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Original poster

can we have a yoga thread?

56 replies

mileniwmffalcon · 05/02/2009 21:19

and can this be it?

i'd love to hear from anyone else who does/wants to practice yoga on a regular basis, particularly anyone who has a regular home practice.

i've been doing it on and off for years, sometimes with a teacher (the same one) and sometimes at home. between dds 1&2 i managed to find time to practise 3 or 4 times a week and i found i made a lot of progress then. i'm getting back into it again now, and i'm aiming to do a session at least weekly if i can't manage many more just yet.

eventually i'd love to have a daily practice, but finding a good time is always tricky. i've tried first thing in the morning, but i'm just too stiff, perhaps before bed would be better.

so come and tell me about your practice...

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Jackbunnysmama · 11/04/2009 00:40

Oh, isn't that funny, I used to be a runner too and found yoga when I got injured!

It's my birthday weekend as well as Easter so I haven't done anything since Weds... oh well, back at it tomorrow!

OonaghBhuna · 10/04/2009 20:16

I think the ashtanga ones are really hard if your body isnt used to them! The Shiva Rea ones are even harder! I used to try those when I was a complete beginner!!!
Im going to try an early morning session tomorrow with my adapted sun salutations!!! I feel so good afterwards, I wish I could motivate myself to do it more often, but lying on the sofa with chocolate ice cream is so tempting

Original poster
mileniwmffalcon · 10/04/2009 18:59

thanks for the tips oonagh, will keep on making roughly the right kinds of shapes and hope it improves

i missed my first early morning session this morning - great start, eh - but made it up this afty. i realised how hard it is to break out of a well-known sequence. i tried to do the ashtanga sun sals but just couldn't make my body do it, it was doing the sivananda one i've been doing for years whether i liked it or not

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OonaghBhuna · 10/04/2009 18:27

Mileniwmffalcon - I have had problems with the sun salutations too. However I learnt that its the position of your hands helps with the pose. So I think my hands used to be beneath my shoulders. I found that by just continuing to try it even though not elegantly gave me the strength that I needed for the fluid movement. Also practicing press ups helps
I used to be a runner and then found yoga. Now Im just unfit and pregnant for the third time. Have adapted my yoga to enjoy it while Im pregnant.

Original poster
mileniwmffalcon · 09/04/2009 21:14

sorry wasn't lolling @power yoga in itself, just at your picking it for a restart. hope you enjoyed the class. did you do power yoga before or did it come as a bit of a shock? i love a full-on class, i usually leave about a foot off the ground, although ours are pretty tame compared to ashtanga. does power yoga include stuff like arm balances, dropbacks, hand/headstand etc (the stuff i think of as advanced and would love to be able to do) or is it more your basic postures done quickly?

i overdid my session last night due mostly to accumulated frustration at not being able to exercise for the last week thanks to a bad cold. so now i still ache all over, but at least it's a healthy ache

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Jackbunnysmama · 09/04/2009 19:59

They call it power yoga where I go, it's based on Ashtanga. Hard!!!!

Original poster
mileniwmffalcon · 09/04/2009 19:40

lol @power yoga. tbh, even when i do Old Lady Yoga (TM) after a break i'm creaking and hobbling all over the place the next day

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Jackbunnysmama · 09/04/2009 19:33

I would love a yoga thread!! I just started again last weekend - but not with Hatha, like any sensible person who last exercised 15 months ago, but with power yoga - how stupid am I????? I was so sore!!!!

Will come back later, am just at work.

Original poster
mileniwmffalcon · 09/04/2009 19:17

i realise i'm at risk of sounding slightly unhinged talking to myself like this, but there's more of you out there, right? or only when the thread's dropped off the bottom of my threads, it seems

anyone got any tips for chatturanga dandasana (sp?!) the four limbed staff (sorry my terms are rusty!) pose? my teacher's always taught us the easy version from plank - "knees down, chin and upper chest down", followed by cobra. but since i'm working on my sun sals i thought i'd try my hand at the ashtanga version which (afaik) is chatturanga, up dog, down dog. but i can't do chatturanga i've found with so many poses it's just a question of someone talking you through it in the right way to magically get it, so can anyone offer any tips, or know of a good description? does it rely on arm strength or is there some other knack to it?

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Original poster
mileniwmffalcon · 09/04/2009 10:05

morning yoga peeps

i'm wary of making promises i can't keep, but i thought putting my intentions down in public might be motivating.

i'm just reaching the end of the couch to 5k running plan and i was really impressed at how quickly i managed to progress with a good programme and setting aside some time on a regular basis. but while i enjoy the running, and i'm going to keep it up, i don't really want to be a runner - i want to be a bendy yoga person

so i reckon if i can get up early 3 mornings a week to run i should easily be able to do the same to do yoga. i'm not going to aim too high, but if i can do a few sun salutations on the mornings i'm not running that would be a good start, right? and then i'll start back at my evening class once a week too.

will report back how i get on...

