Has yoga changed your life and if so how?

[C1239]

I’ve heard from a few people and read online that yoga has changed their life. Has this happened for you and if so how?

It should be shoes off, no talking, take it very seriously, lots of discipline, no getting smashed off your head the night before and it should be very spiritual

THIS ^ STATEMENT COULD NOT BE MORE ANTI YOGA !!

If you are new to yoga or thinking of starting to explore your practice, please disregard this statement. Yoga 'should be' what you want it to be.

Yogi recommendations on YouTube:

Erin Five Parks (down to earth and humble, amazing instructor)
Kassandra - gentle and easy going demeanour
Adriene - sweet and humble.. loads of content..talks too much for me

@C1239
I wonder if I’m practising ‘wrong’, as I enjoy it but I don’t know if I feel any benefits

Can I suggest exploring the different disciplines of yoga. I used to feel like you, I didn't get anything from Hatha but I now love Rocket (power yoga, dynamic and advanced) and Yin (simple practice where the asanas (postures) are held for longer periods of time than in other styles, I get really tight so love deep stretches )

It should be shoes off, no talking, take it very seriously, lots of discipline, no getting smashed off your head the night before and it should be very spiritual

Apart from shoes off (I’ve never seen anyone in a yoga class with shoes on), this comment is exactly the sort of sentiment that puts people off doing yoga.

It should be whatever you want it to be. Half-hearted is just fine. Concentration is great but my mind wanders often. I don’t find it remotely spiritual because I’m not that way inclined. I find a too long savasana at the end really boring. And if I want to do yoga after being shit faced the night before, that’s my prerogative.

I would say yes it has. I have done a highly competitive sport on and off during my life that requires a lot of flexibility so I find yoga quite easy. What I love about it is that there is no competition or pressure to achieve or external goal other than mastering the asanas and I find that liberating. Stretching in general is relaxing as it releases tension from the muscles but there seems to be an emotional depth to yoga that makes me quite emotional sometimes.

*didn't mean to repeat emotional

It should be shoes off, no talking, take it very seriously, lots of discipline, no getting smashed off your head the night before and it should be very spiritual

Bollocks.

If you want to follow the strict traditions of yoga, fill your boots (or not, since you'll have taken off your shoes).

If you want to do a bit of stretching on a mat whilst listing to twinkly music then crack on.

Getting all 'purist' and 'my yoga practice is better than yours' is just going to put people off trying something that could well be of benefit to them

You won't find serious in my classes even though they're very true to yogic roots - we do some bonkers stuff and the more laughing the better.

Yes it has, I am a 24/7 carer for a severely ill DD now aged 21. I never leave the house and I cannot exercise outside. I've been doing yoga with Adrienne for almost 5 years now and it gives me focus, I am able to carry more, reach and stretch and it protects my back. I love the feeling it gives me and I try to do it almost every day. If DD ever gets better I want to train to teach yoga

Ooh I want to do Yin. I like to feel the streeettcchhhhhhhhhhh

@Frangipanini that's total crap I'm afraid. Yoga is different for everyone. If you like the severe weird kind that's fine but don't impose it on everyone else

Yoginut thank you, I’ll stick with what I can do comfortably atm and speak to my GP when I can.

Just tried Kassandra. Think I may be a convert, sorry Adriene.

She had this one where you go into tabletop position or whatever it's called, on knees and hands. Then you push the tops of your feet down on the carpet, and raise your knees a tiny bit off the ground! Holy shit, that was hard. But so simple! I'm definitely going to do that as often as I can.

@Elspeth 'hovering tabletop' is great! And YWA often has it. Good to know about other teachers though

The great thing about yoga is you can get really good at it fast, not that you can be 'bad at it'.. perhaps a better way to phrase it would be you develop your practice really quickly. You feel yourself getting stronger every time you get on the mat. Like @Elspeth pointed out, the table top asana felt challenging, but every time you do it, you will feel stronger.... one thing I will also add is never compare yourself to others' flexibility, we are all different, I have been practising for years but my feet still don't sit flat on the floor in downward dog!

It's definitely made me more flexible. When I started, I couldn't do Tuesdays or Fridays. Now I can do Tuesdays and every other Friday.

I am loving this thread. Because I damaged my sacro-iliac joint, I can't do big 90 minute classes like I used to and to be honest I had just given up in favour of pilates.

But just did a Kassandra 10 mins and it was amazing! Ten mins a day would be great for me.

A more yoga-pilates person is Pilates & Yoga with Katja - great if you have had injuries and want to take the easy road in.

Loving the that hilariously pretentious description of yoga on page 1, including how awful the yoga is in England 😂

I love Adriene for yoga, she is just fab. I also think Rachel Brathen does quite good yoga, but I find her pretty annoying generally so have steered clear!

Bugger, I read that as "Has yoghurt changed your life..." I really need to go to specsavers!

@Peonyonpoint
Sorry to divert but I've also damaged mine... How long has it been bad for if you don't mind me asking? Are you doing any specific exercises to support? (Obviously feel free not to answer!)

I'm going to look at Kassandra 10 minutes tomorrow.

@doadeer several years, I had a lot of physio therapy in a London hospital (it was really bad but I was young and healthy and ‘did lots of yoga’ so no one least of all me took it seriously. I still suffer pain from it now and in my hips generally but physio-led pilates over several years has made the world of difference. I can’t really do any yoga poses like warrior or triangle or deep hip stretches as they put pressure on the joint and make it flare up. So yoga online is ideal as I can dip in and out. Again, pilates & yoga with katja is a good type of thing for me. But no twisting the pelvis!

This sounds like a very ‘research-y’ thread to me. Writing an article about the benefits of yoga??

I've been going to yoga classes on and off for 20 years or so, and for me it's essential that I get the right teacher, otherwise I don't stick to the class. I've recently discovered the Down Dog app, it's great! There's lots of different options, you can vary the length, difficulty, speed and focus of the practice. The free version doesn't have as many options but it's still great. The explanations are very clear, better than some teachers I've had! I've been doing a practice a day for a couple of weeks now (I started with 15 minutes!) and my strength and flexibility have already improved!

@Lilyamna do bore off. So what, we are all sharing information and helping each other. If someone used it to help even more that that is actually a good thing...

I dream of feet flat on the floor in DD, has anyone initially inflexible managed this? If so, after how long? I do Adreinne for 20-30 a day but might move to the Downward Dog app now

I didn't think it was someone doing research really. Yoga can be controversial. The I think it was netflix programme about Bikram (the ban behind bikram yoga) was interesting although it doesn't stop my finding the sequences useful and many churches find yoga unacceptable as it is not based on Christianity or something - some church halls ban it.

I always liked the idea that the most important bit was lying on your back breathing, being still....... probably why yoga is my best kind of exercise!