Want to do yoga but I'm not bendy enough

Just start - yoga is great.
Find somewhere with a good vibe - don’t go to a trendy gym with too much Lycra.
Nobody is bendy at beginning - going 🧘‍♀️ is the way to get bendy!😉

Even the beginner you tube videos I've found aren't any good though. They all seem to think that it's 'simple' to go from downward dog and 'simply' step one foot forward between your hands - I just can't!

Can you go to an in-person class? A good yoga teacher will offer all sorts of adaptations you can make. I can step from down dog to one foot forward with my right leg, but I find it harder with my left , so I do two steps. I can do some binds on one side, but not the other.

But in answer to your title, no-one is naturally bendy. It's gentle persistent practice, and stretching a little bit (to a point of mild discomfort if you want to) at specific moments in each session.

And yoga is weird - I'm 'bendy' in a civilian sense, but as a dancer (now very old) I'm actually below par on flexibility - I can do front splits but not box splits (straddle) etc etc. But in yoga, I look as stiff as a board! I can balance well in a pirouette position on my toes, but I find all the yoga balances really hard. So it's not about bendiness, it's about persistent practice. And gradually, your muscles learn. For me, my body is used to working in turnout, with specific muscles fired up to hold my leg at wait height & turned out. But yoga doesn't use turn out, so my muscles have to work differently to hold me up. I find it both frustrating and fascinating!

You could start by doing a more extended stretching session after your runs. I aim to stretch for 20 minutes after an hour of metcon training (heavy weights, followed by cardio) - I do that twice a week, in addition to yoga Pilates, and ballet. Can you add in some stretching after your runs?

I've been doing yoga on and off for years - and I still can't place my foot straight away like that...I shuffle or hop forward.

The more I do it the better I get!

I'm about to start Pilates and have the same issue. I'm not at all bendy, I'm quite stiff - which is one of the reasons I'm starting Pilates anyway. I've booked a one to one session with a highly recommended local teacher so she can assess my body and what I can and cant do.

There's no way I could do online classes as I just wouldn't keep up and would probably be doing it all wrong.

@FairyAtTheBottomOfTheGarden - I've been doing yoga on and off for years (I'm in early 40s) and am not at all bendy and never will be due to a congenital joint issue. I can't even sit cross legged, and no, I can't step one of my legs through my arms from downward dog. I can also barely bend my spine forward more than 90 degrees from sitting on the floor

You just find ways around all these things, instructors are used to this and will find ways around it. Blocks and straps are your friend! I still get a lot out of yoga without even a hope of getting more flexible.

Downward Dog yoga app is good, have been using every other day for the last year and goes at your own pace.

Yoga is about flexibility of your mind, not your body. It is not important to be able to touch your toes. Or put your leg behind your head.

Yoga with an instructor will help you to accept your body for what it is rather than telling yourself a story about what you cannot do.

I became an instructor at 40. I can’t do all poses it’s still a work in progress. I would love for you to find an instructor who will be able to help. I think online live classes would be better for you initially. Yoga with anyone on YouTube is dangerous when you haven’t been exposed to it before. I too like Adrienne but at least knew what downward facing dog felt like in my body before working with her.

Love Yoga With Adriene, but love my live classes more (my yoga studio is now streaming their live classes as well, so you could do either, they also have a 'catch up' membership so you can do their filmed classes anytime). I think even one live class a week would help with position understanding, and acceptance. But yes, the swinging foot up from down dog to meet your hands doesn't happen immediately (and might never happen - we're all built differently). I find it helps to shift my weight forward, while swinging my knee up, and yes looking forward, not down. I find Yoga with Adrienne also useful for little tips and tricks (particularly if doing one of her 30 days of yoga courses).

There's a phrase "You don't have to be bendy to do yoga any more than you have to be clean to have a bath." If you can fit in a few in person classes first I think you'll find it easier to understand what the videos are trying to get you to do.

@Glitterspy thanks for the tip , will try next time

P.s it helps with the foot thing to look up and forward when you’re swinging your leg. If your keep your head down and look at the floor, it’ll never get there

I agree that at least one face to face class first would be useful so you understand the poses. The beginner workshops are fab for this - a course of 6 or whatever lessons are good.

