New to Yoga -- share your success stories, please

kristinksmith

My 10-year old daughter is an inspiration to me. Her body is strong, flexible and lean thanks to gymnastics and dance. It has made me aware of the strength and flexibility that I have lost over the years and has given me the determination to get it back. I am particularly weak through my core and know that the longer I wait to do something, the more difficult it will be.

In an effort to get into a good and consistent exercise program, I am considering a local gym and have a week pass where I've been going to their 5:30 and 6:30 AM classes. 3X a week they have yoga, and I have gone each day this week. I feel great walking out of the class and the soreness through my body reminds me that I am getting a great workout. It seems to be a good way to start the day with exercise -- especially since I don't relish the idea of rolling out of bed and immediately going for a jog or hitting the weights.

I would love to hear about your success stories with yoga, what kind of results did you get and how long before you starting see those results.

GibbsGirl13072

I have been doing the Ultimate Yogi DVDs off and on for about a month, which is a faster flow type of yoga. I love it, and I sweat like crazy during them, it really feels like a great workout! With that being said, I haven't lost any weight this month, but I've noticed my arms are more toned, my butt seems to look better, I'm gaining ab strength (lots of planking involved, which I hate, lol), and I just feel better in general. My clothes fit a little differently too. Not a huge change at this point, but my husband noticed my arms before I did. I'm going to incorporate more walking as well as continuing the yoga to maybe see some pounds go away to go with that toning.

lizziebeth1028

I LOVE YOGA!! It's wonderful for strength and flexibility. It's a great addition to a fitness program!! For me personally - I still like to do cardio and additional strength training along with my yoga practice. So I alternate my works outs. Generally I'll do cardio one day, yoga the next day, and then strength training the next ect.

Success really depends on your fitness goals. If your goal is strength and flexibility - yoga is awesome. If it's weight loss - all you need is calorie deficit. Note - yoga is not a big calorie burner until you progress into more of a 'power yoga' practice. If your goal is general health and fitness - I would definitely add a cardio element to your program. Walking is an awesome place to start with that.

All in all I LOVE YOGA ...did I mention that

yoginimary

My successes:

1. I'm a nicer person after I do yoga. I have a long way to go to be a nice person, but it's still an improvement.
2. I'm really flexible.
3. My posture when I'm not doing yoga is pretty good and fantastic when I'm in class
4. I let things go more often. I hold fewer grudges. I'm more content with "what is".
5. I can do all sorts of fun poses - I stand on my head, hands, arms; I touch my feet to my head. It makes kids laugh.
6. I have an entire group of friends I didn't have before.
7. I enjoy it. If you find something you enjoy, you'll stick with it. If you enjoy kickboxing, then by all means do that. If you like yoga, than do that too. You'll be much healthier and happier of you find things you enjoy.
8. I'm all around stronger than I used to be.
9. If I'm stressed out, I can go stand on my head for a bit, and I feel better.
10. Yoga helps me be more aware of the effect food has on my body. I notice if I have too much caffeine, my palms sweat. If I eat junk, I feel like junk.

Try a bunch of different styles, find a group of people you like, and keep going to that class!

dt3312

I think yoga is great for both the mind and the body. Instructors vary a lot. I might suggest you do an internet search on "Yoga injuries" and skim a few articles about how to avoid common yoga injuries. In case you don't have a very good instructor, this will help you protect yourself.

lcyama

when i started yoga, i attended a class once every two weeks, but it was so great at getting rid of my stress, i eventually added more classes. it helped to tone me up, and i lost some weight, but the greatest takeaway i got from it was a better understanding of my muscles and tendons and a trust in how far i could push myself, which gave me confidence and self-acceptance. because what i ate impacted my yoga practice, i started eating more mindfully. now i attend classes as often as my family schedule allows, and i am trying to also practice at home. my only regret about yoga is that i didn't start practicing sooner!

kristinksmith

How long before you were able to the "fun stuff" -- headstand, crazy poses. I think that would be so amazingly, awesome! Love all your success -- great job!

yoginimary

How long before you were able to the "fun stuff" -- headstand, crazy poses. I think that would be so amazingly, awesome! Love all your success -- great job!

