Side Effects of Yoga

I found that after two weeks of doing it every night at home that I slept awesome, it helped me with my post partum depression (I just felt happier and more patient), I had more energy and motivation, and I also noticed a bit of a difference in my upper body strength. Also not sure if this was in my head or not or if it was the practice from controlling my breathing or something but that I had a way easier time doing my cardio workouts...

My aunt has been doing yoga for a couple weeks and she absolutely loves it. I will have to get on this bandwagon.

It has really helped with my lower back pain.
Helps with balance and posture.
This last week I also did an assisted hand stand :drinker:

I have been doing yoga 3-6 times per week for 2.5 years now and LOVE it...to the point that I am going to start teacher training in September. Mentally, I am happier, less anxious and was able to wean off of anti-depressants! I'll change my profile picture in a second to show you my arms, because I am really happy with them, and they got this way solely from yoga :drinker: I am also a dancer, but it is Irish Dance, and it only focuses on the bottom half of your body (moving your arms is a huge no-no). But, I have to say, I can jump higher than ever...and I am 44, so pretty good!

side effects of yoga include wearing yoga clothes everywhere, and saying "namaste" instead of thank you.

Only if you live in Los Angeles :laugh:

Flexible body even years after you quit. I did Yoga for almost my entire childhood and adolescence. I became less regular about 10 years ago. Its about the same time I started adding weight. But even at my heaviest I could still bend over and touch my toes.

I loved it when I was doing it. (I only stopped because I couldn't afford it anymore.) I didn't notice much change in the LOOK of my body, but that's not why I was doing it anyway. I did get more flexible and found that yoga was very soothing and stress relieving. The classes also felt like a very quiet, relaxed social bonding time - like we were all interacting in a way, but instead of using words to communicate, it was just a general positive atttitude / friendly atmosphere kind of thing going on. :flowerforyou:

Could someone recommend some good yoga DVDs?

I second this question, I have tried a couple of DVDs that I did not care for and would like something for a beginner.

This is so wonderful! Thank you for all of the responses!

I have no intention of quitting anytime soon because I have already noticed so many of the things that have been mentioned in this thread :happy:

I also love that I am always motivated to do it! I feel like my combination of lifting and yoga with a sprinkling of light cardio is my perfect mix and that makes me SO happy!!!!


@OmShaktiOm.....your arms are from yoga alone??!!!! That is awesome....you look great :happy:

Thank you and yes only yoga...I'm actually dipping my toes into lifting, but when I took that picture (this summer) I hadn't lifted at all (except for my own body weight). Yoga brings me bliss :flowerforyou:

I've recently started doing bikram yoga and I'm in love! I need high intesity to feel like I am doing an exercise.

I find my joints much better. I've terrible glute/IT band/knee issues and the bikram really helps iron these out plus my foam roller usage.

- My back screams a lot less at me and I haven't had an exacerbation in years (I started yoga after I pinched my piriformins and ended up sleeping on the floor for a few weeks cause my bed was too painful)
- I can touch my toes. And the floor. While bent in interesting ways. I never could do that in my 20s. Matter of fact I can out-bend many 20-some-year-olds (that's right, who is old and stiff now? )
- It helps me wake up on days when caffeine just won't do it.
- It helps me go to sleep on nights when nothing much else will.
- Improved body awareness (which comes in handy with lifting cause I know where all my bits are and how they're aligned).
- Better posture.
- Better balance.
- Better focus.
- There's muscles under all that tummy flab I swear !!!!
- I can't do a push-up but I can at least hold a plank for a good while, so there.
- Breathing. You'd think I know how to do that since I do it all the time, but it turns out when left to my own devices, all I know to do is shallow breathing; had to actually learn the deep/controlled breathing.

As to beginner DVDs my favorites are Yoga Zone cause they have two 20-minute workouts that you can do separately or combine into 1 session. I also like Rodney Yee although I can't keep up with his power yoga DVD (and probably never will). Anything Gaiam is decent. Check Youtube for some material. These days I mostly design my own workouts depending on what needs stretched the most and how much time I have. I also use the Simply Yoga app with some Zen music in the background because it lets me design my own routines, or follow the pre-canned ones; whichever I happen to be in the mood for.

I've been doing yoga for about 10 years or so and it's the only exercise that I've actually stuck with for this long, which is a record for me. If I haven't done it in a few weeks, my body definitely lets me know! You get used to not being so tight all the time. There's really no downside to yoga whatsoever; it's pretty amazing and will easily complement and improve everything else you happen to be into exercise-wise (and life in general).

Bump

Yoga helps me emotionally and mentally and to reduce stress. Yoga helps me with my dance training and to loosen up my body and joints. It increases my flexibility (I am addicted to flexibility) and the kind of strength I need for dancing. Yoga reduces body pain and helps me with my past injuries. Gives me a very strong core, even after having two kids. It's a fun workout. I like that it is graceful, artistic and dance-like. Helps me to keep up with my back bend skills that I need for my dancing. I agree that it compliments my weight training and adds variety. I can do yoga with my children also.

I agree about yoga helping me wake up (I do not consume caffeine because it causes me anxiety and jitters). I do yoga first thing in the morning. And it also helps me when I have a tummy ache.