The physical practice we know in modern yoga is one of 8 components of higher consciousness work that have evolved over 5000 years. Hatha yoga is a physical (asana) practice developed in the last millenium, brought to the west in the 1800 and 1900s. Since then, teachers have adapted Hatha yoga into different styles or systems that incorporate breathing, meditation and movement techniques. Modern science has deepened our understanding of the benefits of yoga.

Oh yes! This is the main thing that keeps many people away from yoga. This is also why you’re in many ways the ideal practitioner; you’ve got the willingness to try something that will work your body and mind, yet you’re a blank slate with no bad habits!

Very often athletes are superbly developed in the area(s) related to their sport, but are literally ‘out of balance’ in the rest of their body, and sometimes wind up with surprising injuries. Everything is connected! So by bringing a more thorough awareness to the whole body, yoga prepares you for whatever gets thrown at you. Your game will improve by doing yoga. You‘ll jump higher, react faster, and get injured less.

Of course, this depends on the injury. When injured, you need to strike a balance between resting parts that need to heal, but also keeping blood flowing and muscles awake. Yoga does help you heal faster; but talk to a licensed physiotherapist to find out what you should and should not do, then be sure to inform your instructor of your injury so that your sequence can be tailored to make things better, not worse.

Sometimes people have been injured doing yoga improperly, too intensely, or too often. People also bungee-jump, play football, ballroom dance, bicycle and run...and wind up injured. Yoga is the only physical activity that is aimed entirely at the full-body well-being of its practitioners. It’s choreographed physiotherapy, and many, many more people have benefitted immensely from proper yoga instruction and practice than have been injured. Smart teachers like smart students.

Chanting is used in some classes to help students relax, breathe, and establish a level of camaraderie among strangers. The simplest chant is the ‘aum’, often done three times at the beginning and end of a session. It feels good to do, but it’s not necessary!

Being flexible means that your muscles, tendons, and ligaments have a good amount of elasticity to them. As we age, the elasticity hardens and our range of motion decreases..that means we start to have trouble reaching and walking. Yoga helps your strength, flexibility and balance so that you can stay active, feel good, and live for a long time.

Ever been to an awful restaurant? You’ve likely never gone back...but presumably you have not decided to never go to ANY restaurant ever again...?  It’s possible that your first yoga experience was with a bad teacher, or the class was too big, or your shorts were too tight, or the style just wasn’t suitable for you. You might hate a class...but please dedicate yourself to making sure that you get the most benefit possible based on your goals and level. 

Yoga was originally created for men, and it’s only in the last half century that the physical practices of yoga have been adopted by a majority of smart women who saw the benefits and were willing to make it part of their routine. There’s been a recent surge in the number of men taking classes, which is a good sign, and does suggest the need to be aware of the postures that suit men’s and women’s bodies differently.