I took me many years before I could do headstand only because I had neck issues. Most people in my classes can do it within a year with regular practice. I've seen people do handstand on the first try, others take years. I could do wheel (urdhva dhanurasana) as well as handstand right away. The pose I'm doing in the picture took quite a few years to do consistently and many more to do at all well. It really depends on how often you practice though.

8675309walker

Just started yoga a month ago. I tried at home and finally got the courage to take a beginner class. The first class I shook terribly, my strenght and coordination were terrible. I am much more steady and able to move with more strenght in just a month. I too benefit from the "calm" a class puts me into!

Creiddylad

I started yoga classes earier in the year and I absolutely love it. I was doing just one class a week to start, but this week I started going to a second class, and also try and do some at home on my own most days, especially now I am trying to tackle my weight.

It's strange how it goes, but some weeks I find it quite easy, other weeks it seems much more difficult. For example today we did hero pose, where you are in a kind of kneeling position with your inner knees together and your calves and feet out at an angle, and then you sit back and rest your buttocks on the floor (or on a block if you can't make the floor).

Last week I did this without any trouble whatsoever - today I couldn't do it at all! I tried several times but my body just wouldn't let me?

That's what I find odd about yoga that it's not a smooth progression, but it's sort of one step forward, one step backwards, or at least that's how it feels with me. Sometimes the classes fly by and I make all the poses and balances really well, then the following week I struggle and am wobbling about all over the place and keep looking at the clock because the time seems to be crawling by. Having said all that I do feel I'm getting great benefit from it and although I'm heavier than I've ever been in my life, I definitely look more toned, and that's just in a few months.

I also went to a Pilates class this week. It's not dissimilar to yoga, but I found it quite a bit easier, and I felt more invigorated afterwards. With yoga I come out feeling very calm and tranquil (and sometimes a bit sleepy) but with the Pilates I felt a lot more energetic afterwards.

So I'm going to stick with my two yoga classes per week but also add one Pilates class to the mix as well as trying to do a few minutes practise at home each day.

m0dizzle

I've been doing baptiste power vinyasa yoga 3-4x a week for two months now and I LOVE it. I sleep better, eat more mindfully, I'm less stressed and anxious, and it really kick started my metabolism and energy to work out in other ways. The more you do it, the stronger you feel too!

GuyIncognito123

We've done it twice at home so far. Success for me was just getting off my *kitten* and doing it.
I still feel pretty stupid with some of the things they make you do - but as someone who has always been plagued with back problems and constant muscle spasms, the stretching feels really good.

bkthandler

Like a lot of people on here I have gone back and forth on my fitness journey during one of my healthiest periods I did a lot of yoga and it really helped. I hope to get back to it. My gym changed instructors and it wasn't the same. I have some Yoga DVDs that I like: the old Crunch Yoga with Sarah Ivanhoe, some Yoga Zone and maybe some more.

In the name of full disclosure I tend to the flexible. While I sucked at balance poses (my instructor always said that it wasn't a failure but an change to do the pose again:flowerforyou: )

My first instructor was wonderful. I always walked out of class feeling better. When I was taking classes regularly I was making much better food choices.

Something to remember about some of the more difficult poses. You may never get to the full expression (or whatever) or any given pose and that is OK. Think of flexibility on a normal curve everyone has a range on that curve and yoga can help you get to your best but you really need to learn to ignore everyone else.

Amitysk

I had never done a yoga class in person until last week. I have done two classes now and I'm hooked! My instructor is so patient and calming and I can't wait until I can execute the poses flawlessly. The classes I have taken are right after one of my bootcamp classes and I've found it to be a great way to work out all the kinks from that.

Can't wait to share some success stories!

H0llyG0lightly

I started up with yoga again in February and go 2x per week. I was quite inflexible but now I can, for instance, touch my palms to the floor without bending my knees. I also tend to have lower back pain, but noticed recently that I haven't in a while. I didn't lose weight with yoga alone, but for overall health, I think it's great.

