yoga

I started yoga this past winter. It never really interested me - I thought pilates was more my style - but I was reading Gorgeously Green and she had instructions for a couple of sun salutation sequences. The instructions actually made sense to me, so I tried it. And I loved it! I could tell that it was just what my body needed.

I started out doing sun salutations every morning and eventually added other poses into the mix. I went to an anusara yoga class, which I loved. I bought a couple of yoga DVDs and added them in. Whenever I start something new, I am usually gung-ho on it for a few weeks or months and then my interest fizzles, but I have somehow managed to keep up my near-daily practice. It is something I get to do and that I very much look forward to doing. I even began getting up earlier so that I could fit in a practice before work.

The benefits I've noticed so far: strength (legs and arms in particular), flexibility (I can touch my toes!), I can sit cross-legged (for over an hour - I couldn't even sit cross-legged for seconds!), balance (I am less wobbly in the tree pose), mindfulness (during practice and then it carries over into the rest of my day), pain relief (back and shoulders from sitting at a computer), stress relief (practice is very calming), better breathing, I feel more at home in my body and appreciative of what it can do .. I'm sure there are more benefits, but those are the ones that come to mind immediately. Oh - and sometimes, during the bridge pose, I can feel the energy begin to run up my spine. It is the most incredible feeling.

While I am still (very much) a beginner, I love yoga enough that I would love to become a yoga instructor someday.

If you've never tried yoga, I highly recommend it. There are a ton of different styles, so it seems like there must be a style for everyone. If you have tried yoga, do you have any good DVD recommendations, or is there a particular style that you like?

Comments

[Mella]

I have 2 words for you: Vanda Mikoloski

What, you say?

www.vanda.us

Now you're probably really confused! Okay, there's a fabulous yoga place in Santa Barbara called Yoga Soup, and when I returned to my yoga practice, I attended a hysterical comedic performance by Vanda there and the next day she taught a yoga class. She calls her comedy Spiritually Incorrect - Enlighten Up! She lives in LA, but I see she's coming up to Portland in October, I highly recommend her comedy, and if she does a yoga class, then that too.

I personally enjoy yoga classes that create the space for me to get away from my mind chatter, judgments, and 'perceived' limitations, and sometimes a teacher that also brings that level of internal awareness coaching is hard to find at a 'beginner' level, but I know they are out there! My fave teacher says 'you don't do yoga to get a better body, you do yoga to learn to appreciate the one you have'... and he's always emphasizing that you don't need to go to classes (must be why his classes are always jam-packed!), and you'll know that you 'get' the benefits of yoga when you find yourself starting to move into poses without really thinking about it.

I haven't seen any of his DVDs but a couple friends of mine rave about Rodney Yee.

Namaste.

[Mella]

PS This is something I have been thinking about for an at-home practice at some point... As someone who loves variety, this sounds like an interesting and new concept, variety and convenience... let me know what you think!

http://www.drnorthrup.com/healthstore/items.php?product_id=208

[Elizabeth]

OH - I love that! I did try the Yoga Journal podcasts on iTunes, but I really need to see the poses while I'm learning them. This looks great. (Well, once I'm not a beginner, LOL)

I have an AM/PM yoga DVD with Rodney Yee and Colleen Saidman (same instructors). They do make things very easy to understand.

Thanks for the recommendation!

[Elizabeth]

Darn .. I'm out of town when she's here. By the way, have you heard of the movie Enlighten Up? It looks good .. http://enlightenupthefilm.com/

I think that it's easier for me to get out of my mind during yoga because I am such a beginner .. I need the focus. Limitations, however, are another story ..

I like at-home, but I am very excited to start taking classes. The one I went to was very helpful for alignment in particular.