Comments on Cranky Fitness: Guest Post: Sara G. On Yoga

A DVD I found great success with even when my back...

2007-10-25T01:30:00.000-04:00

A DVD I found great success with even when my back was in a habitual spasm a few years back was called "Yoga For Inflexible People". I'd imagine Amazon has it. Rather dry and slow though in this case it's a good thing, as it's nicely laid out with several options for level of difficulty and areas of concentration; say hips, or neck and shoulders, etc. The good thing was the attention paid to the detail of EXACTLY how to do a pose correctly, how to relax into it, how to hold it, how not to strain anything. Also it has the usual props recommended for if you really are very tight physically; blocks, blanket, strap, chair. It's the only one I have that I kept going back to because of the emphasis on care and form.

Twenty-four years of wobbly yoga, here. It's not m...

2007-10-14T10:33:00.000-04:00

Twenty-four years of wobbly yoga, here. It's not my ankles, it's my inner ear. Still good, though.

Mary Anne in Kentucky

i feel so dumb when it comes to yoga knowledge. i ...

2007-10-13T17:45:00.000-04:00

i feel so dumb when it comes to yoga knowledge. i always thought of it as stretching and not working out.

Quito,Thanks for the info on the mula bunda.Terrie...

2007-10-13T16:38:00.000-04:00

Quito,

Thanks for the info on the mula bunda.

Terrie

Thanks Sara,Yoga always looks so graceful and beau...

2007-10-13T16:36:00.000-04:00

Thanks Sara,

Yoga always looks so graceful and beautiful. I have always been told it is effective. It's nice to understand why.

Terrie

Hi everybody! Thanks so much for all these great c...

2007-10-12T19:42:00.000-04:00

Hi everybody! Thanks so much for all these great comments. I want to respond to each personally, but I'm in Phoenix helping cook for my cousin's 84 person wedding, so I just have time to pop in and visit!

To answer one question - it does get easier! I felt so clumsy at first, and those moments where you start to feel yourself getting good are so much fun!

Thanks so much for reading - and to Crabby for letting me post here!

Have a wonderful weekend all. :-)

Thanks Katieo.. tis something to consider for sure...

2007-10-12T17:48:00.000-04:00

Thanks Katieo.. tis something to consider for sure. And thanks to you too, Reb. I've bookmarked it and will check it out more fully when time permits.

Wow, I learned a lot both from the post and from a...

2007-10-12T16:20:00.000-04:00

Wow, I learned a lot both from the post and from all the comments. Thanks Sara and everyone who's making me feel like I should really give yoga another shot!

I actually think it's great and have incorporated a bit of it into my stretching routine. The main drawback for me is just time--and figuring out how many fitness related things I'm willing to take on. Between regular cardio, interval training, strength training and flexibility, it adds up to a lot. So I try to find the fastest way I can to do a bit of all of them. A commitment to a yoga class would be great but then I'd probably end up skipping my weights. But I agree, yoga rocks!

I love yoga but I feel like such a clutz in class....

2007-10-12T13:59:00.000-04:00

I love yoga but I feel like such a clutz in class. I seem to be the only one with no balance, but I keep on trying. The same 5 benefits also apply to weight training, at least they are true for me. Thanks for the post. :)

Good post Sara, timely too, I need to get back to ...

2007-10-12T13:35:00.000-04:00

Good post Sara, timely too, I need to get back to doing my stretches. I kind of dropped it when I got myself a bike this summer.

Hilary & Geosomin, have a look at this website I found, it has most of the poses animated.

http://www.hathayogalesson.com/

I figure once I am more accustomed to doing Yoga again, (and can afford too) I will find a class near me.

Ok. You've convinced me. I've fallen out of the ha...

2007-10-12T13:19:00.000-04:00

Ok. You've convinced me. I've fallen out of the habit. To Hilary and Geosomin, I used to HATE Yoga and was pretty poor at it until I found an excellent instructor. He made all the difference. I only did it once a week but felt such a huge difference in my body and mind I never missed a class. Then we moved to a neighboring city and the extra 20 min. drive has kept me from going. But this tuesday I'm there! Thanks Sara.

Oh and one more thing. Yoga helped me to be so much more patient with myself when I was really trying to lose weight. Especially on the weeks the scale just wouldn't budge.

