Why go for yoga anyway?

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

Reading questions from people about yoga and how to combine it with other exercise routines sparks my curiosity towards why people start getting involved with yoga. Do the strongest drivers relate to:

Physical - appearance
Physical - health
Injuries (recovery or avoidance)
Mental
Spiritual

Obviously a practitioner may find many or all of these things (without trying or knowing it) But if there was one thing that got you started what would it be…

I myself got started because I believed it would cure my poor posture and related back aches and pains. Which it has. I continue because I enjoy it far more than say the gym or running.

Very interested to hear the views and experiences of others.

#2

I got started because I needed to strengthen my back after messing it up pretty badly. That was about 7 years ago (or is it 9?) and I haven’t looked back. The reasons I stayed with it are numerous. My body said a very loud THANK YOU, and I listened to that. I noticed that my heart felt more peaceful too, so that was a big one for me.

I’m not any more than an absolute rank beginner, but it just makes me feel so good both body and soul that I don’t think I will ever give it up.

#3

I started about 12months(Ashtanga) because a friend suggested this particular studio. I had been doing Pilates for several years but physically found no challenge in it anymore. So I guess initially it was to replace an existing exercise routine and now it is so much more than that. Now the challenges that I face are not as simple as physical but I must work through the fear I encounter in my practice regularly. Some days are better than others, but the effort put forth is so rewarding to me …in so many ways.

#4

My asana practice is therapeutic in nature. It also has an egoistic part. I use to observe people, I like to watch them, how they are, how they look, how they move. (Part of my job as an architect, is to witness and be aware of little aspects of human life) I found that young athletic males have a ceirtan posture, where the pelvis is pushed forward, the abdomen flat and the upper body leans back … as if they were bending from the hip area. I liked that image, of confidence, youth, and leanness … compared to it most middle aged or elderly people have bellies, they are bent forward, lack abdominal tone, and alltogheter they look miserable.
I simply wanted to have that appeareance. When I found that working out, weight training did not approve this, as my belly was gone, but my abdomen was still protruding, I realized this is a postural problem generated by a lot of sitting. I probably spent third of my lifetime sitting. Tight hamstirngs and calves, compressed, overarched lombar spine, slight kyphoscoliosys, I had them all. This lead me to asana practice … but the real reson in turning to yoga was other, and earlier, a more emotional one.

#5

I started to practice after I had a knee injury from running. I haven’t run since!

#6

My doctor one day wrote me a prescription after sitting in front of her with back ache again. The prescription was to start yoga immediately with the telephone number of my current teacher, Sri Durga Devi, never looked back and my back ache is something of the past. The big surprise was however, that for the first time in my life there was something that made sense to me and the road to discovery has been and still is great so far. It never ends and I love it.

Personally the rewards has been great for me, I am blessed with a great teacher who imparted her knowledge with great love and always pushed me to discover more of who Am I and as she always says:“A yogi never gives up no matter what, stick to your path and you will reap the benefits.”

#7

i started (actually re-started) my practise after having a debilitating ‘pain in the neck’ (which clearly was a physical manifestation of my inability to make a decision re a dilemma i found myself in). i have been consistently practising now for over a year, the neck pain was resolved within 6 weeks, now i really enjoy the centering and balancing aspects of yoga, and the equilibrium of mind, body and spirit.
cheers
Savannah

#8

I started practicing yoga a few months before I got surgery for a long-lived with digestive disease. I was so ill, in pain and depressed. I could not really do anything. So, I took a prenatal class as I figured it would be gentle on my highly protected belly area. It was wonderful! 9 years later I am a loyal practitioner of many forms of yoga as well as a teacher of Yoga Therapy. I really love it and fully believe in its power to heal on every level.

#9

i actually don’t really remember. i was 14 or 15, it was 1994ish, and my mom asked if i wanted to start taking a class with her at the studio that had just opened up in our town. i thought it would be fun. so, i guess fun was the reason i started. the reasons i kept it up were health and mental well-being.

