Yoga & Exercise Questions

Hi Siba,

Most of the people that I do yoga with also do various gym workouts.

Myself, I do weight lifting and cycling. I use to do various cardio group classes but have had to retire from them due to injuries.

Personally I find yoga and my other activities complementary.

I have several questions for you before going further with a reply.

I would need to know more about you as a person (age, gender, fitness level) and about your intentions for adding pranayama to your life.

Given those replies by you I will gladly comment further.

Actually i was regularly doing exercise to age 18. I got some headache, tightness in the back of head and sleeping problem, after lot’s of medication also it’s not reduced. What ever the reason may be doctors say i dont have any pathological problem. After 10 years I am again starting exercise and yoga( basically pranayam). My main objective is to reduce this head ache and other problems by yoga, and to be in shape and fit by exercise. Though i can get all these things by yoga only but i want to do exercise as well. As i am starting the exercise after long that’s why i feel tired by a short running. When I run i feel very uneasy due to neck tightness, when i rotate my head i get a crunching feel in bone at my back of head. Like it’s weakened and is breaking and makes me feel tight in head.
I am 27yr, male.

You may, of course continue both.

If your intention for introducing pranayama into your life is to alleviate your headache (a calming pranayama) then it would be best to do that after your “other” exercise. Settling the nervous system through pranayama then going out for a stimulating run can be, at very least, confusing to your nerves.

Yoga and any other form of exercise should not conflict, instead they should compliment each other very well.

Hello,

presently i am only doing

  1. 10 rounds of surya namaskara’s - 15 mins
  2. Sarvangasan - 1 min
  3. paschimothana - 1/2 min
  4. chakrasan - 1/2 min
  5. artha masthyendra asan - 2 mins
  6. 5 mins of kapalabhati. and 15 mins of meditation.

I want to add few more asanas to tone up my body and reduce extra fat on my abdomen and reduce hip size.

for abdomen fat i want to try Bujangasan , and dhanurasan. But for HIP size reduction i dont know what to do. Can u guys suggest me any simple asanas?

Would jogging help me reduce my hips?

Do give me your comments.

Sindhu

What is your percentage of body fat please?
How many calories are you taking in each day?
What is your exercise level including the stated asana practice?

I did not caliculate the percentage of body fat… i will do a search and check how to do it. dont know how many calories i take. i will caliculate and get back

But i dont understand what do u mean by level of excersie for asanas. Can u please let me know about this ?

[QUOTE=sindhusurapaneni;11249]I did not caliculate the percentage of body fat… i will do a search and check how to do it. dont know how many calories i take. i will caliculate and get back

But i dont understand what do u mean by level of excersie for asanas. Can u please let me know about this ?[/QUOTE]

Yes of course. I mean how physically active are you in your life and in that calculation please also include your asana practice.

Hi, all!

New to the site and to yoga. I’m trying to lose weight and feel better about myself and for the past few months started doing gentle yoga techniques in the morning when I first wake up and then at night when I get home, self teaching on my own through books.

I used to be big on cardio (walking, machines) but have suffered injuries so that I can’t go the long distances anymore without feeling foot pain. I need something extremely low impact that I can do all year round (including winter). I still walk short distances, 20 to 30 minutes, but can’t always bike ride due to the winter weather months, etc. Also, at my apt. complex, I don’t really have a place to put a bike.

Can you do yoga in place of cardio to lose weight or do you have to also do at least 45 minutes to an hour of some cardio routine like I used to when I was young and strong and noticed a few pounds caught up on me? I try to be good on my diet, but I can slip in that area so I really need an activity and practice to fall back on when I don’t always make the right food choices. Hoping yoga will make me more disciplined in that area too :wink:

I do an hour long practice at lunch time five days a week (my employer has a employee fitness center with dedicated yoga room).
I try to do the same practice on weekends at home, but often home activities distract me.
Three mornings a week I also first do about a 50 minute weight routine, followed by 30 to 40 minutes on the stationary spinning bike for cardio.
I follow an Iyengar/Anusara style method, started about five years ago.