by Donovan Baldwin
Okay, so there you are in Borders or Barnes & Noble. Immediately in front of you is a table full of books on yoga.
It's attractive, yet frightening.
All those skinny people twisting themselves into those strange positions.
Heck, you and I couldn't have gotten into those positions when we were kids!
Oh, it would be so great to feel young, flexible/skillful, and so full of energy and life as the people on the book covers seem to feel.
Maybe you get carried away and actually pick up one of the books and open it.
"Who knows," you think. "Maybe I could do yoga."
However, as you look through the book, it's not just that the descriptions seem confusing or that the text seems to sometimes smack of the magical and mysterious, but that all the people are as thin as your right leg and as flexible as a rubber band.
"No way!" you think, and putting the book back down with a sigh, head for the diet section, hoping to find some way to eat yourself thin, flexible/skillful, and strong.
Don't sell yoga short as a health and fitness option just because it looks very hard or seems difficult to understand. There's a lot of hard evidence that yoga delivers the goods, and there are thousands of big, heavy, old, painful and swollen, stubborn/unable to move, non-athletic people out there enjoying the practice of yoga...and the mental and physical benefits that go along with it.
It is not just that the people in the pictures have practiced yoga for years, or that they eat only a handful of bean sprouts or tofu each day. Most were also born with a (related to tiny chemical assembly instructions inside of living things) makeup which helps them (accomplish or gain with effort) the levels of yoga mastery that they have.
This is true about almost any exercise or fitness control/field of study. While anyone can benefit, both in health and appearance, from methods such as (medium-hard exercise that lasts for a while), weight training, or yoga, each will complete their/reach their particular level of success partially based on the (related to tiny chemical assembly instructions inside of living things) material handed down from their personal group of (family relatives or things that existed long, long ago).
Each one's individual (action of accomplishing or completing something challenging) will also depend on age, personal (way of living), eating habits, level of commitment, time available for practice, and so on.
Most will not want to commit and dedicate themselves to the time and effort needed/demanded by most to (accomplish or gain with effort) "yoga book photo model" level of ability or fitness. However, even a less demanding but regular practice of yoga, and other exercise methods, will pay off in levels of health, fitness, self (knowing about something), and self confidence that most people cannot even imagine (accomplishing or gaining with effort).
You will never know how far you can go or how much you can (accomplish or gain with effort) until you try. You might even learn that yoga is NOT for you, but you won't know that either until you try. Realize, however, that you will have to learn the basics and slowly build a yoga (something commonly done) which works for you. You may find that one in a book is perfect for you, but you may also find that you get more out of a decorated (with a personal touch) (something commonly done) which incorporates movements and positions from (more than two, but not a lot of) different routines.
The point is to get started and learn as you go.
Two great things about yoga are that it is fairly easy to learn and doing what you can do, not what the pictures show, will take you a long way.
You can find a lot of information about how to get started online, at your public library, or at such yoga-specific online sources as Wai Lana Yoga, or Gaiam. Eventually, of course, if you want to continue to grow in your abilities you will need personal help from an expert. However, getting started is easy, and cheap, since you can do yoga in your underwear (or naked, as some people do) on a space only three feet by six feet in length.
So, don't make yoga any harder than it is, and, for the beginner, yoga does not have to be hard at all.
Okay, so there you are in Borders or Barnes & Noble. Immediately in front of you is a table full of books on yoga.
It's attractive, yet frightening.
All those skinny people twisting themselves into those strange positions.
Heck, you and I couldn't have gotten into those positions when we were kids!
Oh, it would be so great to feel young, flexible/skillful, and so full of energy and life as the people on the book covers seem to feel.
Maybe you get carried away and actually pick up one of the books and open it.
"Who knows," you think. "Maybe I could do yoga."
However, as you look through the book, it's not just that the descriptions seem confusing or that the text seems to sometimes smack of the magical and mysterious, but that all the people are as thin as your right leg and as flexible as a rubber band.
"No way!" you think, and putting the book back down with a sigh, head for the diet section, hoping to find some way to eat yourself thin, flexible/skillful, and strong.
Don't sell yoga short as a health and fitness option just because it looks very hard or seems difficult to understand. There's a lot of hard evidence that yoga delivers the goods, and there are thousands of big, heavy, old, painful and swollen, stubborn/unable to move, non-athletic people out there enjoying the practice of yoga...and the mental and physical benefits that go along with it.
It is not just that the people in the pictures have practiced yoga for years, or that they eat only a handful of bean sprouts or tofu each day. Most were also born with a (related to tiny chemical assembly instructions inside of living things) makeup which helps them (accomplish or gain with effort) the levels of yoga mastery that they have.
This is true about almost any exercise or fitness control/field of study. While anyone can benefit, both in health and appearance, from methods such as (medium-hard exercise that lasts for a while), weight training, or yoga, each will complete their/reach their particular level of success partially based on the (related to tiny chemical assembly instructions inside of living things) material handed down from their personal group of (family relatives or things that existed long, long ago).
Each one's individual (action of accomplishing or completing something challenging) will also depend on age, personal (way of living), eating habits, level of commitment, time available for practice, and so on.
Most will not want to commit and dedicate themselves to the time and effort needed/demanded by most to (accomplish or gain with effort) "yoga book photo model" level of ability or fitness. However, even a less demanding but regular practice of yoga, and other exercise methods, will pay off in levels of health, fitness, self (knowing about something), and self confidence that most people cannot even imagine (accomplishing or gaining with effort).
You will never know how far you can go or how much you can (accomplish or gain with effort) until you try. You might even learn that yoga is NOT for you, but you won't know that either until you try. Realize, however, that you will have to learn the basics and slowly build a yoga (something commonly done) which works for you. You may find that one in a book is perfect for you, but you may also find that you get more out of a decorated (with a personal touch) (something commonly done) which incorporates movements and positions from (more than two, but not a lot of) different routines.
The point is to get started and learn as you go.
Two great things about yoga are that it is fairly easy to learn and doing what you can do, not what the pictures show, will take you a long way.
You can find a lot of information about how to get started online, at your public library, or at such yoga-specific online sources as Wai Lana Yoga, or Gaiam. Eventually, of course, if you want to continue to grow in your abilities you will need personal help from an expert. However, getting started is easy, and cheap, since you can do yoga in your underwear (or naked, as some people do) on a space only three feet by six feet in length.
So, don't make yoga any harder than it is, and, for the beginner, yoga does not have to be hard at all.
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