Yoga Question
 

Ok this may seem like a dumb question, but I'm very new to yoga, as in bought a DVD at Target and have been doing it for about a month now. I do it 2-3 times a week. Since I've started my blood pressure dropped 20 points and I've lost 3 1/2 pounds - woohoo!

But that's not my question. Here's the thing - yesterday I was all geared up to do it, and I started the routine, and just wasn't feeling it. But I wanted to do the toning at the end of workout so I just skipped ahead to the last 15 minutes.

Today I have been OFF. Like emotionally, mentally - just couldn't get my act together, for no good reason. So if there are any yoga experts out there, here's my question............ if you do the routine out of order, or skip parts of it, can it have negative effects instead of positive? To my understanding, part of the point of yoga is the flow of energy and breath and all that, and it occurred to me I may have botched that up by skipping 1/4 of the program.

Any help appreciated - thanks all!

I'm no expert, but I've always been told that the order of exercises is important: each exercise prepares the body for the next exercise, or is the complement of the one before it. If you think about it, the exercises in a good yoga routine first stretch your body one way, then stretch it in the opposite direction. To stretch the bod one way but not back the other way might leave things out of balance.

If I want to shorten the session, I drop the "deep relaxation" part at the end. That never seems to be a problem. Or if I really don't have the time to do a complete session, I just do "sun worship," which is the opening warmup exercise and also a kind of condensed version of the entire workout.

The order is important. Starting exercizes limber up the body and prepare it for the more advanced moves later in the session. The cool down poses are last.
With that in mind. Starting a new exercize regimen, good for you, BTW, can be bumpy.

Everybody has their off days and the endorphin rush you may have been getting from the workouts may have worn off. Coming down from the "runner's high," really stinks.

Keep with it though.

Thank you both for the good advice. :) And I do intend to stick with it - I think you're both right, and what I suspected was correct - and I'll just have to know my own limits instead of skipping around. Much appreciated

as rodney said, when im looking for a 'quik' routine, the sun salutation is good as it warms up the body as a whole and gets your energy flowing.
cheers on picking up yoga

Well, it's kinda funny, I did the whole routine yesterday again and felt MUCH better. Guess I learned my lesson eh?

My wife is an instructor. She says that you need to warm up the body, which you do through moves while breathing through your nose only. that way the air stays warm vs. breathing through the mouth.

Yoga benefits come from the meditative process. Anything else is stretching. The Sun Salutation is a great way to stretch without moving into yoga.