Being Fat and Doing Yoga

Yoga class is just the best! It might sound counter-intuitive, but try to choose a class that has a lot of people in it if you are worried about what people might think. The range of flexibility, weight, etc, in bigger classes is greater.

One thing you can do if you don't feel like going into child's pose when tired is back off the difficulty of the pose you are in. Like in warriors, stop lunging far and just lunge a bit or not at all. Child's Pose is perfectly acceptable, of course, but I get embarrassed about modifying too too much (more on that next).

I have physical issues that make me have to modify so much! Most teachers are awesome about it and only look quizzical at worst. One really advanced teacher was such an *kitten*, though. The class was very small, and the guy leading it reminded me more of my old basketball coach. Sure enough, he scoffed at any modifications. He would say things like 'don't stop with the arms. The arms will burn for another 3-4 minutes, so don't wimp out now'. OMG. I have a nerve problem in my cervical spine and traps, idiot. I use prayer hands more often than the average bear. So sue me.

So if you ever run into a yoga teacher that hates modifications or requires people to 'push through the burn' or uses words like 'wimp', remember that that's not yoga! (I noticed that that teacher had very little hip or back flexibility compared to me, so I did blow him out of the water on those poses in his own class. That's not yoga, either, but it was fun )

Yay! And I hope your husband does get into it, too! That would be so fun going together