Hello!

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

I’m new here! :slight_smile:

I had a question - I used to do yoga when I was younger, but switched gears to martial arts and have focused on that for the past 20 years or so. I’m now adding yoga to my regimen, again, as my flexibility has gone downhill, but I have a few questions:

  1. How long does it take for the body to get used to yoga? I’ve been doing it for 2 weeks, an hour a day and while I feel amazing when I’m done, I get sore as heck hours later…

  2. How should a yoga stretch feel? Obviously we wouldn’t want to stretch to the point of pain, but at what point is a stretch considered a stretch?

Thanks again!

  • Pete
#2

Welcome to the forum :slight_smile:

I’m not qualified myself to answer your questions but i’m sure some of the regulars who are, will answer you soon.

Good luck with your yoga travels :slight_smile:

#3

Hello maybe you should cut down on yoga postures till your body get used to it. Do it every second day or third or do it everday but cut the time to half, whatever suits you best.

When we stretch in yoga it should go slow never forcing us self , let your body weight do the movement do not grab hold of legs and drag your self. You will get more flexible then you might get stiffer and going between stiff and flexible.

Stretching differs from person to person what is considered good for you might be too much for another. There should never be pain then its to much for you. But strengthing is also important As it stablizes and make your body aligned.

#4

Hi Pete and welcome to the forum. Im sure you will get a lot of responses to your questions. Im fairly new to yoga and my body is still adjusting to all the stretching, but it does feel great :slight_smile:

#5

Welcome back to the mat! If you are acustomed to a hard, vigorous practice, like I imagine your black belt to be, might I suggest that you a) let go of achievement b) make friends with gravity ask your body to let you in.

After fourteen years of practice I still have to remind myself of those things.

#6

Thanks for the advice! :slight_smile: I do find myself pushing myself harder than I should and I believe it’s creating stiffness and stress on different muscle groups. I’ll have to be a little more gentle… :slight_smile:

#7

Hello Pete,

Welcome to the community.

It would be more helpful (for me) to know more about your practice. It would be like you asking me “what’s wrong with my blocking” without telling me anything at all about the blocking in question.

First and foremost, Yoga is not asana (poses) but asana is contained within Yoga, much the same way hitting and blocking are not martial arts but they are contained in martial arts.

Second, the practice of asana is not a stretching practice though it too has stretching in it. It is a practice of self-discovery which physically involves stabilizing some things and mobilizing others.

These things aside, stretching is generally effective when it is slightly uncomfortable but before it is aggressive, violent or injury-inducing, harmful, or “pain”.

Soreness in muscles that are either overworked or worked after dormancy can last for several days, depending on your self-care. Any muscle soreness lasting more than three days is cause for a deeper look. Further, the muscles will become accustomed to the work (assuming it’s replicated over time) but there is no fixed time for this and it is helpful to allow said muscles to recover as that is “repair”.

Is this information helpful and does it answer your questions?

warmly,

gordon