Yoga

[Ravi]

I sprained my ankle a few weeks ago, and still can't run. I've decided to get back into yoga (done in a heated room). Curious if anyone else here does yoga...if so, what style, and have you noticed any specific changes to you body?

 

For me, I use to do a lot of distance events (ironmans, distance running..etc) and found that yoga build up an incredible amount of strength that I would actually retain even when doing lots of cardio (when I hit the weights, I would tend to lose most of my gains when I increased the cardio training).

 

I also noticed some major improvement in posture and joint flexibility and strength.

[Guest]

My favorite kinds of yoga are Vinyasa, Kripalu, & Bikram.

 

In the past, I have mostly done Vinyasa, but I enjoy all of them.. all levels.

Usually though when I do yoga, it's for a meditation purpose, so everything

is gentle and deep.

 

 

I have however, wanted to get back into Bikram.. because it is one of my

favorites, so..whenever I happen to have the extra money to throw that

direction, I'll be doing that.

Until then, free yoga around town suites me just fine. : )

 

I have definitely noticed balance and flexibility gains while practicing

yoga.

[andesuma]

My favorite kinds of yoga are Vinyasa, Kripalu, & Bikram.

 

In the past, I have mostly done Vinyasa, but I enjoy all of them.. all levels.

Usually though when I do yoga, it's for a meditation purpose, so everything

is gentle and deep.

 

 

I have however, wanted to get back into Bikram.. because it is one of my

favorites, so..whenever I happen to have the extra money to throw that

direction, I'll be doing that.

Until then, free yoga around town suites me just fine. : )

 

I have definitely noticed balance and flexibility gains while practicing

yoga.

 

 

ok, that was me, for some reason I thought I was logged in!

oops

[robert]

Sorry, my mistake. I always do that. When I create a new section I always forget to change the settings to registered rather than public.

 

Hopefully it won't happen again. I'll be more organized.

[yogita chiquita]

Ah, yoga...

 

For me, I love every style of yoga that I've tried so far. I have an instructor that is certified Kripalu, but she is also very Iyengar influenced. I have another that offers a heated vinyasa, it is very challenging, but you can move your body so much differently when you're in a heated environment that sometimes it feels more like a flow than actual effort and individual postures (hence the word vinyasa, of course!). I also occassionally take an ashtanga based class, but I've been laying off that one a bit b/c my wrist has been bothering me on and off and in the classes I take we tend to spend some time in downward dog. And I try to get to a Bikram's class once a week at least.

 

Wow, I sound like a yoga addict! (I am)

 

It took me awhile to get accustomed to the heated rooms - it's funny, when I first started doing yoga (like 5 or so years ago), it was actually Bikram's, but the instructor didn't heat the room, but that whole posture sequence was the one that I grew to memorize and love and practice at home. When I first started to take the Bikram's in a heated room, I'd spend most of the class in child's pose! It's amazing how far I've come in just a few months, and I've grown to love the heat.

 

My endurance is hugely improved - I can hold difficult asanas longer and with much better alignment than ever before. My breath is different - I've become aware of my breathing enough to recognise when I'm not breathing to my fullest capacity during normal daily activities and can take a few moments to practice my pranayama each day - it's amazing what I few seconds of deep intercostal belly breathing can do for you!

 

I'd say that if left to my own devices I prefer the Bikram and Kripalu to other styles that I've tried just because I really love to explore the postures very deeply and stay in them for a long time. When I practice at home, I probably hold my postures 2 or 3 times as long as one might expect to hold them in a class. I just like that systematic feeling of my muscles and joints letting go, and it takes some serious time and breathing to get them to that point in my opinion. But, as we know, yoga is all about a balance, so in all that deep holding and stretching, we also need movement, and that's where a really nice vinyasa comes in. I almost always start my own practice with some gentle warm up postures followed by a series of sun salutations. I love the movement dictated by breath - you can think of nothing else but moving and breathing when you're practicing vinyasa.

 

Plus, my husband thinks it looks cool.

 

 

As far as benefits, I don't even know where to begin. One of my instructors told me not long ago that my whole demeanor upon entering the class has changed since I've started attending regularly - that I appear so much calmer. And I'm not one to be stressed about anything, so that's actually saying something! My posture is better. My outlook is changing - I've always been interested in Buddism (which isn't a necessary part of yoga practice, but certainly something worth learning about, depsite whatever your beliefs might be, just from an interesting perspective standpoint), but I've found myself sort of inadvertantly applying different principles to my life and so far I've been very pleased with the result.

 

All and all, my practice of yoga has spanned beyond physical acheivement. I'm much stronger, more flexible, and just feel more light and agile than ever, but it has also given me a piece of mind about myself and the world that I never quite had before dedicating myself to regular practice.

 

Not to mention that the first of the yamas (limbs of yoga) is ahimsa, non-violence. Everyone on veganbodybuilding.com is practicing ahimsa everyday without even thinking about it. Very cool.

[Evan]

I did yoga the other night that is mostly ashtanga with a bit of hatha...I don't really know the difference but that's what the instructor told us. Ashtanga is otherwise called Power Yoga (am I right?) and hatha I'm told has more meditative aspect.(?) Anyway, it was great, I've taken it before, but for some reason I am sore. Yoga has never made me sore before. It's a good sore though...not really pain just awareness that I used my body for more than just sitting in front of my desk at work.

[nicole]

I am a (Baptiste style) Power Vinyasa teacher, so that is mostly what I practice. But I have been getting into some ashtanga lately and starting Saturday through next Friday I will be doing a teacher training in the ashtanga style with Manju Jois. I am really excited about it and can't wait to see what I learn.

[YigalWeinstein]

I like a mixture. I am practicing primarily Ashtanga by myself but I can't give up where I started with the book "Light on Yoga" by Iyengar. Yoga is a wonderful thing I have in my life. It has helped stear me in a + direction, to be kinder to my body and all of life.

 

Does anyone find practicing surya namaskara B to be extremely difficult? As soon as I am expected to execute virabhadrasana (A) in one breath it takes some will power to do this for many times.

 

I do 5 of surya namaskara A & and 3 of B and then a number of asanas I couldn't live without, trikonasana, parivrtta trikonasan, salamba sarvangasana etc. + 15 min. of meditation in the morning & night and add pushups and crunches in the morning and its an awsome way of waking up and giving in to sleep.

[epilogue]

I've been practicing Ashtanga for 3 years.

 

 

It has completely revolutionized my life.

[JW]

I just started Ashtanga and I must say I am humbled

 

My daughter seems to find my lack of flexibility quite amusing.

I have seen immediate benefits though. Flexibility and a strengthening of the back.

 

I'm sold!!!

[flanders77]

I do yoga for 3 years now and for me yoga mainly is a state of mind and a way to live and think. Nevertheless I try to do yoga exercises every day (scorpion, headstand, pada hastasana etc.).

IMHO if you really develop (mentally and physically) it is not important what kind of yoga you do and how much but that you do it everyday and live yoga.