Back in October I was really tired of the stress of I was feeling with trying to figure things out in my life so I turned to the internet. I searched stress relief on Youtube and the first thing I saw was a Yoga video that was stress relief. I have never done yoga before and never even considered it. The thought of it made me feel awkward and I just felt like all it was was stretching. Obviously at this point in my life I was ready to try just about anything to help me out. I decided to do a 30 days of yoga challenge on youtube. After the very first day of the challenge I just stayed there lying on the floor with a big smile on my face. I felt SO GOOD! Every day after that I faithfully did yoga and all my stress and emotionally pain just melted away.
Overall, I was healed and a much happier person. The purpose of this blog is for me to hopefully convince you to give it a try. Especially if you are struggling with finding something to do for yourself. That is the great thing about yoga! Yoga is all about you! It is about loving yourself, accepting yourself, healing yourself physically and emotionally.
This is me giving you some tips on getting the most out of your yoga practice, especially if you are a beginner.
1. Yoga is a type of exercise. Some people will try to tell you it is not. All I have to say to them is give it a try and let's see what you have to say after. In yoga you are flexing and stretching some muscles you hardly use and it feels oh so yummy. Don't know what I mean? Try it!
2. Even though yoga is an exercise or as us yogis call it, a "practice". It is not a give it your until you can't handle any more. Listen to your body! This is what the Child's pose was created for. If a certain pose is too much for you and you can't keep track of your breathing get down into this pose and do what you need to do to get back in that meditation state of mind.
3. Your body will slowly change. I did not lose all that much weight the first couple weeks of doing yoga. It maybe even took as long as a month. However, I did notice some great changes in my body! Just within a week I noticed my flexibility improve greatly and overall I just felt great. Remember, muscle weighs more than fat so take that into account when you think this practice isn't benefiting your weight.
4. Whether you are doing your practice at home or in a studio with a yoga instructor don't worry about how you look. This was my biggest worry about ever doing yoga. What I noticed was that once we started I was so focused on my poses and doing my own thing I didn't have time to look around and notice anybody else. I am sure the same is true for the other yogis around you.
5. There is a difference in having a cheap mat vs. an expensive one. At the beginning of my practice I used just a cheap mat to practice yoga and really didn't think it would make sense to get an expensive one. I didn't understand mats all that well. If anybody knows my husband they know that when it comes to buying stuff he does A LOT of research to make sure he gets the best quality item. For Christmas he surprised me with a Lululemon yoga mat. At first I wasn't all that excited that he spent so much money on me. Believe me now though, a great mat is worth the extra money! With my old mat if I was sweating even slightly I would slip around and had a hard time holding some poses. With my new mat I could be doing hot yoga and I won't budge.
6. You will learn to crave being sore. I hope this makes sense to you beginners but nothing feels more good than practicing yoga when you are sore from your previous practice. There is something about stretching it out and breathing through the pain that is so satisfying and just feels extra yummy.
7. Do this for you. Have fun. Never take yoga too seriously! If you fall laugh it off. If you fart in the middle of a pose, laugh it off. Smile when something feels good. Just remember to listen to your body and find what feels best for you.
For those of you that don't know where to start and are not sure if you want to commit to paying for a class. Try these at home practices! I seriously love Yoga with Adriene. She is hilarious and keeps me wanting to come back for more.
She currently has two free 30 day programs. I started with "30 Days of Yoga" and then did "30 Days of Yoga Camp"
I would personally do it in that order just because she caters more to beginners in "30 days of Yoga"
Enjoy! Namaste.