Great post, Sara.I LOVE yoga! I bought a yoga DVD ...

2007-10-12T12:56:00.000-04:00

Great post, Sara.
I LOVE yoga! I bought a yoga DVD and want to use it on a regular basis. Once upon a time, I practiced ballet, and find yoga brings back the memory of those classes (can almost smell the rosin - sheesh, can't remember how to spell)...now if I can just get into doing the yoga on a regular basis! There's one pose (can't remember what it's called) where you hold your body straight up in the air, elbows on the floor, hands on lower back. The instructor on the DVD says to concentrate on your breathing - I always start laughing there, saying to her - I HAVE to concentrate on breathing 'cause my tummy is covering my nose...
Kidding, really, I'm just kidding. It only flops down to my chin...

Thanks quito. That's encouraging to know. I think ...

2007-10-12T11:53:00.000-04:00

Thanks quito. That's encouraging to know. I think I probably have both.. weak abs and weak ankles.. right along with weak willpower. :)

I miss my yoga classes! I have been going to Pila...

2007-10-12T11:20:00.000-04:00

I miss my yoga classes! I have been going to Pilates to try to strengthen my core and get a little bit of flexibility. I hope it works!

Geosomin and Hilary, I was that way too. For most ...

2007-10-12T10:58:00.000-04:00

Geosomin and Hilary, I was that way too. For most people, the problem with balance comes from weak abs (sometimes weak ankles). If you want to be better at balance, start doing some abs exercises (and clamp that mula bunda when balancing! The mula bunda is the lower inner abs muscle.)

Sara - I love the way you started the article abou...

2007-10-12T10:54:00.000-04:00

Sara - I love the way you started the article about preconceived notions (although I'm from LA and never even considered a boob job). Anyway, I've been practicing asana about three days a week for over two years now.

The difficulty with yoga for me is: to do more than three days a week, you have to learn to do it by yourself. It's not physically hard to do by yourself, of course - nothing could be simpler - but I have a hard time quieting my mind unless I have the cues from the class setting. I start the sun salutations and I'm already impatient. So, I throw in micro-yoga session throughout the day: do a down dog to stretch, or even a headstand after a particularly difficult meeting (I've thought about doing the headstand DURING the particulary difficult meeting).

As for yoga and weight loss, I think the beauty of it is for many is, you lose weight in a large part because you reset your priorities. But, I might be getting too close to chakras and bundas here for you :D

I'm with geosomin. I feel very uncoordinated for y...

2007-10-12T10:52:00.000-04:00

I'm with geosomin. I feel very uncoordinated for yoga. I can't stand on one foot to save my life. Does it get any easier with practice or am I just doomed to remain a klutz?

Yes. yoga is a very good thing to do! Sometimes, a...

2007-10-12T10:37:00.000-04:00

Yes. yoga is a very good thing to do! Sometimes, at our fitness center, I just sit in with the yoga class. I don't do any of the exercises, but just listen to the soft music and the instructor's soothing voice. I always leave in a peaceful, better place.
Namaste!
Dr.J

Hmmm. I've always wanted to try yoga...I'm just so...

2007-10-12T10:35:00.000-04:00

Hmmm. I've always wanted to try yoga...I'm just so clumsy I can't get "into" it without plopping on mu butt and giggling and disrupting the rest of the class! I find bellydancing fun and a challenge, but I don't know how much coordination I'd need for yoga...I think it would be a great thing tho.
Perhaps I should try a DVD. Anyone recommend a good one?

I used to hate yoga, it was nothing like the sweat...

2007-10-12T10:09:00.000-04:00

I used to hate yoga, it was nothing like the sweaty gut it out feeling of running, so I just couldn't see the use. But in the last year, I decided I needed to unwind my body a little and have found that I love yoga and it takes a lot more strength than one initially thinks

Great post, Sara! I really need to get back into ...

2007-10-12T09:20:00.000-04:00

Great post, Sara! I really need to get back into yoga. I got so much out of it when it was a regular part of my life.

Thanks, Crabby, for having Sara as a guest blogger!

Excellent post, Sara.I do a few yoga stretches eve...

2007-10-12T08:51:00.000-04:00

Excellent post, Sara.
I do a few yoga stretches every morning. It's made quite a difference. I'm more aware of my body and I can reach stuff in the
middle cupboard without standing on tiptoe.