How to Start Doing Yoga

How to Start Doing Yoga
Practical Advice on How to Start Doing Yoga

Deciding that you want to start doing yoga is the first step. It's easy to get stuck here, though. Don't be intimidated! Here is the information you will need to take that next step and start enjoying the pleasures and benefits of yoga.


Physical Benefits
Flexibility: Stretching your tight body in new ways will help it to become more flexible, bringing greater range of motion to muscles and joints. Over time, you can expect to gain flexibility in your hamstrings, back, shoulders and hips

Hamstrings:
Type of pose: Standing
Benefits: Strengthens and stretches the legs, groins, hamstrings. Opens the chest and shoulders.
1. From Downward Facing Dog, bring the right foot forward next to the right hand.
2. Drop the left heel down to the floor.
3. Bend the right knee so the calf and thigh are at a right angle with the thigh parallel to the floor.
4. Bring the right hand inside or outside the right foot and the left arm up toward the ceiling, opening the chest and stacking the left shoulder on top of the right.
5. Bring the gaze up to the right hand.
To keep the body in balance, repeat on the left side.
Beginners: If the right hand does not comfortably reach the floor, take a block under the hand so that you can still open the chest.

Strength:
Many yoga poses require you to support the weight of your own body in new ways, including balancing on one leg (such as in Tree Pose) or supporting yourself with your arms (such as in Downward Facing Dog). Some exercises require you to move slowly in and out of poses, which also increases strength.


Muscle tone:
As a by-product of getting stronger, you can expect to see increased muscle tone. Yoga helps shape long, lean muscles.


Pain Prevention: Increased flexibility and strength can help prevent the causes of some types of back pain. Many people who suffer from back pain spend a lot of time sitting at a computer or driving a car. That can cause tightness and spinal compression, which you can begin to address with yoga. Yoga also improves your alignment, both in and out of class, which helps prevent many other types of pain.


Better Breathing:
Most of us breathe very shallowly into the lungs and don't give much thought to how we breathe. Yoga breathing exercises, called Pranayama, focus the attention on the breath and teach us how to better use our lungs, which benefits the entire body. Certain types of breath can also help clear the nasal passages and even calm the central nervous system, which has both physical and mental benefits.


Mental Benefits
Mental Calmness: Yoga asana practice is intensely physical. Concentrating so intently on what your body is doing has the effect of bringing a calmness to the mind. Yoga also introduces you to meditation techniques, such as watching how you breathe and disengagement from your thoughts, which help calm the mind.



Stress Reduction:
Physical activity is good for relieving stress, and this is particularly true of yoga. Because of the concentration required, your daily troubles, both large and small, seem to melt away during the time you are doing yoga. This provides a much-needed break from your stressors, as well as helping put things into perspective. The emphasis yoga places on being in the moment can also help relieve stress, as you learn not to dwell on past events or anticipate the future. You will leave a yoga class feeling less stressed than when you started. Read more about yoga for stress management here.


Body Awareness:
Doing yoga will give you an increased awareness of your own body. You are often called upon to make small, subtle movements to improve your alignment. Over time, this will increase your level of comfort in your own body. This can lead to improved posture and greater self-confidence.


A Balanced Life
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