It's not about your bendiness - the beauty of yoga is that it is tailored just to you, and there's no scores given. You will see improvement over time.

Other than that, I agree that Adrienne is really lovely.

I’ve been doing classes for about 3 years and still can’t step my foot between my hands , I still lift and place with my hand

Yoga is all about BEING at your own speed and level of bendiness - it’s not a competition and we shouldn’t think in terms of being good or bad at it, rather what we want to get out of it that day, for ourselves. That’s it. We are all beginners in yoga in that way 🕉

Try searching for beginner Iyengar yoga, that is all about using props (straps and blocks) to get you “into” the right positions to get the benefits of yoga without having to be super bendy. It’ll also give you a fantastic foundation in doing the postures in the “right” way in terms of your body’s alignment.

Good luck and enjoy YOUR journey!. If you feel yoga is for you, it’s for you, regardless of how “bendy” you think you are! 💕

I love yoga with adriene but also for a very gentle intro to yoga look for a dru practitioner. I did this and it was such a revelation.

Oh and I’d also echo others - do not be daunted because you’re not as bendy as others! It’s just are you a little smidge more bendy than you were yesterday? If so, hurrah! 🥳

Another recommending Adrienne - in the first lockdown my friend and I video-called each other doing her course for beginners and it was great (although we were very, very much beginners who were trying to learn a bit and have some fun).

I do find in-person classes vastly easier to follow though - I do one which is callisthenics based and I gave up within minutes on a zoom class I thought I’d try because I was going to do myself/the house/innocent bystanders a mischief!

I'm a massive fan of yoga with Adrienne on you tube.

Me as well! She's great, all about feeling free in your body and doing what feels good.

I strongly recommend having a yoga block and strap, can pick up cheaply and makes the world of difference - while you're beginning, positions become enjoyable rather than feeling like a pretzel.

You definitely need a class at first as 1) teacher can tailor the explanations to you so it'll be easier and 2) it's much easier to learn poses when you know how they "feel" when done right, which you can't get from a video.
Some teachers offer one to one sessions which could be good to start.

I agree - join a live class that shows you interim movements.

I'm very bendy and have done yoga for years and I still can't do that foot between your hands basic move, even though I can easily put my pals on the floor next to my feet. But not the reverse. My yoga teacher has tried showing me various ways and has now given up and lets me put my other knee down first which somehow frees up the opposite foot (no idea why or why I can't do it.)

Or follow an online class but make a note of any moves you can't do and look up specific yoga videos on you tube for modified movements.

I spent years and years in a class building up to 'chair' and 'triangle' I quite literally couldn't do anything at all.
My present class includes downward dog which has,again taken me years to achieve.I cant do the simply let you feet meet your hands.
It's been a very slow journey indeed

I'm a massive fan of yoga with Adrienne on you tube.

There are lots of very gentle ones for beginners.

I started yoga (I'm 46) about a year ago as I was fit but not bendy at all.

You have to have a lot of patience. It's taken me daily yoga for a whole year to look anything like she does in the videos.

It's also the best thing I've ever done. It's slowly transformed my whole way of moving/standing and I'd never be without it.

It's very, very incremental (for me) I I do it because I enjoy it and the strength and bendiness just creeps up on you!

"Thanks for all your replies, but I don't want to do classes as I need to be flexible on the times of day."

Some teachers offer a 'class pass' so if you can't make one of their classes, you can go to another one.

Obviously as a Yoga teacher I would say this, but there's no substitute for a good teacher who will make it more personalised.

You'll get far more out of that (and it's more motivating).

Whatever you do, I hope you enjoy it - Yoga changed my life which is why I now teach. 😊

That's why you do yoga, to get a little more bendy! Just go as far as you can and you will get more flexible very quickly.

Some people never manage to get their foot between their hands in one go, it's just not possible for their body. Yoga is about finding what works for you and listening to your body. As you improve you will find some things become easier, whereas some things are always tough.

Yoga for Adriene is good for discussions about not pushing yourself too far. And the downdog app with the beginners Yoga is a fantastic free resource to start with. It's very prescriptive on how poses should be held to prevent injury.

Another vote for yoga with Adriene. She's great, and I'm the least bendy person on God's earth. I have done yoga with a teacher before though, so I do know the basic poses/terminology.