Ladies and gents, I have been rocking the yoga this week!
Specifically, the P90X Yoga that I mentioned earlier this week. Eric borrowed this from a coworker and we have had it sitting around for ages now. I finally dug it up and gave it a whirl!
If you’ve been following the blog for a while, you probably remember my stint with yoga in December 2008/January 2009. I dove full force into yoga, 30-Day shred, and training for a marathon. It was no surprise that I sustained an injury from the over-training.
I have grown a lot since that time and I realize that I am the type of person who likes to focus on one main goal or challenge, instead of spreading myself all over the place. When I was training for my races this summer and fall, I was focused. I had tangible goals and I met them.
There has always been this lingering desire for me to practice yoga on a regular basis. I think this is the perfect time for me to explore something new. I find that I am craving flexibility and tension-relief exercises. I haven’t done anything of the sort in months! Baking all day has left me with really stiff and sore back muscles and I hope that yoga will help with that.
I have been turning out the lights in the office and lighting a few candles. This instantly relaxes me, similar to baking when the sun rises and everything looks clean and crisp outdoors.
I haven’t set a time limit. I just go until I feel tired and stretched out. Tuesday I ended up doing 15 minutes, Wednesday I did 25, and Thursday I did another 15.
I immediately knew that I was going to like this DVD because it didn’t seem too ‘out there’ for me. It seemed like a normal group of people practicing yoga. I liked that the group involved a male athlete who had just started to take up yoga to help with his athleticism! Many athletes in all different areas practice yoga as a way to improve their chosen sport. I think it can really help with my running too because I have obviously gotten really tight and was doing nothing about it.
I can’t review the entire 90 minute DVD since I have only done 25 minutes, but I can tell you what I liked about it so far:
1) Aside from the instructor’s heavy breathing, he is quite easy to listen to and learn from. He explains things clearly.
2) The DVD counts down the time remaining (far right) as well as how many seconds are left in each interval. I don’t pay much attention to it, but it is nice to have.
3) For the first 25 minutes, I was able to follow along with the poses without too much difficulty. At some parts they moved a bit quicker than I did, and this caused me to lag a bit, but it wasn’t a big deal.
4) In addition to the instructor naming each pose, the bottom of the screen also displays the name. This really helped me learn each pose name. I find when instructors just say it, I never really picked them up. I am a visual learner! I love how clear this DVD is.
Here is what I didn’t enjoy:
1) Downward facing dogs
I despise them with every core of my being. My arms are so sore!!!! I could see enjoying this pose if I was flexible, but it really is no fun when you aren’t. I hope this improves over time. This DVD had many series of down dogs over and over and over again. I found it felt a bit long. Again, I hope that improves as I improve. I also need to work on my mental game and focus because I am not as zoned out as I would like to be.
At the start of the DVD, the instructor says, ‘Free your mind of all the clutter’. It really is necessary to get into it. Tonight my mind wasn’t into it and I could tell. Eric and I sort of had a stressful night and I was just not able to tune out my thoughts.
To all you yogis out there: What are your tricks for zoning out and being present in the moment? Does it just come with practice?
What do I think of yoga so far?
All and all, I am enjoying it so far and I am trying to keep my spirits up despite feeling like I suck. I think the reason I get so frustrated with yoga is because for me it is not easy to see improvements with it as fast as I would like to. Yoga, to me, seems abstract. With something like running or weight training, I have clear tangible evidence of my hard work in terms of numbers. I know that my flexibility will improve and I will notice that over time, but it is just not what I am used to I guess!
Yoga is probably one of the hardest challenges I have given myself because of my lack of flexibility and my fidgety personality. When I was young, I always scored POOR on my flexibility tests in gym class. I also am the type of person who can’t sit still, so it is no surprise that I did not gravitate toward yoga.
I got frustrated with my down dogs tonight and Eric said something very clever. He said, ‘It’s not about whether you do the pose exactly right or not. It’s not about your form. It is whether you are challenging your own body. Are you stretching? Well, then you are doing it right.’
Who is this guy? lol. Apparently, he was a yogi in his past life! ;) Wise words from my man.
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I think I need to stop focusing on my form so much and start focusing more on how my body feels and where my mind is. I think I will find that it is much more pleasurable this way.
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Do you do yoga? What was it like when you started? Tell me your story!
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I’m love yoga and have been doing it on and off for awhile now. I’m currently obsessed with hot yoga – the chilly Canadian fall makes me crave that sweet, sweet heat!
When I started I was a bit insecure to practice around all the other seemingly advanced yogis in my classes. But as I kept at it, I realized that everyone is at a different stage in their yoga practice and there is no “perfect”. We are all working on ourselves.
