Do you do yoga?

[Cloud44]

If you do, how often do you practice and what benefits do you find?
I would love to get back into it but need to get motivated!

I used to. Not anymore.
But I enjoyed YogaBody online courses, especially the stretching stuff.

I go to a local class once a week. I always feel better for it & I’m far more flexible than I used to be, but I’m really seeing the effects now I’ve started doing strength training at the gym. A lot of the exercises my PT’s got me doing are similar to yoga asanas & my body already knows what it’s doing.

Yes, I have done so for the last 20 years. I do 2 classes a week and some on my home at need be if I need to. It keeps me moving and supple (I have problems with my back and hips) as well as allowing me to focus my mind which I love.

No. Yoga and running are
Not for me, I've tried! I swim, I lift weights and do powerwae.

Yes, one or two classes a week of very gentle yoga designed for people with injuries etc. It has helped a lot with my aches and pains. I should practice more at home.

Love yoga, Pilates and BodyBalance.

Yes, it makes a huge difference to how I feel physically and mentally. Also, I see old people with no mobility or flexibility so that is my motivation to do it now before it’s too late to start.

I mostly do yoga on Youtube (Adriene, Cole Chance, Jessica Richburg) or using the DownDog app before work, occasionally in the evening, for 20-30 minutes. I like the time just focusing on my body. I have done classes in the past - they were particularly valuable when my kids were little and it meant so much to kind of just have my body to myself, as it were.

Incidentally, I have a hip joint problem that means I'm not very bendy at all, in fact I can't even sit cross-legged - so please don't be put off by thinking 'Oh, I'm not flexible' or 'I'd look rubbish in a class' or anything. If I can do it, so can you!

I work with yoga teachers and it's amazing to see the women in their 60s and 70s how insanely fit, strong and healthy they are. It's the most inspiring thing.

Yoga is a way of life not just a physical movement

I just started 3 weeks ago, at home, just 15 mins a day for beginners in front of you tube. I am already a little stretchier and stronger which I needed as I kept pulling tendons doing normal things like walking up a steep hill or carrying heavy shopping.

It has even inspired me to start pilates - only 10 minutes a day mind - it's pretty tough going for a total beginner! In only a couple of weeks my core (trunk, hips and thighs I think?) is already getting stronger. I can walk up my own stairs without my kneecaps twinging which has been happening for a couple of years.

I hate public classes so this suits me perfect - I can also go at my own pace and not be embarrassed or put off when everyone else does it so easily. Also classes are an hour! I don't have the strength, time or money for that.

Yep. Ashtanga yoga for almost 20 years. Best thing I EVER did was walk into that first class.

I do 20/25 mins most day using online yoga videos. I have done classes in the past so knew the basics already but I have to fit it in where I can these days. I love it. There's a friendly thread in the yoga section of us doing online yoga.

I do it as a complement to my running. I think it helps prevent injuries, but as a bonus, I am visibly more toned and stronger, and I was never flabby!

I do 2-3 hot yoga classes a week plus one yin class, and I’m trying to establish a yin practice at home.

It is so good for you- body, mind and spirit.

I do it first thing every morning at home in my PJ’s. I do around 25 mins, so not a huge amount but doing it regularly keeps me strong and supple.

I do two classes a week at my local leisure centre, plus 1-2 classes of Bodybalance, which includes some yoga.

I'm in my 60s, am overweight and have arthritis in both knees and one hip. My wrists are also weak. There are certain things I just can't do. But every month or so I notice that I have been able to do something that I couldn't do before. For example my balance is much better than it was, my stretches are deeper and my knees allow things that they didn't allow 6 months ago.

I will never be as good as most of the people n the class but that's fine. As the instructor always says, don't compare yourself with the others (or indeed with her) just try to improve yourself.

About 4 classes a week. The best thing I did was going to the first one as an experiment. I'm stronger, much more flexible and can do a few things I initially thought were impossible. However, as a pp said, yoga is a state of mind too. One teacher has given a mantra I return to in trying times, another a breathing technique. I love it.

Yes. 20 minutes a day at home. I can't really say it keeps me flexible as I'm not but I would definitely be less flexible and weaker without it!

No. I have always felt that yoga is something I should do as it all sounds so good on paper. Alas, with three determined attempts to get into it (as in attending classes for weeks), I can't. I am unable to focus my mind in the way you're supposed to and I simply get bored.

I've just started. 30 minutes every few days. I go to the gym regularly but found my muscles were so tight, particularly my hips and my back kept twinging. I've always been disparaging about yoga as it's so slow but I've had to eat my words - after only 3 beginner sessions my back already feels so much better. I'm definitely going to keep going with it and try to become stronger and more flexible.

Yes 5 times a week or I get stabby.

Not anymore - couldn't find an appropriate class at a suitable time. I've got an app called Bend which I quite like.

Yes, in quite a DIY way. I started doing Yoga with Adriene in lockdown, it was as much a mental health thing as a physical health thing then.

Then I dropped the videos and just wing it with my own routines, whatever I feel like. I work from home and aim to do 10 min every weekday, 15 minutes time taken including changing into leggings etc! To be honest I never manage that but if I stop altogether I definitely feel more achy and stiff around the shoulders so that helps with immediate motivation. Longer term I’m in my mid-40s and I like the idea of protecting my bones, flexibility and posture as I get older.

It took me about 6 years to actually start liking yoga, I only started it because I had backache. The backache disappeared and it improved my posture so I carried on with it even though I found it boring. I like running because you can set yourself little goals, improve your times etc but yoga just isn’t like that. Sometimes I told myself I had to do it or Adriene would be disappointed 😳😂

Now I quite like it, I aim for 2-3 practices a week.

Started to get my backache sorted, then kept going because I've learned so much.

Would like to get back to a daily practise. Teacher encourages me to set out to do ten minutes, start breathing then let my body tell me what it wants to do, noticing what feels stiff or tight and move that part. Then keep going.

I'll be 64 this year and my body is in getter shape than it has been certainly ever since adolescsnce, mostly due to moving and learning yoga things. .