yoga for morbidly obese

sleepysnow

i’m morbidly obese with the majority of my fat carrying in the belly apron. I have the flexibility for beginner yoga but my belly is seriously limiting some poses and stretches. would workouts designed for third trimester be a viable option even if I’m not pregnant? if not, are there any other suggestions or is it just something I’ll have to wait for until I lose more weight?

quiksylver296

Sure! The great thing about yoga is you do what you can do. Make whatever modifications you need to get your practice in. If you can't do a certain pose at all, do a different one you can do until the yogi moves to a different pose. Seriously, it's YOUR practice! Make it work for you!

MuttiNM

I was morbidly obese when I wanted to try yoga. I also have nerve damage in my knees so it makes getting down on the floor painful. Someone on MFP recommended chair yoga. There are many videos for it on youtube as well as books you could check out. I tried chair yoga when morbidly obese and really enjoyed it and continue with it as part of my exercise routine. That may be something you could try to incorporate in your practice along with the poses you already can do.

Duck_Puddle

You may find a DVD or YouTube option for that jives with you under search options such as plus size yoga, bigger body yoga, maybe searching for morbidly obese or something as well? They may have flows designed to use poses that are more agreeable to larger bodies and limit or eliminate those that aren’t as agreeable. Every one is a little different and the vibe for one or another might be perfect for you (or not). But hopefully at least one will be a good match.

CholeRoad

Hi,
I am obese and I started using these videos to help me start doing yoga again.
https://www.youtube.com/c/DianneBondyYoga/videos
Dianne is a larger lady also and that helped me a lot, just seeing that she could do moves which I would have thought were not available to me. I started in July and then joined MFP in November and started focusing on my diet. However yoga made me love my body much more.
I think the pregnancy videos would be great as well.

springlering62

I wasn’t morbidly obese, but I was well into the 30’s BMI when I moved to doing yoga more often and more seriously about eight years ago, to recover from an illness that caused joint pain.

Absolutely you can do it. There’s no shame in picking up the “apron” and moving it out of the way, or even “rolling it up” as I often did.

I had a yin instructor who was/is fabulous about suggesting modifications. Yin is a slow, stretching yoga, generally on the floor, where poses are held for 1-5 minutes. It was very accessible to me, although I did flow, too.

In all honesty, Chatarungas were a horror to me as an obese person. Just lowering my weight was nigh on impossible. I came up with my own version, with the assistance of a few caring instructors. At no time was anything ever said or criticized about it, and I was never made to feel “less than”.

There are certain poses I just could not do til I lost weight- notably, binds of any kind. The fat was just in the way, no matter how hard I tugged at the pooch. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Arm balances, too. The weight was too much, and I had to work at building upper body strength through weight training. But I could try, and I did.

Only one time did I feel judged or belittled by an instructor, who is now one of my very favorite instructors out of the dozens and dozens I’ve had. I had to learn that the judgement was in my head, not hers. I was hearing my voice, my failure, my insecurity coming out of her mouth that morning, not hers

In fact, as a yogi, the only time I ever felt truly belittled was in a couple of LuLuLemon stores, which left me with a foul taste for that brand for many years. The only reason I have a few pieces now is because my studio carries a small selection of LuLu, and I want to support them and keep them in business during the pandemic. So many studios have folded. I’ve even surreptitiously paid for a second, seldom used membership for a family member to help them out because I more than get my money’s worth.

A great supportive studio with wonderful, knowledgeable teachers is a treasure beyond price. Zoom and Online classes fill the gap, but nothing touches in-person classes.

I sincerely hope you find a practice that’s as meaningful to you as mine has been.

TwistedSassette

@springlering62 You are so right - yoga is about feeling what your body can do and doing what is available to you.

I am very obese but I love doing yoga (especially in person classes even though I was self-conscious at first). I followed a plus-size yoga hashtag on Instagram and saw the incredible things these people (mostly women) who were my size and often larger, could do. It made me think that I can one day do that too. So I started doing yoga at home, following YouTube videos, and while I am a long way from arm balances or inversions, I have noticed a lot of gains in my strength and flexibility.

I, too, often have to move my pooch out of my way to get into a better position but I recognise that this is part of my journey. One day, probably without me even realising it, I won't have to do that anymore. But for now, I do what I can do and make adjustments and modifications where I need to.

concordancia

I make lots of modifications, some that I have been taught do to joint issues, some that came from "No way, uh uh, my body does not move like that."

If you do a few Yoga with Adrienne videos, she really emphasizes being realistic and doing your own thing, respecting your own practice.

I have never faced judgement from instructors, but I have faced a couple of idiots. One, who I had been working with quite awhile, couldn't tell my hip bulge from my hip bone and wouldn't believe me even when I put her hand on the bone. Others have tried to convince me I just need to work a certain muscle to achieve perfect form when the problem is that clearly that my thighs and my calves are already fully compressed together and so I cannot bend my knee anymore.

springlering62

@concordancia my experience has been, if someone starts talking about “perfect form”, run for the hills. That’s not the same thing as subtly adjusting position to get more benefit from a pose, or a gentle hands on assistance to deepen a pose (sadly verboten during these days of Covid ).

