Yoga for a month so far...

I found a few different gym classes (including yoga) I am going to start taking for the same reasons you stated: stress relief and flexibility. What type of yoga class are you taking?

I've been going to a Vinyasa Yoga class. We typically work on a continual flowing set of sun salutions and blending of meditation and classic hatha poses. Good luck with your classes!

it's 90 minutes of weight training and intense cardio. it's primarily ashtanga based.

I'm thinking I ought to try yoga too, but frankly don't know a lot about it. Did you look at different kinds of yoga before selecting the Vinyasa classes? How did you decide?

That's great that you've been able to go consistently. I used to do yoga a few times a week and it definitely helps keep your stress in check. I'm going to try to start going again. Thanks for posting!

For the people not going to a yoga class....

GO TO A YOGA CLASS

You will feel so much better!!!!!!

"I'm thinking I ought to try yoga too, but frankly don't know a lot about it. Did you look at different kinds of yoga before selecting the Vinyasa classes? How did you decide?"

Geoff, the type of yoga class you choose should depend on your goals. Are you already somewhat fit and flexible, and want a sweaty workout that will lose you lots of calories? Are you stiff and/or recovering from injury, and want to do yoga to open up your body and heal? Are you looking for a spiritual component.

Not all yoga classes are created equal. A vinyasa flow class (very popular, particularly among young people) can be a great class if you want an intense workout and a lot of sweat. It is not so good for becoming more flexible than you already are, nor is it good for recovering from injury. (You might actually hurt yourself in vinyasa flow if you are a beginner and/or have some physical limitations.)

I would recommend taking a basic beginner's hatha yoga class series if you can. NOT vinyasa flow until you've done some basic hatha yoga and know the basic poses. But then decide what you want - more flexibility or more strength. Of course, all yoga does both but I don't go to vinyasa flow to help my hamstrings. I go because it makes my arms hurt. When I want to stretch I go to Sivananda/classical yoga class myself.

If you feel yoga is helping you feel better...keep it up! I have been doing yoga for 13 years, and my love for it just continues to grow.

I've just started Bikram yoga and it is the best feeling in the world! - Don't be fooled. Not while your IN class, which my teacher was quick to point out to me when I seemed puzzled. The day after or later in the day. And my skin looks like I've had a constant facial. Amazing. This is the one where they heat up the room to 104 degrees, by the way. It's awesome.

I agree. I started yoga classes while I was out of town working. I found a few free classes locally that I've been doing twice a week. Now I've signed up at a studio in the area. It's part of 'me' time.

This seems like an already complete thread.

I would simply add that it is a bit deceiving to refer to yoga (in this case Asana or postures) as a flexibility process. In fact it is the hypermobile student who is at more risk in yoga, not the stiff person.

Rather consider yoga postures (asana) to be a process of moving some things and stabilizing others. There is a name for a process that is exclusively about flexibility and that is contortion.

Holding the idea that yoga (asana) is about flexibility places the student in a paradigm of over doing and over moving, and that not only creates a hardness of mind but also a heightened risk for injury.

That having been said, Nicole's point is well taken. When we notice we have blocks of any sort in our lives, be they the physical mobility of our hamstrings or the mental mobility of acceptance - we can navigate our own transformation by doing something about it. As long as the practice you have chosen manifests in your life and serves it, keep on rockin'.

Yoga is definitely a stress reliever for me. I always leave class feeling a little more at one.

Gordon K: Great point. Too many people, I think, shy away from Yoga, beleving it is about flexibility - that in itself is a huge block, considering the enormous health benefits of Yogic practice.

I find it stress relieving too Has anyone else fallen ssleep during Savasana? In class, I do sometimes hear an occasional snore!

Very well put Gordon! This gets into the whole "I can't do Yoga because I can't do the poses right" issue. If one has been injured during Yoga, THAT is when the pose was done wrong. Being confused about where to put one's hands and feet in half lord of the fishes DOES NOT mean one is doing the pose "wrong."