Have you ever wondered about starting yoga? What should a person consider before starting yoga? How can yoga help improve health?
As a recent newcomer to yoga, I will share my experience and some information I have learned that may be of help for those of you considering adding yoga to your life.
What is yoga?
There are many different forms of yoga. People do or “practice” yoga for many reasons. Some of the most common reasons to practice yoga are to improve overall health, strength, and flexibility and to help reduce stress.
Some forms of yoga move at a brisk pace and some are focused more on deep stretches and relaxation. Other forms of yoga are geared toward injury recovery, sports conditioning, or meditation. Most all forms of yoga incorporate a certain level of meditation and stretch.
Some of the more popular types of yoga include: Hatha, Vinyasa, Power, Restorative, Kundalini, Iyengar and Bikram.
Hatha yoga is a practice that teaches the most basic of yoga positions. For pure yoga beginners, Hatha yoga is a good place to start. Hatha yoga poses encourage deep stretches and strength building and leaves us with a feeling of lengthening in the muscles, looser joints, and a more flexible spine after class. It is a nice foundation class that introduces poses that help us learn more about our bodies and their capabilities and limitations.
Vinyasa yoga links movement and poses to the breath in a mind-body connection practice. Vinyasa aligns a sequence of poses to breathing in a flowing pattern. Typically, inhalation is aligned with open and upward movements and exhalation with downward and closed positions. A basic understanding of yoga poses is helpful with vinyasa mainly because of the pace of these classes however many vinyasa classes are geared to teach beginners as well.
Power yoga falls under the umbrella term of vinyasa yoga in that it is a more strenuous practice that incorporates a brisk, continue sequence of challenging poses aligned with the breath. Power yoga is for those looking for a higher cardiovascular workout loaded with strength sequences and sometimes ad lib add-ons in the form of resistance bands, and other exercise modalities.
Restorative yoga has a focus on releasing tension in the muscles and joints. poses are held for much longer periods of time to help release tension deep into the muscles and fascia. Props such as bolsters, blocks, and blankets are used to help support the body in poses designed to stretch and release tension deep within. Relaxation is the focus with this practice and this helps to reset the nervous system and trains us to be more in tune with self regulation.
Kundalini yoga is known as the yoga of awareness and consciousness. it involves chanting, singing, breathing exercises and poses. Kundalini is a term derived from kundal, a Sanskrit word that translates to “coiled energy”. The idea is that we all have energy located at the base of the spine and the practice of kundalini yoga helps to release this energy up through the seven chakras and up through the crown of the head.
Iyengar yoga is a yoga practice developed by B.K.S. Iyengar, a yoga guru. Iyengar yoga focuses on alignment and precise technique. In this type of yoga, there are over 200 different poses and 14 different types of breath.
Bikram yoga is a type of hot yoga developed by Bikram Choudhury that became popular in the 1970’s. It is typically practiced in rooms set to 105 degrees fahrenheit, with a humidity of 40% with the intent to replicate the climate in India. A typical class has 24 postures and two breathing exercises.
The breath and the mind.
Yoga also focuses on the mind/body connection. It embraces a focus on the breath and the intricate changes we can make to increase our awareness of our breath. The breathing exercises in yoga are referred to as pranayama. So why is this important? A systematic review on the effects of pranayama and its relation to blood pressure showed encouraging signs that practicing pranayama breathing exercises can help to lower blood pressure. Another study designed to evaluate the effects of pranayama in students in stressful academic settings , showed that pranayama (yoga breathing) reduced aggression, improved mindfulness, and emotion regulation in undergraduate students.
How does yoga benefits our bodies?
Yoga has many benefits. It elongates muscles through gentle stretching, opens joints, and release tension and anxiety. One popular and basic pose, is the “down dog” pose.
This pose alone has the following benefits:
- Elongates and releases tension from the spine
- Opens the hips and shoulders
- Stretches hamstrings, calves, arches, hands
- Strengthens arms, shoulders, wrists, ankles, abdominals
- Improves digestion
- Relieves back pain, headaches, insomnia, and fatigue
- As a mild inversion it calms the nervous system and relieves stress
Getting started with your own yoga practice.
It is important to choose a class that is at your level and a class that approaches movement in a way that you are comfortable with. I recommend for those just starting out to choose a level one class in most yoga types, or a class that teaches Hatha yoga, restorative yoga, or candlelight yoga. These options are almost guaranteed to be a little less intense and this is important so that you can focus on the movements, poses, and techniques and on your own body and what it can and cannot do. Some people suggest skipping the down dog pose for beginners however because it is such a foundational pose, it is in most classes. Many yoga sequences use the down dog pose as a neutral base from which to start a sequence and pause after a sequence and so it is one to work towards if you decide to hold off on it initially. Depending on the focus of the class, the experience can vary. Certain classes are focused on deep stretching and other classes are focused on strengthening and flexibility. Most teachers will preface their class with the area they intend to focus on and the type of yoga they are going to teach.
What do I need to make this a successful practice?
Supplies and equipment for yoga are minimal. Clothing that allows flexible movement and that does not get in the way is most important followed by a yoga mat. A yoga mat is needed because it provides a tacky foundation for your hands and feet for you to base your poses from.
Blocks are also helpful to provide stability when working on stretches when you can’t quite reach to the floor.
The pictures in this post show wooden blocks however I recommend the more common foam blocks that have slight give in them for more comfort as you press your weight down on them. A quiet and private space is helpful so that you can focus on the practice with undivided attention. I have found a few phone apps with good programs that I can use and project onto my smart TV. I like the Glo app in particular however there are many apps that have similar offerings. I like to be able to choose my class time length and yoga type and I like to be able to start the class on my own schedule. Youtube has many free classes to check out as well.
The beauty of yoga is you can start this practice at home and go at your own pace. Start wherever you are and grow your practice to suit your own needs. I love this quote from one of my favorite teachers on Glo, Jason Crandell – “Yoga is the perfect opportunity to be curious about who you are”.
- Namaste
