Enthusiastic Beginner - practice times

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

Dear all,

I am an extremely enthusiastic beginner who has the pleasure of being introduced to the wonders of hatha yoga just 3 months ago during a one week yoga course. I practice twice a day (each practice about 50 minutes) everyday and have seen a progression compared to when I first started. I would however like some advice:

  1. I often feel slightly achey the next day if I have really worked on one area - does this signify that maybe the next day I don’t need two practices as normal?

  2. I have seen a real slowing in my flexibility and am really keen to keep pushing ahead - is this normal or is this due to the amount I am practicing i.e.too much for a beginner?.

  3. my hamstrings are still my downfall - pachimotanasana is getting there - but what other exercises could u recommend for a stiff beginner?

I hope someone can help with these or sympathise as I know noone who practices and am not sure if what I am asking / experiencing is “normal”

Thanks for your time reading

afj

#2

[QUOTE=afj_yoga;50057]Dear all,

I am an extremely enthusiastic beginner who has the pleasure of being introduced to the wonders of hatha yoga just 3 months ago during a one week yoga course. I practice twice a day (each practice about 50 minutes) everyday and have seen a progression compared to when I first started. I would however like some advice:

  1. I often feel slightly achey the next day if I have really worked on one area - does this signify that maybe the next day I don’t need two practices as normal?

  2. I have seen a real slowing in my flexibility and am really keen to keep pushing ahead - is this normal or is this due to the amount I am practicing i.e.too much for a beginner?.

  3. my hamstrings are still my downfall - pachimotanasana is getting there - but what other exercises could u recommend for a stiff beginner?

I hope someone can help with these or sympathise as I know noone who practices and am not sure if what I am asking / experiencing is “normal”

Thanks for your time reading

afj[/QUOTE]

  1. What is the quality of your sleep and diet ? sometimes it is better to listen to what your body is telling you and take things a bit slower, eventually with consistency and dedication you will get to where you want to be, no need to rush things , if you do rush things you may set yourself up for an injury which will make your progress even slower. You can certainly practice asanas everyday as well as meditation , but do keep in mind that you don’t need to do strenuous or difficult asanas or movements everyday. Use variety.

  2. Keep in mind that breath work is very important when it comes to stretching and pushing a little bit forward , but as I suggested before , take it slow and don’t force yourself just because you want to achieve the full exact posture. Eventually by stretching little by little, focusing on your inhales and exhales and getting your body used to the daily practice you will get there. Remember to use variety in your practice, you don’t really need to do the exact same sequence of asanas everyday.

  3. How about a simple standing forward bending pose ? , a daily dose of sun salutations does wonders for everyone :wink:

#3

It is easy to want to really work hard to get to where every pose is easy for you to obtain and hold. But with asanas, you really really should not push too hard. Yoga/asana is really about learning how to listen to your body FIRST before it is about “getting into a pose” or getting a good workout. You can very easily injure yourself by pushing without learning how to listen. Take it from me, I know, I’ve injured myself a couple of times, and one injury I am still healing from years later (my sacrum was misaligned and I tweaked it to where it hurts quite often now, because I did not realize that the discomfort I was feeling was WRONG).

If your body feels tight one day, don’t be frustrated. This is normal. We all have more flexible days or tighter days. Just listen to your body, and maintain integrity of the breath through every pose. Don’t push to pain, and always come out of the pose if there is pain.

As for being sore, when you’ve done asana that have made you sore, the next day you should perhaps do a more gentle practice to give those muscles and ligaments time to heal, otherwise they will remain consistently sore and won’t fully heal.

As for tight hamstrings, it is my understanding that this can take quite a bit of time to loosen them, and in cases such as mine, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to fold at the hips! Some of us are just structurally made so that we will not be as flexible in some areas as our neighbor on the mat.

Above all, keep the integrity of the breath in any pose you move into. This may mean you don’t even look like you’re doing the pose, but keep in mind you are getting benefit from however far you can move into it without losing the integrity of the breath.

