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I don’t know your age, or fitness level, but my understanding is that anyone can follow at their own pace and still enjoy it while gaining competence.
My DIL is 31, and very physically fit. She just tried a 12 session yoga package and she really loves it, but even she could not really do much in the beginning. At the studio she goes to, they end with a cool cloth for the eyes, and a shoulder massage. She loves that part.
I did yoga in my younger days and will go back to it sometime. The exercises make you a lot more flexible. One thing to remember is that in yoga you are not competing with anyone. You go at your own pace and you do what you can do. Even that thought is relaxing.
The nearest yoga studio to me offers "Yoga 101" classes, which sounds very attractive, or it did until they told me that the next session is full and they're not doing another one until six months from now. The person I talked to suggested I just start attending one of their all-levels classes...but I'm male, in my late 60s, very inflexible with some upper body pain issues, and even without the issues, I simply don't want to feel like...well, the worst person there, for lack of a better phrase. At least in a class full of other beginners, I'd be ok being that person. I'm far more inclined to just try videos at home, even though I know my form and posture will probably be wrong and I'll likely acquire some bad habits.
The nearest yoga studio to me offers "Yoga 101" classes, which sounds very attractive, or it did until they told me that the next session is full and they're not doing another one until six months from now. The person I talked to suggested I just start attending one of their all-levels classes...but I'm male, in my late 60s, very inflexible with some upper body pain issues, and even without the issues, I simply don't want to feel like...well, the worst person there, for lack of a better phrase. At least in a class full of other beginners, I'd be ok being that person. I'm far more inclined to just try videos at home, even though I know my form and posture will probably be wrong and I'll likely acquire some bad habits.
Embarrassment is a powerful demotivator.
My original yoga teacher, back in days of olde, made tapes. (actually, she made records and I turned them into tapes.) You can do yoga by listening to someone giving you the instructions. It's best to have a teacher so you don't develop the bad habits, but some of it is so simple--just lying on the floor on your back and pressing the small of your back down. Hold it that way. Bring your knees up if you can, and hang on to them with your arms. My yoga teacher always said that was the best position for a tired back.
Lying there, put your legs back down and raise your arms over your head on the floor, flat. Stretch one arm, stretch the other arm, slowly even to the tips of your fingers. Alternate arms. Lying flat on your back, turn your head slowly to the left, then slowly to the right. Then flex your ankles one at a time. Slowly. Try to lift one leg up and down, slowly, keeping it straight. Then the other. Always slowly, always only doing what you can. You are not in a competition.
It's all stuff like that to start out. Stretching as much as you can. At first you can hardly do anything but it's just amazing how you get better and better at it. Try it.
I'm far more inclined to just try videos at home, even though I know my form and posture will probably be wrong and I'll likely acquire some bad habits.
Embarrassment is a powerful demotivator.
Yoga instructors are usually very good at making you feel welcome, without any embarrassment for being a beginner.
If you learn yoga at home without an instructor, it's true you won't be able to see your form and will acquire some bad habits, but if you go slowly, you could still benefit from it. If you were to use a mirror, you could see your poses and compare them to the instructor.
I like Esther Ekhart's yoga for beginners videos. She's very good with beginners, and with more advanced practitioners as well. Here's a link, if you're interested.
The nearest yoga studio to me offers "Yoga 101" classes, which sounds very attractive, or it did until they told me that the next session is full and they're not doing another one until six months from now. The person I talked to suggested I just start attending one of their all-levels classes...but I'm male, in my late 60s, very inflexible with some upper body pain issues, and even without the issues, I simply don't want to feel like...well, the worst person there, for lack of a better phrase. At least in a class full of other beginners, I'd be ok being that person. I'm far more inclined to just try videos at home, even though I know my form and posture will probably be wrong and I'll likely acquire some bad habits.
Embarrassment is a powerful demotivator.
Are there any other studios with in a reasonable distance? Or possibly a senior center/community center that offers yoga even if it is not their main activity? If you cannot go to a beginner class I think a slow flow would be preferable to Yin (which is all long holds without flow) or a flow class that is too quick for a beginner to master. Usually any lower level class will suffice. Some teachers orient their all level classes towards the lower end of difficulty and it is up tot e student to add the difficulty while others shoot fro the middle and it is up to the student to decrease their difficulty.
And keep in mind you'll be lost the first couple of tires regardless of class set up. I still hit an occasional classes where a pose or sequence finally clicks. And I've been going to classes for several years.
I took the first Yoga 101 class last night and I’m glad I waited. Yes, I know I could have found another class before now and it might have been ok and the instructor might have been patient, but Yoga 101 was a class of no one but beginners who knew as much as me...essentially nothing. I also had the benefit of the second instructor going around and helping us with our postures, because none of us knew what good form would feel like. I needed that in particular because there was no path to see myself in a mirror.
Now I can do a beginner flow from mountain to down dog to two warrior poses with a mirror in my house, then go back next week to learn more and improve. I had looked at the Ekland series but I’m glad I’m going this way.
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