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Original poster
mileniwmffalcon · 19/03/2009 16:40

ooh hello everyone - i keep forgetting about this thread

i used janet balaskas's book preparing for birth with yoga, i enjoyed it, although i'm sceptical about whether it actually helped with my (long, back-to-back) labours. although i guess i could have ended up with at least one section if i hadn't done all the preparation i did, attempted homebirth etc.

second time i carried on with my normal, fairly strenuous, class during the first trimester but worked with my teacher on what i should and shouldn't be doing. i kind of lost momentum once i got into second trimester though, and haven't yet got back up to speed.

i did surprise myself by (briefly) managing wheel the other day, but i could only do crow by the skin of my teeth when i was practicing regularly so it won't be happening just yet shiva rea has an "abdominals" section in the audio i use which i've only lately even begun to attempt!

tell me more about bikram - is it full of tiny bendy girlies in hotpants as i imagine?

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christiana · 19/03/2009 09:51

Message withdrawn

OonaghBhuna · 18/03/2009 23:18

Poshtottie, I do understand how careful teachers need to be.I am fortunate in that i know which postures are safe in pregnancy.

I am sorry to hear about your friend, I had one at ten weeks a few years ago and when I eventually got pregnant again everyone advised me to take it easy for the first trimester.

Christiana- Is the post natal one worth getting? How would you rate it?!

poshtottie · 18/03/2009 21:38

Hi, I am a yoga teacher though doing my pregnancy yoga module at the moment. I found the pregnancy yoga class very tame too as was teaching myself and going to classes but yoga is an individual practice and when teaching in a class situation a teacher has to be very careful.

My friend who is also a yoga teacher had a miscarriage around week 10 but she was teaching 12 classes a week. She can't be sure it was the yoga but it is a possiblility.

christiana · 18/03/2009 20:29

Message withdrawn

OonaghBhuna · 18/03/2009 13:57

I do Shivas pregnancy DVD too. The classes tend to be for people who only take up yoga when they are pregnant so for people like us who practice they are really disapointing.

Can anyone recommend a good post natal dvd?

christiana · 17/03/2009 18:47

Message withdrawn

OonaghBhuna · 17/03/2009 18:03

Is Bikrim the hot yoga? whats it like?

WhereTheWildThingsWere · 17/03/2009 17:18

Oooooh a Yoga thread, how exciting , I do Bikram, it's fantastic, anyone else?

sachertorte · 17/03/2009 17:15

Not so many of us into yoga then? I found in via Wii Fit so about as inauthentic as it gets!? would love to know more about it, especially the meditation/philosophical element. Can u recommend any DVDs? Can´t really make it to a class, just do c 30 mins every day..

OonaghBhuna · 17/03/2009 17:04

Hi there, I am a yoga fanatic. have been practicing for a few years now. I discovered a fab teacher who I was going to twice a week. He is from Nepal and has been doing yoga since he was seven. His classes are a mixture of sun salutations and deep strengthening.We also do alot of breathing, chanting, meditiation.
I am pregnant with my 3rd child so have had to stick to my yoga DVDs, although I do enjoy home practice.
I also have Shiva Rea DVDs ummm they are hard but have found recently that I am getting into more of the intermediate poses, well until recently. I think its going to be a while before I can do wheel pose or crow...

deste · 10/03/2009 22:56

Hatha yoga there is no music. I also do Body Balance which is a mixture of Tai Chi, Yoga and Pilates so Power Yoga is closer to that than Hatha, although the moves are similar. You dont get mixed up though. Power Yoga is continuous and is explained as you go or for something more complicated is demonstrated first. The Power Yoga teacher is younger than the Hatha Yoga teacher and really flexible, in fact she is amazing and makes it enjoyable and fun. The Hatha Yoga is more relaxed.

Original poster
mileniwmffalcon · 10/03/2009 21:50

do you find you get confused between the different types deste, or can you draw on things you learn in one to take to another? there are differences e.g. between the sun salutations i've learned with my teacher and the ones shiva rea uses - i often find myself halfway to the wrong posture whenever she goes at any speed!

one of the things i dearly love about my teacher is that she doesn't use any music - i tend to find it really distracting. good job there's so many different types to keep us all happy

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deste · 10/03/2009 18:53

Hi I do the yoga at a local gym, in Aberdeen. The power yoga is faster more intense but you feel as if you have done a bit of a workout. Yoga fusion is done to music but has not started yet as the timetable changes shortly. Our teacher also talks a lot, telling little stories etc, some relevant some not.

Original poster
mileniwmffalcon · 07/03/2009 22:09

ooh hello i didn't realise this thread was still going

where do you do your yoga deste? i can imagine the chanting might feel out of place in a gym for example. i started with a group of old ladies in a daytime class, and i have to say i didn't feel particularly comfortable with it at first. but it makes so much more sense in our evening group because everyone's completely into it, the vibrations go right through you

i've never heard of yoga fusion, i'd love to hear how you find it. oh and tell me about power yoga, how does it differ from your hatha class? am v at 3 yoga sessions a week.

i work much harder in a class too shamum. i'm doing a drawing class in the evenings at the moment but i think when this term finishes i'll go back to yoga for my "escape" evening, i miss it. i find i can do the physical part at home, but i like the philosophical bits i get from class as well as a sense of community and perspective. my teacher talks a lot, often seemingly at random. i know some people really don't like it, but i've found it a really important part of deepening my understanding.

i'm happy to report i've been managing my once a week home practise and my plough has come back

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