#4

I totally agree with what Joanna has said, especially about the breath. However, my experience differs in regards to this

[QUOTE=Joanna63;50211]
As for being sore, when you’ve done asana that have made you sore, the next day you should perhaps do a more gentle practice to give those muscles and ligaments time to heal, otherwise they will remain consistently sore and won’t fully heal. [/QUOTE]

While this sounds intuitive, my experience has been that after doing vigorous asana practice for 7+ days in a row, all soreness disappears. Now, I was alternating the peak poses (wouldn’t do backbends two days in a row, but would alternate backbends with hip openers with forward bends, etc). But otherwise I was doing a sweaty 2 hour practice that included inversions, arm balances, lengthy standing poses, abdominal work, back bends, forward bends, twists etc. In other words, full body practice.

And I would like to add 2 of my favorite hamstring stretches. First is simple standing forward bend. Now bend your knees deeply so that you can place your entire hand under your foot, palm facing up. Once your hands are securely under your feet, slowly work towards straightening the legs. This “bind” has given me more leverage to work with the hamstrings.

The other is ardha hanumanasana. One knee on the ground straight under the hips, the other leg straight out in front, heel to the ground. Forward bend over the straight leg.

-Shiva

#5

BlueLotus,
I too want to thank you for the tips (As I’m sure the OP will too :slight_smile: ), I’m going to make sure and add them to my regular practice!

As for working out 7 days straight, I guess I’ve not tried that. I know when I was working out regularly a couple years ago, I found myself sore all the time. It may have to do with my age though, I’m over 40, and I guess we just don’t heal as fast as we get older!

It does sound though as if you were using different muscle groups each day so the “healing” sore muscles probably weren’t taxed much?

Interesting point though, maybe it was my choice of exercise that kept me sore! It was yoga alternating with aerobics, but nothing really planned, just whatever video I was in the mood for that day!

#6

Dear all,

First of all thanks very much for your insightful comments. I will take all of them into consideration.
Although I said I have noticed a plateau from my primary learnings / advancements I can really feel that I can “sit” in each posture with control more and more every day.

Now in the mornings I can even touch the floor on my first sun salutation with straight legs and by the 3rd my palms are flat on the floor - probably not much of an achievement but for me that is insane considering when I started in October last year I literally could not touch my knees without quicering (no joke).

It has also increased my surfing ability and my general health. I feel energised, awake and focussed. At present I am studying but it feels as though I can go into work and do half the hours I used to and get double the amount done - thanks yoga.

I will try the two postures you recommend - thanks!

I have also been using a weird streching technique.

I use a ladder - sounds weird I know.

if you prop the ladder up against a wall, try placing your forehead (must be the forehead and not the crown) on the run ahead of you. on every breath move down a rund, when you start to feel tight, you can adjust the tension on your hamstrngs by moving towards or away from the wall - honestly it works so well.

it allows you to measure your flexibilty and adjust very slightly.

Again, thanks a lot for the vibrant discussions.
happy practising

Om Shanti

AFJ

#7

I’m in a bit late on this.

If you are using muscles not normally use then yes it is possible, perhaps even likely that there will be some muscle soreness. It is not a matter of if you need two practice on the following day. It is more a matter of what sort of practice is needed on the following day. Human being’s change, moods change, cells change, and so should the practice.

I don’t know what you mean by “slowing” in your flexibility. The practice of yoga is not (solely) about flexibility. That is the practice of contortionism. The practice of yoga is about moving some things and stabilizing others. In addition each body has it’s own unique range of movement for two reasons; the first is innate to prevent us from coming apart. The second is a result of our living, actions, choices, diet, et al. There is no sound reason to “push ahead” in yoga and there is no sound reason for flexibility to be a constant. These two in combination lead only to injury.

Paschimotanasana is a pose where there is no out since the legs are trapped on the floor. And that pose requires hamstring opening. It does not deliver (safe) hamstring opening. It also requires the student to understand, have, and feel a mobility in the pelvis. I suggest Supta Padangusthasana with a yoga belt instead. That pose stabilizes the low back and allow one to target the hamstrings - when the pose is done with proper alignment and action.

Be well.

gordon