What I find kinda interesting is that certain poses that came easily as a larger woman are now more difficult. Pigeon used to be my nap time. I could easily get my shin up to my chin and just relax. Heroes pose isn’t as comfortable, either. There’s a few others.

I’m very fortunate. My daughter is a gifted instructor, the best I’ve ever taken from, and I can say that in all sincerity. I’ve learned a lot from her. She has a knack for bringing you into a pose from another direction, and you suddenly realize you’re doing something you couldn’t before. Those are the best kind of teachers, and I’m not just momma saying that!

sleepysnow

Thank you everybody for all your wonderful feedback! Still trying to find some videos that I can mentally commit to every day, but even with just trying routines out I’ve noticed I haven’t had cramping legs after work all week.

Really appreciate you all sharing your experiences and suggestions! 🙏🏼

seltzermint555

I just wanted to chime in here that ANY BODY can do yoga and benefit from it!

Back in 2002, I was morbidly obese but really loved doing some Rodney Yee DVDs at home, AM & PM yoga. I liked it so much that I went to an in-person yoga class to find out more. They totally shamed me about "weak" ankles and wrists and I never returned. As a result, I didn't do yoga for 18 years!

Now I am at a different lower weight and LOVE doing Yoga with Adriene at home. I have come to see that I never had "weak" wrists or ankles, but I was doing poses that were not appropriate for me and that were repeated too often without doing them in a safe way! Never let anyone kill your yoga buzz.

capulet338

I make bunches of alterations, some that I have been instructed due to joint issues, some that came from "No chance, uh, my body doesn't move that way. You can see the article on this at

kshama2001

seltzermint555 wrote: »

I just wanted to chime in here that ANY BODY can do yoga and benefit from it!

Back in 2002, I was morbidly obese but really loved doing some Rodney Yee DVDs at home, AM & PM yoga. I liked it so much that I went to an in-person yoga class to find out more. They totally shamed me about "weak" ankles and wrists and I never returned. As a result, I didn't do yoga for 18 years!

Now I am at a different lower weight and LOVE doing Yoga with Adriene at home. I have come to see that I never had "weak" wrists or ankles, but I was doing poses that were not appropriate for me and that were repeated too often without doing them in a safe way! Never let anyone kill your yoga buzz.

I started doing Rodney Yee's AM & PM yoga in the '90s, incorporated most of AM into my own flow, and then into my class once I became a teacher

Sorry about your shaming teacher

donidaily

Adding my voice to the chorus: yes, you can @sleepysnow ! I have practiced at many sizes/bmis and sure, sometimes fat is just in the way. At any size this is an issue for me with my chest. The thing is, if you start to tune into how the pose feels in your body rather than how it looks in the mirror you will still get all the benefits. For me it has helped to have very vocal teachers who describe not just what pose we are doing but how it should feel, which muscles should be activating, what should be tucked or flattened or aligned or opening up etc. (And I find this has the added benefit of taking over my own internal chatter for while!)

This is one of the reasons I love Yoga with Adriene on Youtube. Adriene is also very thoughtful about her vocabulary and tends not to use works like "advanced" or anything that might make you feel less than, she is all about everyone working wherever they are at. She has some yin practices that would be a good place to start.

Like @springlering62 I found it very challenging to support my body weight in chaturanga for YEARS. I have sat out many flows in child's pose both in online and in-person classes. But once you get chill with being on your own path it honestly feels fine. Wishing you all the best as your explore yoga and its many wonderful rewards!

kshama2001

OP - yes, do look for pregnancy, gentle, restorative, etc.

Please pardon my digression into more advanced poses.

Ah, chaturanga

Two of my fitness goals revolve around chaturanga. I'm at the first one, where I am strong enough to not do "chaturanga belly flop"

My ultimate goal is to be fit enough to do the sequence I did when I was a full time yoga teacher, which involved a lot of chaturanga and jumping back and forth.

I guess I need to set some interim goals. I tried some jumping forward the other day and was about 18 inches short of my hands, so just being able to jump all the way up ONCE is a start.

These have been helpful:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIdAPUA3GY4

He calls the 6th exercise "Lower Plank" and it is the lowering part of chaturanga.

I didn't book mark the other video >.< Will take a look. Someone had posted it in this forum. There was a woman using 4 blocks to demonstrate where your body is and is not supposed to be during this.

Psychgrrl

Lots and lots of props! Blocks, bolsters. They can help you maintain form regardless of body issues.

Also, a couple of resources/
* http://jessamynstanley.com/
* I am Well and Good (Insta) lots of workouts for all bodies, by all types of trainers, with/for all types of bodies.

Don’t let your weight stop you if you want to learn and explore yoga! 💖🧘🏻‍♀️