Newbie questions

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

I have also posted this on a previous post sorry:

you have all been very helpful…couple of more questions though…sorry, I know everyone must ask these same questions all the time, how many fundamentals should I take before I try something else? Should I do just the fundumentals or can I do something else maybe another day a week. How many days a week should I do this??? CAn I do it everyday or is that too much so soon. Also to tone up my body and also burn max amount of calories but still be able to reap the meditative benefits what type of yoga should I get into? Also, not so sure how to breath…my instructor keep saying breathing is important, but I am not sure I am doing it right…she did not give any instruction except breath in and out slowly through your nose. Any website i sould visit to learn or do any of you have any advice :confused:

#2

[QUOTE=newbieatyoga;33832]I have also posted this on a previous post sorry:

you have all been very helpful…couple of more questions though…sorry, I know everyone must ask these same questions all the time, how many fundamentals should I take before I try something else?

[B]Tortise beats the hare as they say[/B].

Should I do just the fundumentals or can I do something else maybe another day a week. How many days a week should I do this??? CAn I do it everyday or is that too much so soon.

[B]You can do everyday. All day if you wish. Your body will tell you whats right or whats too much.

More clarification is needed regarding what you mean by “fundamentals.”
[/B]

Also to tone up my body and also burn max amount of calories but still be able to reap the meditative benefits what type of yoga should I get into?

[B]Sun Salutations at a quick pace / power yoga at an intense level all in the blazing sun. (blazing sun is a joke, but do if you wish) Combine this with traditional exercise systems Aerobics, pilates, strenght training and cardiovascular. Reduce intake of junk carbs.
Little debbies/snak cakes, candy, soda pop, chips are examples of junk carbs. Do this and you’ll drop weight like a prize fighter. [/B]

Also, not so sure how to breath…my instructor keep saying breathing is important, but I am not sure I am doing it right…she did not give any instruction except breath in and out slowly through your nose.

[B]Unless instructed otherwise a beginnner should probablly focus on abdominal rather than thorasic/chest breathing. Put it in your BELLY.
[/B]

Any website i sould visit to learn or do any of you have any advice :confused:[/QUOTE]

doing is the means no doing no achievement.

#3

Cultivate a relationship with your teacher that allows for the asking of these questions in dialogue between the two of you. Of course asking for something (and getting it, which you likely will) is best balanced by giving something (in this case yourself to the practice on a regular basis). But it is not required.

What else you do and how often really depend on your own learning abilities. Typically younger students learn more quickly and can take in more. Older students, not so much. And of course here too there are exceptions. So this one depends on you.

I’m not the right person to respond relative to toning and max caloric burn. These things, to be are absolutely side effects or residue of the practice. My position continues to be that burning high levels of calories is best done in other ways. And the practice of self-discovery (Yoga) is facilitated by an amount of stillness, which for most means slowing down rather than speeding up.

For beginners I believe it’s (initially) enough to move the breath in a smooth fashion into and out of the nostrils. The rest is for later and may only preoccupy the student in the beginning.