Yoga? Meditation? Anyone?
ReenieHJ
Posts: 9,724 Member
Looking to add something like yoga or meditation or ??? but not really sure how to get started or what to pick. Not knowing is my greatest reason for procrastination. So if any of you does something besides cardio or strength, etc., can you share your experiences? Thanks!
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I do yoga almost every day. Coupled with strength training in the gym, it keeps me flexible, mobile and feeling good.
I like traditional yoga. I particularly love Yin yoga for it's calming and restorative aspect. I also really enjoy DDPY yoga which is a weird combination of resistance conditioning, mobility exercise, torture and yoga. DDPY also has a lot of bro-science in their nutrition program so I completely ignore that part but for overall body conditioning, the workouts are fantastic. I have improved my core strength, push ups and planks with DDPY more than I ever have with conditioning in the gym.4 -
I use the headspace app to meditate - it's taken me a while to get into it and I still don't do it as regularly as I probably should, but have noticed some benefits. It's short, manageable segments, I like the voice of the presenter, and they have a few themed courses you can do in 10 minutes or less every day. Not all of those courses have really worked for me, but I really liked the one on kindness and will be trying one on mindful eating next.
In terms of yoga, I use that more to stretch, relax and slow down. So I really like yin yoga (you hold poses for longer and a lot of it tends to be floor based) or hatha (again, longer poses but slightly more strenuous in my experience). I have tried vinyasa in the past (which I suppose is better for getting your heart rate up and building strength) but found it doesn't really work that well for what I want out of yoga. I mix it up between going to a class and just doing it at home, but if you're up for trying some home practice, I can highly recommend Yoga with Adriene on youtube. She signposts her videos really well and has lots for specific concerns, both in terms of mental and physical health, and she does have quite a few videos that explain and introduce some of the most common poses.
I found that both with yoga and meditation, it tends to work a lot better for me if I make time for it regularly (ideally daily, but I've never really managed that with yoga!).
What would be your main reason for incorporating yoga and meditation? How much time do you have each week/day?
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I'm trying to get back into a yoga routine but I do meditate daily. There are a lot of great guided meditations on youtube. I usually pick one that's 15-20 minutes long, great way to start the day.1
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I have done vinyasa flow for almost ten years. I started casually, stepped it up to three or four times a week following an illness that messed with my joints, and when I started working on my weight last year, I added in Mat Pilates to my rotation and now go once, usually twice, a day. I’ve got two classes scheduled this morning.
I started weights with a trainer in February. The two disciplines complement each other really well. The weights have built my arm and upper body strength up so that I am now able to do some arm balances. My trainer says she never has to demonstrate anything more than once, or worry about form because I’m so attuned to following instructions from yoga.
She constantly yearns for her other (including some world class) lifters to take yoga because she says the added flexibility would help them with their lifts and reduce injuries.3 -
I use Yoga with Adrienne videos on YouTube for my yoga. She has lots of beginner videos. I always feel great after a yoga session. I should probably do it more than I do.6
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There are a lot of different things classified as "yoga." I think the first thing to ask yourself is what you want from a yoga class. Do you want a workout? Relaxation? Meditation? Intense stretching?
If you are looking for a workout, then you're probably looking for a "flow" class, or other more active types of yoga.
If you want relaxation, go for something like a "gentle" or "restorative" yoga class.
If you want more intense stretching with the option for meditation, go for yin. In yin, you hold each lower body focused pose for 3+ minutes, gradually going deeper into it. You can choose to meditate while in the pose.
If you are looking for meditation without yoga, I would highly recommend the book "8 Minute Meditation." It walks you through several meditation techniques so you can find which ones work best for you.
Personally, I do yoga three times a week. I do a core class, which is yoga with a pilates influence, on Tuesdays. Wednesdays is level 2 flow; at my studio, "level 2" just means that the teacher assumes you know how to do common poses or can pick them up quickly, so we move faster and experiment with a challenging pose or two each week. Thursdays is yin.4 -
Shortgirlrunning wrote: »I use Yoga with Adrienne videos on YouTube for my yoga. She has lots of beginner videos. I always feel great after a yoga session. I should probably do it more than I do.
I second Yoga with Adrienne. She is very easy to follow.