After a few weeks of doing hot yoga every day, I found a noticeable improvement in my balance, flexibility and even my muscle definition. I’m still working on it :)
I am really intrigued by this video you’re doing. I have been looking for a good yoga video I can do at home while my daughter takes her nap.
xx
Rachael
Oops! I meant “I” – not “I’m” in that first sentence. I think a good rule of thumb is that if there is a typo in the first word of your comment then it’s time to put away the computer and go to bed hahaha
I agree, hot yoga is incredible! The heat promotes sweating out the toxins and you can go deeper in your stretches. Plus, your heart rate works faster which also creates a cardiovascular workout. My skin was so clear, my muscles were the most relaxed they’ve been in ages, and my mind was clear as well. Hot yoga (also known as “Bikram Yoga”) is my favorite out there!
And I think clarity of mind can definitely come with practice. The first several classes I took, I had to remind myself to focus and stay in the moment. Yoga was more enjoyable when I did and soon after, I found it was second nature and I was automatically ‘focused’.
Since I started running last month I’ve been focusing on that so much. I really need to get some Yoga back in my life now. I could use the stretch after a run!
Thanks for reminding me!
I have never done yoga, but I really want to try it. I have a feeling I would get bored – as bad as that sounds!
I think that people don’t like yoga because they feel like it’s just stretching. Which is true. however, I love yoga because it demands that you stay focused and totally in tune with your body. It’s easy to run, cycle, swim without actually being invested in the activity. In order to hold poses you actually need too be in the moment. The beauty of yoga is it not only strengthens your body, but it strengthens your mind.
I consider myself a very active person. I workout 6 days a week and am a solid tennis player. I also have a background in ballet, gymnastics, and pilates, so i’m very flexible and pretty strong. I took a yoga class at my college about 3 years ago and got nothing out of it. (Thinking back on it, the teacher was terrible).
So I’ve always thought yoga was a joke, but after a recommendation from several friends, I tried an 8 class beginner series of Power Vinyasa yoga this summer. And WOW was it incredible–one of the best things that has ever happened to me. I recommend you take some sort of structured intro series where you can learn all the poses and learn to do them RIGHT.
The class was 1 hour and fifteen minutes. The beginning of the class consisted of the teacher explaining the poses as an assistant modeled them. Then as we did the poses, the assistants walked around the room and physically ease our bodies into the correct pose. It is so crucial that you do the poses correctly or you will not get anything out of it–or worse, you will hurt yourself. This has been the most challenging workout I have had in a long time! I have never sweat so much in my entire life, granted the room was 88 degrees. (a warm room is crucial as well).
Because I’m so flexible, I always thought downward dog was so boring… until I realized I was doing it wrong and it is so much more of a spine extension than a hamstring stretch!
I’m now back at college and am quite disappointed with the yoga classes. It is so important to good instructors… you must enroll in an intro series! And buy this book: Journey into Power by Baron Baptiste…it is very well-written and so inspiring. One of the chapters explains all of the poses.
I’ve had a very similar experience with yoga, but I think I’m growing to love it. I have a very fidgety personality, too, and a VERY cluttered, constantly churning mind–so it’s definitely a challenge to shut off.. but I’m enjoying working on it :)
Honestly, for me, yoga really only works if I am in a class. Getting out of my own environment puts me into a different mindset, and it is easier for me to get into the moves and get my brain out of all the clutter. Have you ever tried a class, or just videos? I like being actually present with the instructor, I don’t know, it just changes things. You might want to try that! Yoga also isn’t about being really busy and having a total heart-pumping workout like a lot of people try to make it (although you definitely work your muscles). It’s about turning and twisting your organs and removing the static and toxic matter that builds up and finding a peace within.
Keep it up with the stretching, it really does improve despite taking time. :) I used to have issues touching my toes standing up and now I can fold in half without feeling like my hamstrings are going to snap.
I like hearing about your yoga pursuits as I keep meaning to really try it out but never do it. So thanks for the updates and I look forward to seeing your progress with it.
-K
Hey Angela,
I hate to disagree with Eric because he is always so right on everything else, its not always a good idea to challenge your body when you’re doing yoga. Just relax into each pose. Then when you are comfortable, just let go a little more. If you challenge or push, you may injure yourself. Does that make sense?
and sorry, but I so love downward dog! it feels great!
Keep it up – you will grow to love it.
Wait till you get past minute 25. Minute 30-45 is soooo tough!! Your legs/booty will be screaming for mercy. And near the end there’s a crazy ab workout thrown in. I did the entire program by myself and then started another round with hubby. I told hubby that yoga was the physically hardest of all the workouts and he laughed and said no way. Before the 90 minutes was up he was singing a different tune!
