Yoga at Home for Absolute Beginners!

Beginners Yoga: How Yoga Relaxes You and Can Relieve Pain

This photo above shows the well-known child pose which is an excellent "pose of repose" that I go into between other poses.  The type of gentle yoga I do is excellent for beginners (and non-athletes!) because it emphasizes slow and simple poses with pauses in between that can help you relax and relieve stress. 

The other day I was thumbing through one of my back issues of the Yoga Journal, a publication that has been dedicated to yoga for 35 years.  I came across a fascinating article discussing the relaxation and pain relief that yoga can bring to people suffering from fibromyalgia, a curious chronic pain disorder that wasn't officially recognized by the American Medical Association until 1987.  Its sufferers feel like they have writers cramp in all their muscles throughout their entire body all at once along with often crippling fatigue, headaches, and insomnia.

Fortunately, the regular practice of yoga has helped alleviate the pain of fibromyalgia sufferers because yoga helps elongates the muscles that have become constricted and cramped up causing pain.  Yoga returns muscles to their normal length and also shifts the nervous system out of a stress response into a relaxation response.  For one woman with fibromyalgia, yoga practice has enabled her to increase her range of motion, decrease her pain, and improve her sleep.  How wonderful!  You don't have to have such a disorder to benefit from yoga, so go roll out your yoga mat right now.... 

Serenely yours,

Laura Venecia Rodriguez

  
 

Beginners Yoga: What We Can Learn from the Yoga Athletes!

Last weekend, the woman who is doing this amazing gravity-defying yoga pose, Kathryn Budig, came into Washington, DC to teach two workshops including "Flight of the Yogi:  Arm Balances & Inversion" at the Washington Convention Center.  No, I wasn't there - if I did attend such a workshop, I would claim to be a journalist writing a story because no way would I dare touch down on a yoga mat in such a class!

Ms. Budig is a yoga teacher and model who is often featured in such pretzel poses in the Yoga Journal magazine. I admire Ms. Budig for her physical prowess and strength.  In my view, though, the kind of yoga she specializes in likely intimidates the average person and no doubt alienates the non-athletes like me.  Ms. Budig says that she helps her students build up to such handstands as the one shown by teaching them "simpler moves such as the crow."  Simpler????  Well, maybe simpler - but not easier!  The crow as shown below is another yoga pose that I doubt I could ever do.  Do you have to be able to master such challenging poses to benefit from yoga?  No - I don't believe so as demonstrated by my own experience.  

 

But, we non-athletes can learn a thing or two from Ms. Budig.  Persistence, patience, and the willingness to fall flat on her face doing such poses eventually led to her success. So, remember, even when your muscles and ligaments feel as tight and taut as a guitar string, consistent practice and gravity will enable you to become more flexible and supple even with the simplest poses.  And, I agree with her view about learning yoga poses, "It really shows us how much untapped potential we have."  That along with revealing our innate health is one of the key benefits of yoga...in my opinion.  You can check out Ms. Budig's website at http://www.KathrynBudig.com.

Flexibly yours,

Laura Venecia Rodriguez

  
 

Beginners Yoga: Why Do Yoga Daily?

I am getting close (finally) to finishing my beginners yoga book for non-athletes.  I have sent chapters out to friends for their honest feedback  - both in terms of content, style, and editorial corrections.  One friend suggested that I not advise my readers that they do yoga 5-6 times a week because many people are too busy to fit that much practice in each week.

Yes- many of us feel quite "busy."  Often too busy to exercise...!  The idea of having to do yoga daily seems unrealistic or expecting too much of the average person.  Well, don't most (maybe not all...) people brush their teeth, shower, and get dressed daily?  They would not consider skipping that routine except on occasion or maybe on a day they're staying at home - but, they do it daily most of the time because it's part of their lifestyle to maintain good hygiene and a decent appearance.  You can apply the same philosophy to your yoga practice.

I take a 5-10 second "commute" downstairs to my family room to do my 25-30 minute practice which enables me to stay slim, supple, and serene.  I do this daily except for once a week when I allow myself to sleep in because of a late bedtime the previous night. Allocating half an hour to yoga a day is hardly a huge time commitment and the gains I experience in energy more than make up that time investment. Incorporating yoga as part of your "lifestyle."  Yoga is not a quick fix and your practice should not be about "getting" in shape, but about creating an overall healthy approach to life. Our bodies were designed to move daily- not every few days.  If you have a sedentary job like mine, daily yoga is a must.  You're not going to convince me otherwise.

Yours for daily yoga,

Laura Venecia Rodriguez
 

Beginners' Yoga: What you can learn from Sting and Wife Trudie Styler

We periodically learn about celebrities devoted to yoga for staying slim, supple, and serene. Among them are rock singer, Sting, and his wife, Trudie Styler.  The latest issue of Yoga Journal features an interview with the dynamic duo about how yoga has become an integral part of their lifestyle.  First seeking a way to lose post pregnancy weight, Styler has been practicing yoga for the past 19 years and takes classes in whatever towns her travels take her along with meditating upon waking and before going to sleep.  Sting, who you have to admit looks quite buff when giving concerts, practices yoga for 60-90 minutes a day.

Trudie credits yoga with clarifying where she is with her life and giving her the courage to fight social injustice in such causes as opposing the actions of large oil companies that have infringed upon and devastated the lives of indigenous people in Ecuador.  Sting says that yoga gives him more energy and inspires the creativity he needs for song writing because of the control, discipline, and emotion he gains from along with the physical benefits.  Trudie also says that yoga has enhanced their relationship..."yoga practice is an exercise in listening, and it teaches you to tune into your relationships."

Granted, not many of us can host yoga retreats at our estate in Tuscany, Italy or practice 60-90 minutes a day as Sting and Trudie do. We can, however, clearly see how yoga's benefits go far beyond the mat....

Wisdom of the Day:  "Like music, yoga is a journey, one that is long enough so you can keep developing and keep learning.  I don't see an end to it."~ Sting