icevrething

After my first semester in college, I learned a lot of things. One was that I needed something to help with my stress. A friend of mine recommended yoga, so I thought I'd try it out. Well, one week into second semester and I'm sold! The benefits manifest themselves right away, as I feel not only more alive, but more aware of my body. I find myself being able to carry awkward things around with grace. It's like my mind subconsciously focuses hard on the tasks at hand, giving me more ability. For exapmle, I played soccer with some buddies, and I had more reach/extension with my legs, making it easier to steal any intended pass or block shots that would have otherwise been out of my reach. I also love how the stress just melts away after a good session. What are your thoughts?

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snowy

I haven't been as good about finding time for my practice lately. I'm going to sign up for a class again this spring. I love yoga. It's one of my favorite things to do; unfortunately, I don't have a dedicated space to do yoga in, and given that I live with three guys, I don't really like to do yoga in front of them. The only realistic place to practice at home is in my living room. Before I went back to school a couple weeks ago, I managed to squeeze in some yoga time when they were gone, but unfortunately I'm now gone when they're gone. Bah.

I got into yoga a couple years ago now when I was in the process of shedding a lot of weight. I found it to be good resistance exercise for me. I'm really, really, really inflexible, so the yoga helps a lot. I'm much more flexible when I'm engaging in a regular practice. It just makes me feel good!

And yes, I agree about the increased awareness of body. I feel much more in tune with myself since I started. It also helped with my posture a lot--it made me very aware of how I held my body in various situations, even while trying to go to sleep.

If you haven't discovered it already, Yoga Journal: Yoga Poses, Classes, Meditation, and Life - On and Off the Mat - Namaste is a great resource. I check the magazine out from the library every month and use the website a lot when I'm looking for specific asanas for specific purposes (for instance, I skiied for the first time a month ago, and when I got back from skiing, I used their website to help me come up with some new additions to my routine that focus on balance).

Now I really want to do a Sun Salutation.

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If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau

icevrething

Glad to hear you're inspired to start back on yoga. Sorry that your living arrangements aren't exactly "adequate" for yoga. Living in a dorm room, I can relate to the imminently embarassing encounters with people when being in an awkward pose. Personally, I vow to practice yoga for the rest of my life. Thank you for the magazine reference! It is amazing what an ancient practice can do for the well being of people.

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Baraka_Guru

I too have struggled with bringing yoga practice into my home. I've gone back and forth between resistance training and asanas, only to always land on asanas as what I truly want to do.

My challenge is that I don't have a lot of room. If I make a few arrangements, however, I can figure it out, so I guess it only comes down to motivation. I have found that if I do asanas in the morning before work, I'm more likely to do them nearly daily.

I follow the teachings of B.K.S. Iyengar, and this has worked out quite well considering the number of parallels between Yoga philosophy and Buddhism.

One thing I notice early on with regular practice is that I sleep far better than usual. I give credit to the physical relaxation that yoga brings, but I cannot overlook the mental aspect of it either.

Resistance training has many benefits, but yoga has much more to offer. Asanas are just one of eight limbs of yoga, and even that one limb can rival resistance training on its own. This depends on your goals, of course. But considering mine, this much is true.

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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
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Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

thingstodo

My wife used to lift weights pretty seriously. At 5' 4" and 115 she could squat 225 for 10 reps at one time. She has done yoga exclusively for the past 6 years and is just as strong as ever. She actually teaches so she is pretty serious. But it is just as good as lifting without the stress on your joints. She has nearly converted me!

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pig

I started practicing about 6 years ago, and was fairly serious about it for 3 years in a studio following the Iyengar method. After I left that town, my practice gradually fell to a good intention - resuming my practice is a goal for this year. I find the asana to be a good approach to the more rigorous aspects of serious yoga training...the discipline it instills is great. More importantly, it got me to realize that targeted discipline actually can bring greater freedom. I am moving to place with all wood floors in about a month, and I can't wait to be able to use that space for practice. However, I'm looking forward to resuming my practice with pranyama as well...being someone who is not religious, I find the daily devotion to inner focus to be invaluable. Much of the philosophical tenets expressed in the yogic sutras is similar to my own, with the added bonus of helping me to focus on physical and mental balance. You have the 'yoga as exercise' path, and the 'yoga as incorporated into your lifestyle' path. I think the former frequently morphs into the latter.

The only thing I will say is that if someone wants to study yoga, find a qualified instructor.

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