Beginning Yoga

A huge deterrent to getting into fitness and the routine of it is that it seems like a pretty daunting task. It seems like you need a lot of prior knowledge for a lot of it before you get into. What diet balances you should have, what equipment you need, what sort of work out you need to do, do you want to build muscle, lose fat? You might need to consult a few other people, maybe even join a gym. Why I would put myself through so much, I’m just happy being myself, you think as you spend another day at home.

Yoga for Fitness

The great thing about Yoga is that it can be done anywhere, anytime with very little equipment, usually just baggy clothes (you already have that covered!) and a non-slip mat to begin.

Other than that you just need patience and an open mind. You can’t go into yoga without even a little determination. With the right attitude, you’ll start seeing results right away.

Your First Poses

You can’t go into yoga without rocking out a few of the basic poses, The basic poses will help you get into the flow of things and will help you become more flexible for the later, more demanding ones. Here are a few poses to get you going:

Mountain Pose

The Mountain Pose is a foundation standing pose. It gives you a sense of how to balance yourself standing straight up and feel the ground beneath you. To anyone looking from the outside, it will look just like you’re standing, but a lot more is going on.

Stand with your feet together, all ten of your toes should be pressed down, engage your quads and lift your kneecaps to lift them through the inner thighs. Life up your chest and feel as though it presses to your shoulders.

 

 

 

 

Downward Dog

The Downward Dog stretches the body. You should come down on all fours, by laying your arms in front of you and lifting your hips. Your feet should be aligned with your wrists. If your hamstrings bother you, you can keep your knees slightly bent otherwise keep your legs straight while keeping your hips back.

Plank

Get on all fours again and tuck under your toes and lift your legs off the mat. Sort of like a push-up position, but you should slide your heels back enough to feel like your body is one straight line. This engages your lower abdominal.  Pull shoulders away from your face for a perfect alignment.

Yoga is all about getting into the right mindset and having patience.