I started yoga about 3 months ago and have only really done vinyasa because thats the one offered at my gym. At first it was really, really hard and i would constantly check the time to see how much longer the class was. I am not flexible at all and while I may have improved slightly, flexibility is still a challenge for me. I don’t go as consistently as I would like but it has gotten easier and I love it more every time I go. I finally learned to relax and get in the yoga zone. I hope to try hot yoga one of these days.
Btw, this is my first time commenting but I have been following your blog and wanted to tell you how much I love it! Your posts are very informative and you got me into lululemon! Congrats on your recent half marathon!
Focus on your breathing above all else. If a pose is difficult or you’re just not getting it, move into a pose you know and can do. It’s about the whole, not the little parts. :)
Also, downward facing dogs will get easier. I promise!!!
That is a great shade of blue on you! Yoga is hard!
I started yoga few months ago, but a month ago I started to go to a studio, for some real power yoga. I love it! I was flexible before, but I can see improvement after every single class.After it, I’m so relaxed and peaceful.Just what I need after a long day.I also see some good changes on my body.So I’m in love with yoga all the way :)
I threw my back out last summer. At the time, my workout regimen included regular cardio, lifting and pilates. But I knew my body needed something different. Even though I stretched, I was often sore.
After I threw my back out, I knew I needed a few months away from lifting. So I slowly introduced cardio back into my life after a few weeks of barely being able to walk. And then I slowly started introducing yoga. Over a year later, I’m madly in love with it.
It’s more spiritual for me than anything. But I love the workout also. It’s one of the hardest, most fulfilling things I’ve ever done. I can feel such a difference in my body. And it helps my mind and spirit. And I’m stronger than I’ve ever been.
I wrote a post about my love for hot yoga, and about hot yoga verses Birkam yoga, here: http://follow-my-bliss.com/2009/06/09/letting-my-ego-sweat/
I just started doing yoga yesterday! I will do a small review on my blog. It was a yoga for beginners course so I’ve learned a number of poses to start with. The downward facing dog is indeed challenging! The instructor of my video keeps repeating that it may be too difficult in the beginnening and maybe you are not able to hold on to the pose for the entire interval; but that’s ok. You just have to practice and you will get better in time. I think that’s the progression to look for in yoga, if you can’t do a certain pose for 30 seconds and in two weeks, you can? Well then you’re improving!
GOOD LUCK!!!
I really want to try the yoga P90x video! Looks good.
I am JUST like you with yoga. I am NOT flexible and yes I did terrible on flexibility in elementary school also…I think it was called the sit and reach, ugh! My biggest problem with yoga is that in most classes I just feel like I wasted an hour doing nothing at all. I’ve started going to a hot yoga class and that solved that problem. I leave so sweaty I think it’s a better work out than most cardio stuff I do.
One way that helps me see improvement is to do a certain time, and see how much easier it gets after awhile. If you don’t want to do a time though, I bet you’ll still notice the time you are able to do comfortably increasing. It definitely takes awhile with yoga but it’s worth it. I am still not even CLOSE to an expert!
I definitely agree with the other commenters about going to a yoga class as opposed to doing it at home. For some reason, when I’m at home, I feel like I need to clean something or look something up online, or I’m hungry, or some other thing that wouldn’t let my mind calm down. When I’m in a class, I’m able to concentrate. Also, it helps to have other people there in the class with you. You are not supposed to be concentrating on those other people, but it definitely helps when you don’t want to do a pose if others are doing it, then you want to too!
Hey Ange,
I do do yoga. I tip-toed in it for a while, and then once you linked to the yoga today site, I really got in to it (thank you for that!). I still use that site, and am thinking I might try yogadownload again, now I’ve seen the poses many times over (I found yogadownload too frustrating to begin with, as I didn’t know what I was really doing). The way I kept going was by noticing how easy and smoothly I was transitioning poses and how my mind became less focused on trying to stay in a pose and became just clearer – rested in a position.
I look forward to reading more about your yoga journey!
Hi Angela,
I practice yoga almost on a daily basis and I am in love with it. I too have poor flexibility, or rather had, as it has definitely improved overtime. I used to hate downward dogs for the same reasons as you, but lately I have started enjoying them.
Yoga is not about performance, and you don’t have to force anything. More that doing a pose perfectly, it is the intention you set behind it that counts. Anyway with time you will notice the difference.
Yesterday for the first time I managed to do a pose I wasn’t able to do… but on one side only. It could be frustrating, but I said to myself that it was ok, it was already good to do it on one side, and if I keep practicing then I will be able to do it on the second side, no big deal :-) And I am the kind of girl that can get veeeery frustrated if I don’t do something perfectly the first time around, being able to let go and let it come is an achievement for me!
It will come with practice, again don’t force anything, be happy with what you CAN do :-)