A Beginner Wonders: How Much Is Too Much?

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

I’m now on day 8 straight of dedicated yoga practice.

I love how I’m feeling. I’m taking it easy and trying to mindfully find the median between underachieving and pushing myself to a gentle edge.

Although I am quite busy with school, I’d really like to up the amount of yoga I’m doing daily.

So far, I’ve been following a yoga DVD by YogaWorks daily, and then attending a beginner’s class once a week. I was talking to a mentor of mine who used to practice Ashtanga and was telling him that I was planning on stepping up to two fifty-minute (roughly) sessions daily - one in the morning and one in the early evening. He cautioned against going too fast too soon - and he always offers good advice.

But on the other end, as I mentioned, he USED to practice Ashtanga. So I wanted to get some opinions from people here that couldn’t fathom a lifetime of yoga.

Do I need to keep it at one session for a while longer? Should I begin to try to add new poses and sequences to my repertoire? There seem to be some good videos on Hulu and YouTube.

Or should I continue with my video and do one practice daily for a good while still?

I feel like I can list the moves, and where I’m not sure on the name, I’ll try to include a brief description.

1: On back - stretch. Connecting to the breath.
2: Cat/Cow
3: Child’s Pose
4: Downward Dog
5: Forward bend
6: Mountain
7: Sun Salutation series (modified I believe)
Forward Bend
High Lunge
Plank
"Yoga Pushup"
Cobra (twice - once with high lunge starting right, then left), then Upward Dog (same)
Downward Dog
High Lunge
Forward Bend

8: Warrior II (each side)
9: Forward bend - legs wide
10:Warrior II, then bend, elbow on thigh, opposite hand stretches up
11:Forward bend
12:Standing Twist - one palm on ground between legs, other arm reaches back and high into the air
13: Triangle? Legs straight in Warrior II position, scoot hips back, touch ankle, lift other hand straight in the air
14: Chair Pose
15: Bridge x 3
16: Full Bridge? (shoulders stacked under chest)
17: Seated Twist
18: Lift one leg in the air, knee straight, stretch toward it (hamstring), then other leg
19: Another twist - this time laying down
20: Relax

So how about it - should I be learning new poses? Taking it easy, or upping it to two sessions a day?

Another thing to consider - the video I have has a 10 minute Morning and a 10 minute Evening series - maybe I could just do each of those, then the 45 minute series too?

Thank you for any help - I know this post got long.

#2

The good thing I really like about Yoga is that you can do it all day. Iyenger used to do something like 8 or 10 hours a day, if I’m not mistaken. The thing with Yoga is, that there’s nothing to recover from, so you can keep going.

I think it’s good to change your routine and learn new stuff. It’s the best way to learn and develop, and the old routine isn’t going anywhere, so you can come back to it at anytime.

Just make sure you don’t injure yourself, or put yourself in poses that you don’t feel ready for.

I think if your doing a couple of hours a day that’s good. Some people are on their computer, and in front of the TV for longer than that. So, your one step ahead… anyway, gotta go… I’ve been in front of this computer for long enough!