Yoga at Home for Absolute Beginners!

Simple Savvy Steps for Yoga Success: Your Progress is Not Linear

Besides starting out gradually with your daily yoga program (check out 90+-year old Jack Lalanne on youtube.com - he still exercises 7 - yes seven times a week - although I don't think he does yoga), be aware that your progress will not be linear!  No.  Sometimes, you may see remarkable improvements in your ability to stretch and move into new poses in just a few days.  Other times, weeks- months- and maybe even a year could elapse before you master certain poses. This has definitely been my experience.  I have found the plough, which stretches the spine strenuously, particularly challenging.  My feet cannot always reach the ground during morning sessions. Have no fear!  You still benefit from your practice regardless of how far you can stretch on a given day. Getting quiet, staying present and attentive to your body, mind, and spirit as you practice reaps many rewards. Just do what you can in a given moment without straining or pulling.  Your progress over time is assured!

Yoga Quote of the Day:  "It is when people start to practice at home that the real insights occur.  In class, the teacher sets the pace...At home, you learn to listen to you body and breathe to move at your own pace."  Rodney Yee (well-known yoga instructor)

Simple Savvy Steps for Yoga Success: Start Out Slowly!

The other day, a work colleague came by my office to share some news stories he had read on his PC.  One story detailed the method a young woman, formerly a high school athlete, used to regain her slim high school figure.  Apparently, she gained much more than the "freshmen 15" pounds when she went to college.  She spent all her time studying and eating in college and did not keep up her sports.  And, she ballooned!  A couple of years out of college she decided she was fed up with her large size.  Over about a year's time she lost over 60 pounds through greater attention to what she ate and by incrementally increasing her activity level.  This IS the key to success in yoga, too.  She started jogging for literally less than 1 minute a day.  She built up to two minutes and compounded the time over the next few weeks and months.  She ultimately lost her excess college weight and got back into shape.  If you have not exercised in years or never have been too active, you will definitely need to take "baby steps" as you learn the yoga poses.  As I said in one of my first postings, take things easy, don't force yourself, don't strain.  Pain is a warning signal!  No pain is gain in gentle hatha yoga. If a pose is ultimately to be held for a minute, just start with 3 to 5 seconds, whatever you find comfortable.  Add a few seconds a week.  I promise you, starting out slowly will keep you in the yoga game.  Patience and persistence will enable you to succeed.  Some poses are much easier to master than others.  I still can't do certain poses say first thing in the morning when I wake up.  But, I always benefit by doing what I can through consistent practice.  So will you!

Yoga Quote of the Day:  Constant practice alone is the secret of success. (Hatha Yoga Pradipika)

Simple Savvy Steps for Yoga Success: Your Daily Practice - Just Do It!

Consistent, daily (okay - you can have a day or two off each week) practice of hatha yoga truly is important to reap its wondrous results.  Oddly, even though our modern lifestyle is replete with technological advances and conveniences to minimize our chores (for example, you toss your clothes into the washer and then throw them into the dryer - not too many people walk to the local creek to spend hours beating the dirt out of their clothes on a nearby rock), people complain they're too busy to squeeze in time for yoga or any other physical routine. Yes, we're busy.  But, if you want to really feel spectacular every day (or virtually so), daily yoga practice is vital. Just before turning 25 (and please, don't try to guess how many years ago that was!), I made a commitment to exercise at least 5 to 6 times a week. At that time I was doing only a little yoga - my exercise staple became jogging -- a boyfriend had just dumped me, and yes - I wanted to show him!  But, no, more importantly, I just KNEW daily exercise was essential for staying in shape, forever, or as close to forever as I could get!  Our modern, sedentary lifestyle often leads to rigid, untoned, bodies by our earlier 20s, if we don't regularly MOVE and STRETCH. Granted, occasional emergencies and unexpected events can throw us off kilter and cause us to miss a yoga practice. Most days, though, we have our general routine of work, play, and rest. I don't buy into people telling me that they can't carve out at least 30 minutes somewhere in their schedule to devote to yoga or any other exercise.  If you just had a baby (or an injury or surgery), you're excused for a couple of months.  Newborns tend to lead to complete exhaustion from their feedings every two hours.  But, after that rough stage is over, resume at least 15-20 minutes of daily exercise.  Just DE-CIDE. I once heard a motivational speaker say that "decision means to cut off any other options."  If necessary, tell a friend that you will give him or her a $100 bill or otherwise incur some creative penalty if you don't stick to a daily yoga practice for at least 21-30 days - Then, as the Nike cliche says, "Just Do It."  It works, if you work it.

Yoga Quote of the Day:  Yoga is 99% practice and 1% knowledge.  ~Sri Krishna Pattabhi Jois