#10

Yoga has become an important aspect in my ‘advancement’ in aging.
Not old, but pushing what is now a solid ‘middle age’; I guess I might be a poster child for the ‘Baby Boomers’ :wink: (only a lil’bit… and ‘not’ when it comes to goin ‘soft’ on self-responsibility, )
It became clear many moons ago that our minds are deeply intertwined to our physical bodies and aging can (does) greatly affect both. This, of course, is very much a ‘DUH’ realization and statement. But living life under that premise seems a lot harder than it has seemed to be.
Apart from things out of my control, environmental and systemic, I can control, to a large degree, how I, physically and mentally, feed the machine, work the machine and challenge the machine. Things like ALzheimers and other debilitating things can still pull the rug out from any of us; but there’s still a lot within our control and management.
Yoga is part and parcel of both physical and mental aspects of my being and whatever the rest of the ‘trip’ holds for me. I 'm trying to be as best prepared for the rest of the journey as possible.
I have no regrets on things I’ve done, only those I’ve not done. I regret not having been smart, insightful or broad enough visioned to find Yoga much sooner. I’m in awe of you younger people who have already made Yoga a significant part of yourselves.
For me I hope its a springboard to even greater realizations. here’s hoping it can work that way for all of you as well.

BTW: I’m not one to ascribe things to a higher being, anymore. So the whole godhead/supreme being thing is not relevant to me. The Hindu/eastern mysticism part of Yoga (and its quite a strong tie within yoga) is also not much interest. But even all that aside, yoga still offers huge possibilities in self-realization. Its really good stuff.
‘Un-believer’ that I am, Namaste is still my greeting and key of connection - The spirit within me, welcomes and honors the spirit within you.

namaste…

#11

Last May we visited the Hindu temple on Kauai. Beautiful place. Something happened for me while there, I can’t define it. When we returned home I started learning more about Hinduism – I quickly stumbled onto pranayama and again something clicked. (I have had a very disjointed meditation practice for quite a while). Not long after that a yoga teacher appeared on my path and I began practicing some asanas.

I will admit that asanas is not where my primary interest lies - I am practicing a few asanas each morning but the bulk of my Yoga time is spent in pranayama, meditation, studying the yoga sutras and Yoga in general.

I live in a very rural area and right now I am feeling a bit isolated in my Yoga journey. My teacher is well versed in asanas but minimally in pranayama and the Sutras. I have met a number of other women who are practicing asanas, but none who are particularly interested in the inner work. I am so pleased to have found this forum! I know at some point, when the time is right, I will connect with other like-minded souls closer to home. For now, I am grateful for all the wonderful writings of various Teachers (and the miracle of the internet).

Namaste.

#12

When the student is ready the teacher will appear. The teacher may be many things, it was once a dirty old beggar for me. Secret is can we recognise the teacher when they are in front of us, have we developed the necessary inner wareness to see the teacher when she/he/it appears?

There are few yoga teachers who are prepared to present a yoga that focus also on the inner aspects of yoga, good luck and I trust you will be found by when you are ready.

#13

I am a massage therapist, and I really like a textbook definition of massage, as being “externally applied Yoga”. The benefits are all the same, but the tradeoff is that you are paying $10 for 90 minutes, instead of $90.

Yes, you have to do the work yourself, but saving those monies are worth it :slight_smile:

Oh, and with the asana practice, the REAL benefits only happen if you do it 3 times a week. 2 times is good excercise, but 3 times changes EVERYTHING.

Cheers!

#14

Yes these thigs happens.
When I visited the ganga spring the first time and went to take a bath in the holy water I felt like coming home, it was that comfortable that I spent quite a long time inside.
After I while I realised the blocks of ice from the glacier swimming around and all of a sudden me body felt icecold.

Isn`t that wonderfull?

Lars