However, I think I might have a weak wrist, which is a big downer when it comes to yoga, since there are so many poses that require you to put weight on your wrist. There are modifications, but it's just not the same. For that reason, I might reduce my class frequency to 3-4 times per month once my current membership expires in a couple months.

smn76237

I started power yoga about a year and a half ago. I started doing 12 classes a month but I had to buy an unlimited pass about 8 months ago because I began wanting to go way more often. :happy: I try to go to 4-6 classes a week. The classes I attend torch some serious calories, which has helped me lose 50 pounds over the time I've been doing it.

I love it so much. Physically and mentally I can't think of a more rounded "exercise." My progress has been slow and incremental, which can be frustrating for some who want immediate results, but looking back at where I started it's like night and day. Flexibility and strength are through the roof now. I can make my body do stuff I never dreamed of--and there's still a ton of room for improvement. I'm excited to see where I am in another year!

heatho620

I do Baptiste power yoga too and absolutely love it!!

hermann341

My biggest success is my sciatic nerve. I tweaked it about 7 years ago doing lawnmower pulls as part of P90. After starting to run and do yoga, it's better than 99%

starsandowls

When I got pregnant, I ended up with several herniated discs. I had other issues before - scoliosis and a spinal fusion - and my spine just couldn't support the extra 60 pounds of baby weight. I thought that it would all magically go away when my daughter was born, but it didn't. I was in pain most of the time, and the slightest wrong move would set off back spasm after back spasm. Yoga has helped tremendously. I added mat pilates once a week, as well, and that has helped a lot in just the three weeks since I started doing the mat pilates as well as yoga and walking/swimming. I've been doing the yoga with more regularity (three times a week at least) since the beginning of this year.

I still can't do arm balances, but I suspect that has a lot to do with the fact that I'm still carrying around a lot of excess body fat. I'm really hoping that once I lose another 50-60 pounds, the upper body strength and lack of body fat will combine to make it so arm balances happen. Arm balances are cool to look at, in a Circ de Soleil kind of way, but just doing a forward bend with perfect form is an impressive feat. Downward dog is one of those poses that you learn when you're starting out, but it takes a lot of strength and flexibility to do it correctly. Good luck to you!

kristinksmith

. Downward dog is one of those poses that you learn when you're starting out, but it takes a lot of strength and flexibility to do it correctly.

I am so glad you said this as I find this difficult to do for any period of time. My arms get tired of supporting my body weight.

RenewedRunner

I practice hot yoga. I LOVE IT

When I started downward facing dog was hard, I could hardly support myself on my arms. Now I can go to wheel pose!!!!

ANd while I still feel like dying-hot yoga is HOT- I feel stronger in many ways now.

You can do it, it is awesome!!!! I even recruited a friend who is a self proclaimed cardio junkie to go to classes with me and she loves it!

kjm3579

I started Bikram Yoga about one year ago and practiced for about 10 months. The classes are held in a 105* room at 40% humidity and you sweat through 2 breathing exercises and 2 sets of 26 poses in 1-1/2 hours per class. I went 3-5 classes per week to help heal/rehab a runners injury to my ankle. It was a struggle to get through each class but I felt so much better after getting done each day. I often got up early to get into the city for a 6 am class before work, and even went to two special sessions which each lasted over 4 hours. I only recently stopped because I wanted to increase my time running and weight training and I was running out of hours in a day to fit everything in. My ankle was healed in those classes and some of my other aches and pains went away while I learned how to improve my balance and worked especially hard on backbends to heal my spine.

MinMin97

Totally think you are on the right track if you develop a yoga habit!! The more you do it, the more of a workout it becomes....you can work up a sweat!! I have Kathy Smith's New Yoga, and I mostly have done the intermediate DVD. There are many to choose from, but hers is my perennial favorite. Yoga makes you stronger in everything else you do. It makes your breathing deep and steady. It makes your posture excellent. It trains your body to move correctly through out the day. It is a super-boost to your health and feeling of well-being!
ETA yoga makes your body look more youthful!!!