Do you have questions? concerns? So do many folks before they start. Maybe their questions are the same as yours.
I'm not flexible. Can I do yoga?
Absolutely you can do yoga. Slow, mindful yoga is about much more than flexibility, but you may increase in flexibility if you start practicing regularly. And by the way, the goal is not to become super-flexible. If you do increase your flexibility, that is great, but this is also about inner awareness and building nervous system resilience.
I don't have a "yoga body" like I see in magazines and online.
I don't either! But if you breathe and you have a body, you have a yoga body. The media has done us a serious disservice by showing only one type of body doing yoga. Yoga is for every body, regardless of age, shape, or restrictions. This is what some real yoga bodies look like.
Why do slow, mindful yoga?
Slow, mindful yoga helps us calm our nervous system. It supports our joints and muscles by easing into and out of poses. It also incorporates lots of opportunity to pause and notice. Slow yoga is not a stepping stone to fast, fitness yoga. It is a different system, with a different purpose. It also has the intention of shifting the nervous system toward greater balance and resilience.
Will it help me sleep better?
It very possibly will! See my comments on yoga for insomnia.
I'm too anxious to calm down, rest, and meditate.
There is a misconception that we should be able to just sit down, close our eyes, and meditate without preparing our bodies, breath, and mind for it. Slow, mindful yoga helps us develop our ability to know how to calm down from an anxious state and prepare for turning our awareness inside. It's a skill we can build.
I'm too exhausted to do anything physical.
There are so many approaches we can take in this framework, depending on how we feel at a given time. We meet ourselves (body, mind, and spirit) where we are at the moment, every time we practice. If we're exhausted, there are places we can start that are supportive and self-compassionate. This isn't "fitness yoga," and we're not trying to force our bodies to do something. We're listening to our bodies and befriending them.
I don't have time - or don't want to do an hour of yoga a day.
There are many facets to yoga, including movement, breath, and focused awareness. It does NOT have to be done at any particular time, or for any specific amount of time, or in a yoga studio or gym. If you have 5 minutes a day, you can begin a yoga practice.
I don't like my body.
One of the things I love about having a yoga practice is that I've developed a more compassionate relationship with my body. I judge it less and support it more. I can approach my body with curiosity about what it needs on any particular day, and compassionately move toward giving it what it needs.
There is plenty of free yoga online. Is it all the same?
There certainly is a lot of free yoga online, and there is even more since the Covid-19 pandemic. There is clearly an abundance of opportunity to try yoga for free. I encourage you to do that! There are many different styles of yoga, and lots of different teachers. It's important to explore and discover the style(s) that you like and the teacher(s) you enjoy learning from, because we are not all the same.
I have physical issues that prevent me from doing yoga.
The practice of yoga includes breath, movement, relaxation and more, with lots of choices in all areas. Even with physical issues, that everyone can find a practice that can support their body, mind, and spirit. And while I am not a yoga therapist and it is outside the scope of my practice to diagnose and treat physical issues with yoga, I believe that there are plenty of tools in slow, mindful yoga to support all bodies.
I tried it once and it hurt.
Our motto is "no pain, no pain." Yoga shouldn't hurt either while doing it or after. Through awareness of your body and the choices you have for your yoga practice, you can experience pain-free yoga.
I don't want to (or can't) bend like a pretzel.
Rest assured. We don't do that, and even if we do something that feels like you're bending into a pretzel, you have the option to stop or do something more gentle. No pain, no pretzels.
I tried it before and it was too hard. (or too hot......)
I've done those yoga classes, too. There are many, many styles of yoga. Hot yoga is one, fitness yoga is another, (and there are many others).....and slow, mindful yoga is one. "Yoga" can mean many things. I encourage you to set aside your past experiences and give slow, mindful yoga a try.... more than once. it might take some time for you to start feeling the lasting effects.
It's too "woo-woo" for me.
There are many styles of yoga and many types of instructors; some are more "woo-woo" than others. If you like those styles, they are available. If you prefer a style that does not include the "mystical" side, they are available as well. My slow, mindful yoga is not (or at least not intentionally) "woo-woo." It may include chanting (though currently I don't do that in my classes). And it does offer opportunities to more deeply explore who you are, what you value, and how you act in the world. In addition, there is accumulating scientific evidence of the benefits of yoga, and I am committed to grounding my teaching in the science, not the "woo-woo."
I'm too old to start yoga.
If you breathe and have a body, you can do some yoga. We always recommend that you check with your health care provider before starting a practice. But it can be as gentle as you need, with variations that work for your body. There are options for being in a chair, and/or having lots of support with props and walls. My students have mostly been between 45-75. If we stop looking at the yoga magazines and websites that depict yoga bodies as young and lithe, we can start to normalize the view that anyone can start and do yoga. Yoga can help us at all ages and stages to live every day with a little more strength and ease. I started by committed practice when I was 54, and because yoga offers so much variety and support, I know that it's a practice I can do for the rest of my life.
I don't want to wear - or don't have - "yoga clothes."
No problem. There's no "right" kind of clothes for yoga, other than that you want to be comfortable and be able to move your body. The popular media might tell you otherwise, but feel free to ignore those messages.