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I love restorative yoga. Easy poses, hold for longer times, a little meditation. Good stretches.
I like Hatha yoga also. Sometimes a little hard for me—I’m 70, but I just modify and keep going.
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if you are going to start a yoga practice, i highly recommend finding time to go to a studio/gym and taking classes. hatha or community typically are good for beginners if there isn't a beginners or "all levels" class on the schedule.
this way the teacher can help you with alignment and cues to help you not injure yourself1 -
I love Vinyasa for getting out of my head, especially when I can get in a lunchtime class to take a break from work. I'm not very good at sitting still or quieting my mind, so a more challenging practice is often the best way for me to let go of everything going on in my head. Depending on the type of yoga you go for you can get anything from quiet and meditative to a very sweaty, strength building workout. I probably only do yoga once a week, since lately I've been exploring other activities.
When I started going to the gym again a year or two ago (I hadn't been active for about a year, dealing with mental health issues), beginning yoga classes were my favorite thing to help me start communicating with my body again, allowing me to explore what I was capable of before adding other types of fitness.
One thing I would encourage if you would like to begin a yoga practice is to remember that no matter what class you are taking, it is still your practice, so rather than struggling to do exactly what everyone else is doing, learn to adapt for your own body (and don't be shy about asking for alternatives from a teacher). The easiest way to hate yoga is to try to force yourself to do something you are not ready for. For example, years ago I used to be able to do headstands with literally no effort - just on the fly, on uneven surfaces, anywhere. I don't have the strength to do that again yet, but I have other new strengths that I didn't have before, so that's important for me to remember. I try to think of my current practice as something new, rather than attempting a continuation of the practice I had when I was younger.
My partner loves Yoga with Adrienne for his at home yoga practice since he doesn't enjoy the studio setting. He's been doing yoga every day for several months now. Her videos are a really great way to ease into a yoga practice since she covers a lot of beginner-friendly content and has some great short videos if you don't have much time available.0 -
Thank you for all your insight and valuable experience! I definitely have some videos and new-to-me yoga terms to check out.
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I have PTSD so I do trauma-sensitive yoga. I find it works really well at helping me feel calmer.3
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I am just starting to get into yoga. I am a beginner but want to grow and get better.1
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Shortgirlrunning wrote: »I use Yoga with Adrienne videos on YouTube for my yoga. She has lots of beginner videos. I always feel great after a yoga session. I should probably do it more than I do.
This.
I attend a class once a week but also really enjoy Adrienne's videos and recently finished her "30 days of yoga" series.0 -
I don't know if 'yoga' and 'mediation' belong in the same sentence.
I tried yoga once or twice and to be frank it was quite possibly one of the least relaxing and meditative thing I've ever done! LOL2 -
I don't know if 'yoga' and 'mediation' belong in the same sentence.
I tried yoga once or twice and to be frank it was quite possibly one of the least relaxing and meditative thing I've ever done! LOL
Yoga is not one single thing. There are all kinds of yoga, including things that don't connote any type of physical activity. But even the physical practices people are usually referring to in the West when they speak of yoga come in a wide variety. (Plus, meditation can be practiced in lots of different ways, too.)1 -
I don't know if 'yoga' and 'mediation' belong in the same sentence.
I tried yoga once or twice and to be frank it was quite possibly one of the least relaxing and meditative thing I've ever done! LOL
It depends entirely on the type of yoga you're doing. Some things that are called "yoga" are definitely not meditative. However, in many traditions, yoga is linked to meditation (or at the very least, encourages meditation if the yogi chooses). In my opinion, there are many practices marketed as yoga that are far removed from how it is traditionally defined.2 -
I have to admit that I did find 'corpse pose' to be somewhat meditative
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I have to admit that I did find 'corpse pose' to be somewhat meditative
One of our yoga teachers translates the pose's name as "lying in the lap of Mother Earth," which sounds more poetic, until my husband pointed out that it's still about being dead. I prefer to think of that one as symbolizing a nice nap outdoors.
Another of our teachers once referred to it as "practice for the future."
I go to an interesting yoga studio.3 -
I don't know if 'yoga' and 'mediation' belong in the same sentence.
