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Yoga for Beginners: Getting
Started with Yoga
by
Marianne Woods Cirone, M.S., R.Y.T., Certified Yoga Teacher
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Yoga for Inflexible People
is a best-selling video due to its clear instructions and modifications by an
Iyengar instructor, in a DVD format that can be modified for your schedule or
area of interest. Thorough practice with many options; good for beginners
and experienced yoga students. Done in Iyengar style, this is a great place
for beginners as well as experienced students wanting to choose from an array of
routines to choose from.
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Yoga, while existing for over 5,000 years, is getting a newfound popularity
worldwide. People are flocking to yoga
classes and buying books about this ancient science which
is said to "remove the root cause of suffering" according to
Patanjali, the first person to write down the principles of yoga.
Yoga is translated to mean to "yoke" or to "join", can be defined as a union
with all. There are many
different paths of yoga, ranging from service to science.Hatha
yoga, which is the type which is popular today, comprises the postures
and exercises that most people associate
with the term yoga, and can be complemented by various
techniques
of breathing of meditation and breathing, as well as philosophy.
Celebrities
and yoga teachers alike are writing books and making videos which extol
the myriad benefits of practicing hatha yoga, as in the new book Living Yoga: Creating a Life Practice
by model and yoga devotee
Christy Turlington. (For more detail on the benefits, click on Yoga
Benefits.)
Hatha
yoga
is considered a scientific path
because the results of the techniques are
consistent; it is said to be a path to obtaining inner peace along with lots of other good things).
Master yoga teachers such as B.K.S. Iyengar have written books which in
the past had been small paperbacks, and are now full color, glossy,
hardbound works of art, such as Yoga The Path to Holistic Health
(shown above right).This book provides 1,900 (!) photographs on poses and excellent
explanations and is one of many that are great resources you may want to have in your
developing yoga library.
The Himalayan Institute has an excellent book called
Yoga: Mastering the Basics
by Sandra Anderson and Rolf Solvik, Psy.D. This
is an oversized book with glossy black and white pages and clear
photographs and explanations. It would be an outstanding starter
book, and also makes a great addition to any yoga library. The
majority of the poses would be accessible to a beginner, and few props are
required. The postures are presented in a sequence that one might
follow as they began a yoga practice. This book also provides a
brief explanation of other systems of yoga besides hatha yoga, which are
not associated with the physical postures.
The following represents some of the questions that students ask when they are
starting a yoga practice.
What should I consider when starting yoga?
When starting yoga, you may want to do an assessment of your goals for yoga, the
amount of time you are interested in spending on it, and your current physical
condition. While these are important considerations, don't worry too much
about them because chances are, once you begin a yoga practice, all these
factors will begin to change.
Should I go to classes or learn at home?
You will want to consider the availability of classes for you.
While it is great to use books and tapes, at some point it is important
to work with a good teacher to help you to refine your poses.
Many of the tapes available today are done by the leaders in the field
of yoga and are excellent examples. There is a relationship of
feedback in the classroom that is invaluable, but don't be discouraged
if you don't have access to good classes. One of the yoga teachers
I met through my yoga teachers training had only done video classes
before starting her yoga teachers training. She lived in a very
rural area and is now introducing the only yoga classes within a hundred
miles.
Should I have a physical exam before starting a yoga practice?
In yoga, one of the objectives is to gain self-awareness.
While we are cultivating this from within, it is still useful to start
with a really good physical exam to benchmark our state of our health.
While yoga is known for its excellent results in treating certain
conditions and as a preventative tool, there after often
contraindications for the same conditions. So, while one pose may
be very helpful for someone with a certain condition, another pose could
be detrimental.
How do my yoga teacher, my healthcare practioner and I work together?
It is important that the yoga practitioner be aware of any limitations
that she needs to put on her yoga practice, and be able to relay these
conditions to the yoga teacher. I see the relationship between the
yoga practitioner, the yoga teacher, and the health care practitioner as
three legs of a triangle that need to balance, as follows:
1. It is critical that an individual be aware of his or her
own needs and limits, and understand how to incorporate them into his or
her practice, to express them to the yoga instructor and to inform the
health care practitioner with relevant data.
2. The health care practitioner can utilize diagnostic tools and
provide suggested guidelines of safe practices for the individual.
3. The yoga teacher can use the information provided to him or her
regarding the student's conditions to modify the student's routine and
or poses to suit the situation.
What do experts suggest my physical exam should include?
While it is important to find the right yoga teacher to modify the
practice, we need the in-depth diagnostics we need to stay on top of our
health needs.. Harvard-trained M.D. and Integrative Medicine
expert, Dr. Andrew Weil suggests the following elements as a part of a
physical exam that one might encounter in mid-life:
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Full medical history and physical exam
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Complete blood count, general blood chemistry, and serum lipid profile
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Urinalysis and stool sample
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Electrocardiogram and baseline screening tests
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Many holistic practitioners are highly attuned to the subtle changes
in the individual before actual illness manifests and may have many
additional diagnostic tools and analyses to add to this list.
Some specific conditions that extremely critical to be aware of when
doing yoga include: cardiac conditions, high- or low- blood pressure,
pregnancy, osteoporosis, ulcers or eye and ear conditions, and many
poses are contraindicated during menstruation. An excellent
resource which gives a very good description of the cautions and
benefits of poses is:
Yoga The Path to Holistic Health
by B. K. S. Iyengar, one of the fathers of modern yoga.
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Starting Yoga
