Yoga at Home for Absolute Beginners!

Yoga at Home: You Really Can Learn Yoga from a Book or Article!

I often hear yoga experts and instructors caution that the best and only safe way to learn yoga is in a class. I don't question the value of a savvy yoga instructor who knows how to demonstrate and teach all the essentials of how to do yoga poses.  

However, my general lack of coordination and ability to keep up with an instructor unless they go super slowly, prevents me from learning effectively in a class.  Maybe I just haven't gone to enough classes or sampled enough teachers to find a good match.  However, I have preferred learning yoga from detailed, step-by-step writtten instructions and photos. I learned most of the yoga poses I do in my daily regime from books and articles. And, I have not injured myself in over 40 years of yoga practice.

The other day as I was catching up on back issues of Yoga Journal, I read a letter to the editor that supported my position about the value of learning from written instructions.  A man wrote that he felt a particular yoga pose, the Hanumanasana, (one that I don't do - at least not yet) shown below seemed beyond reach when he tried to do it in a yoga class.  He said in a class he could not get his pelvis closer than 8 inches from the floor.  Yet, after he read an article in the September 2011 issue Yoga Journal on how to do it, he said he was able to successfully execute the pose two attempts later.  That's impressive, I'd say!  

He was able to master the above challenging yoga pose after reading details in an article.  So, yes, yoga newbie, you CAN learn yoga from a book or article.  And, that's why I wrote my book, Yoga at Home: Gain Energy, Flexibility, and Serenity in 20-30 Minutes a Day, to enable people who don't like classes or can't get to a class, to learn at home.  You CAN do it!

 

Yours for learning yoga from books and articles,

Laura Venecia Rodriguez, The Beginners Yoga at Home Coach

 

 

Yoga at Home: Ease into 2012 to Keep Your Health Commitment!

January 2, 2012 - The Key to Instilling New Good Habits

This is the second day of 2012 and like many people, perhaps you wrote down your New Year's resolutions yesterday or you're finishing them today. And, you feel determined to achieve them!  Yesterday I heard a radio news story that reported, not surprisingly, that the top New Year's resolutions include getting more exercise, losing weight, and developing overall healthier habits.

That's all fine - but, don't you sometimes feel that every New Year people are living out Bill Murray's character in the movie Ground Hog Day?  Remember how every morning he wakes up ready to embrace the new day only to discover he is re-living the exact same previous difficult day?

How many times/years/Januarys have you made New Year's resolutions to get healthier, eat better, lose weight, and get fit?  Did you start out the New Year all jazzed to finally achieve all those laudable goals once and for all?  In my Toastmaster club I recall people giving speeches in January about their commitment to follow through on their goals this year once and for all.  Yet sadly, a month or two later, they slid back into their old patterns and by year's end, they returned to square one.

It's commonly known that fitness centers, gyms, and exercise classes of all sorts are jammed in January. By February, the crowds start to thin and people are no longer vying for a parking space at the gym or in the class.  By March or April, sadly, some exercise venues become ghost towns!

Why is it so difficult to eliminate old negative, limiting habits and instill new empowering ones?  In my experience, it's because people try to make too radical a change too soon. If you haven't run in years and make a goal to run a marathon this year- what do you do?  Do you jump out of bed at 5 am, don your running clothes and run 10, 15, or 26 miles the next day?   Aah....no.  Or I hope not. Your body would protest a few minutes after you started to run and it would scream soreness the following morning if you could move out of bed at all.

This seems like common sense and is hardly brain science.  But, I am amazed by how many people overlook this strategy!  They operate like a drill seargeant whipping themelves into shape.  That may work for a few individuals, but, I believe that most people would stick with their commitments throughout the year if they eased into their new positive habits.  As I advise in my book, Yoga at Home: Gain Energy, Flexibility, & Serenity in 20-30 Minutes Day, start a yoga practice by doing 5 minutes a day and add only a few minutes a week until you're up to 20-30 minutes a day.  Instilling the yoga habit will be so much easier and you'll be at least ten times more likely to maintain it!

Are you sincere about keeping your New Year's commitment to a healthier lifestyle (which I hope includes daily yoga!)?  Then ease into 2012.  Take one healthy baby step at a time.

Yours for a healthy 2012 with gentle yoga,

Laura Venecia Rodriguez, The Beginners Yoga at Home Coach

 

Yoga at Home for Beginners: Get 2012 off to a Healthy Start - Free Kindle Book!

 

Sally Shields' new book, "Is she Naturally Thin or Disciplined:  Insider Secrets of the Sexy and Slim" is available for FREE on Kindle for the next few days!

Sally interviewed 101 slim, healthy women ranging in ages from their 20s through their 60s to uncover their secrets for staying slim and healthy. The book is a most interesting read and you'll find valuable tips from a wide variety of women, some of whom, like myself practice yoga.  You'll find my story on page 184.

Sally is making the Kindle version of her book available for FREE.  Take advantage of this opportunity to get your New Year off to a healthy start with dozens of valuable tips and inspiring photos of real, regular women!  The free offer is good only through January 4, 2012.  Get your free Kindle book now by going to: 

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006MHO9CA

Yours for a healthy 2012!

Laura Venecia Rodriguez, the Beginners Yoga at Home Coach