I tried yoga once or twice and to be frank it was quite possibly one of the least relaxing and meditative thing I've ever done! LOLWhat he said.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and speculate y'all's classes were not "beginner," "gentle," or "restorative" yoga.2 -
kshama2001 wrote: »I don't know if 'yoga' and 'mediation' belong in the same sentence.
I tried yoga once or twice and to be frank it was quite possibly one of the least relaxing and meditative thing I've ever done! LOLWhat he said.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and speculate y'all's classes were not "beginner," "gentle," or "restorative" yoga.
Your speculation is wrong.1 -
I do a Vinyasa class a couple of times a week, and a mat Pilates class a couple of times a week. Lately I've been adding more cardio and weights too.0
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kshama2001 wrote: »I don't know if 'yoga' and 'mediation' belong in the same sentence.
I tried yoga once or twice and to be frank it was quite possibly one of the least relaxing and meditative thing I've ever done! LOLWhat he said.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and speculate y'all's classes were not "beginner," "gentle," or "restorative" yoga.
Your speculation is wrong.
Some teachers are very bad at understanding what “beginner” yoga is. In my first class, which was advertised as a “beginner” class, everyone around me was doing Crow pose and I felt like a yoga failure because I couldn’t do it. Crow is not a beginner pose for most people, but the class implied that it was. I was so discouraged that I didn’t try yoga again for about five more years. I still can’t do Crow.4 -
kshama2001 wrote: »I don't know if 'yoga' and 'mediation' belong in the same sentence.
I tried yoga once or twice and to be frank it was quite possibly one of the least relaxing and meditative thing I've ever done! LOLWhat he said.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and speculate y'all's classes were not "beginner," "gentle," or "restorative" yoga.
Your speculation is wrong.
Some teachers are very bad at understanding what “beginner” yoga is. In my first class, which was advertised as a “beginner” class, everyone around me was doing Crow pose and I felt like a yoga failure because I couldn’t do it. Crow is not a beginner pose for most people, but the class implied that it was. I was so discouraged that I didn’t try yoga again for about five more years. I still can’t do Crow.
That was my next guess - a mischaracterized class.
I once went to a weekend retreat that was supposed to be for "all levels" but was mostly hardcore Ashtangis. One teacher seemed bemused when I sat out the parts I wasn't comfortable with, but my experience in the military had taught me to recognize when I need more instruction.4 -
I don't know if 'yoga' and 'mediation' belong in the same sentence.
I tried yoga once or twice and to be frank it was quite possibly one of the least relaxing and meditative thing I've ever done! LOL
I go to a beginning class and find it very relaxing--unless our normal instructor can't and we get a substitute. Totally different class, I find it frustrating. I think the right instructor makes the class. I'd try elsewhere if you're interested in yoga. I love it.0 -
another vote (for anyone interested) for yin yoga. I am totally not a traditional yoga person and found a lot of the classes I tried way too much work (when I was looking more for relaxation/stretch/etc.) Once I tried yin yoga I was like this is it!!0
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I've been using the Calm App for around 18 months (similar to Headspace which was mentioned earlier) which includes some basic yoga videos, lots of guided meditations, video classes, music, breathing exercises, mood check in and sleep stories amongst other things.
It has been a game-changer for my insomnia and my work stress.0 -
tinkerbellang83 wrote: »I've been using the Calm App for around 18 months (similar to Headspace which was mentioned earlier) which includes some basic yoga videos, lots of guided meditations, video classes, music, breathing exercises, mood check in and sleep stories amongst other things.
It has been a game-changer for my insomnia and my work stress.
I've been exposed to meditation for over 20 years, but am very resistant to it. However, when I have an acupuncture treatment, during the 25 minutes she leaves me alone on the table I don't have much choice other than to meditate. This has been extremely helpful for my work stress. The acupuncture isn't doing all that much for my golfer's elbow, but since it is helping with work stress, I continue to go. (I know I'm not going to meditate on my own.)3 -
Yoga by Adrienne on YouTube is great. She’s very beginner friendly and you can do it anytime. Especially this time of year it’s so important not only for mental calm, but if you live somewhere that it’s starting to get cold this will effect flexibility quite a lot. It’s extra good for us to try to stretch and work on flexibility it times when the weather gets cold. I think it’ll be a great addition1
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