See the terrible anglicisation of the Sanskrit parsvottanasana. This flat-back style lunge is great for your front legs, and also a route to increasing flexibility, meaning you can perfect a split for your post-lockdown dancefloor trick. As water breaks down fluids in the muscle that cause aching post-workout, Woga allows you to contort without fear. Doing so with hands in reverse namaste is also great for opening up your chest and improving respiration.

Neck rotation: Kiss goodbye to cricks forming from long days hunched over the office computer. Facing forward, rotate each arm laterally and follow with your neck into profile position. The resistance of the water against the arm glide helps to ensure a healthy motion at a tempo that won’t result in whiplash.

Simon Says: Touch your toes. In a lunge style split, inhaling as you stretch to reach your toes, this Woga technique creates great lung expansion and improves flexibility without the challenge of reaching your toes from the standing position - perfect for our older or less mobile customers.

And finally, our personal favourite, the ‘Wall Dog’: A Wogi variation of ‘down dog’, utilise the wall of the hot tub for support (from tabletop into hip thrust towards wall into a deep backbend). This exercise is a great way for *trigger warning issued* speeding up metabolism. Lockdown has challenged many of our relationships with our body, especially when we are already battling the psychological strain of solitude. 

Woga unites every well-being coach's endorsement of Relaxation and Mindfulness with a focus on improved health in turn. Committing to an evening of therapy-focused laziness has never been so judgement-free, nor so accessible. 

To aid your Wogi journey, our foam headrests provide serene comfort while the rest of your body does the work. Similarly, our seat cushions work as booster chairs for improved spinal positioning and propelling you to air level for greater upper-body mobility in your workout.