Tell me why you like yoga….. the benefits? Worth it?

[LongLimbs]

Thinking of starting yoga because I feel like my ligaments and joints are weak. I’m early 40’s have a sore hip, knees, shoulder and have no core strength.

I’d love to lose a few pounds too but more interested in yoga from a health perspective.

Why do you like it and what do you get from it?

Oooh what's rocket yoga?

Oh rocket is amazing! It’s Ashtanga without the stick up its arse 🤣, it’s fun and accessible and HARD but doesn’t take itself too seriously and will get you there quicker!

I’ve not really noticed benefits to my mental health when I’ve tried it before, am I doing it wrong?!

I love yoga. I do at least an hour of yin every evening before I go to bed. It helps a lot with my fibromyalgia pain and really quiets my mind. When my pain is less bad, I do hatha or vinyasa as well. When I can't sleep, I do Yoga Nidra. When I feel really, really bad, I do some restorative yoga, which my kids refer to as taking a nap on a cushion.

I'm in less pain, I'm more flexible, my balance is better, but, more than that, I can use my breath to create calm, my MH is better, I can cope with things like my pain better.
I am a bit of an alternative health/spiritual weirdo and like to focus on balancing my energy flows etc.
I just do it online because I'm not really fit enough to travel to classes because of all my health conditions. My favourites are Melissa West, Kassandra and Devi Daly. I honestly can't say enough about how much better I feel because of them.

Personally I find I get the mental health benefits only from going to in person classes. If I do an online class or YouTube class I’m going through the motions a bit more rather than being fully immersed in the class, my brain struggles to get into yoga mode and is still whirring around if I’m trying to do it at home. The breathing exercises still help me sleep though and it’s obviously good for physical health so still worth doing, it’s just not such a holistic experience for me at home.

Personally I find I get the mental health benefits only from going to in person classes.

Yes. I found a lovely small local class where numbers range between 3 & 10 of us & it’s the companionship as much as the exercise.

Yes I'd say the same. Doesn't help that the only space I have to do it in, I'm surrounded by toys and clutter!

Yoga can be for fitness - you have to be fit to take a dynamic vinyasa class !
Yoga is many things and takes many forms - yoga means union - of mind body , spirit and breath to create the whole .
Sometimes this means sweating it out in a hot yoga studio doing ashtanga . Other times it's laying under a blanket listening to a sound bath - and then there's everything in between .
The purpose of yoga is not to get you fit - but many forms will increase fitness .

I'd recommend starting with a class if you can. However if Youtubing, it can be a but of a minefield choosing one as there is so much choice. I like Sarah Beth Yoga as she is very serene and calm, also has nice background music (I like Adienne's 30 day things but she has a habit of talking a bit too much for me!)

I started with Yoga with Adrienne, which is great for alignment and modifications, I had done some in person classes years before, so had muscle memory!

I have this too.