Its not all about the shape
Surprising enough this post isn’t all about diet and shape. It’s about Yoga. Love it, hate it, or never tried it, there is no denying that yoga has become incredibly popular over the past few years. It used to be something you found in a musty village hall, taught by some incense wafting hippy type. Not any more. Thankfully Yoga is now available to everyone. It’s even being taught in schools. There are many different types, many different teachers, with yoga retreats and holidays popping up in the new glossy Yoga magazines. It is, undoubtedly a way of life. It is also, not for everyone, and I am not writing this to convert you all. I am writing to ask you to give it a chance. The yoga you may experience in a large gym will be completely different to a workshop with an instructor who has trained in India, and there are so many different types of yoga and so many different teaching styles. The class that suits me, may not suit you. Don’t be afraid to try a few different classes. If you are a beginner, Hatha yoga is your starting point. Understand the basics first then see where it takes you… there is Ashtanga yoga or Vinyassa Flow; and you can even try Bikrham Yoga (the hot sweaty one!) Yoga, in my view, is a way of life. It gives you focus and it brings to the forefront things that need to be worked on. It’s not all about the stretch, and it’s not all about recreating the poses that you see in the books and magazines. It’s worth remembering that every one has a different body shape and different abilities. Just think…If you have long legs and are short in the body a full seated forward fold is probably never going to ‘work’. You just won’t be able to reach, but you will still get the stretch. This is where trying to teach yourself from books and DVDs isn’t always a good thing. You often aspire to getting into the most awkward pose ever. I always wanted to ‘do’ a Royal Pigeon purely because it looked pretty awesome. It wasn’t until I had a one-to-one yoga session with AnnSee-Yeoh that I realised that my body just won’t bend that way. There was an alternative pose I could do.
It’s not all about making
the ‘correct’ shape.
It’s about feeling the movement, feeling the pose. Being able to focus and be in tune with your body Yoga is for everyone. Every body is different. Just find your teacher. For me it was easy, and I thank Twitter for the link to AnnSee.
