I feel so stupid while everyone knows what they’re doing. Why is yoga so hard. I like it and I try but it’s really hard :(

Have been working on transition from wild thing to wheel for a while now, and always get tripped up with changing the direction of my hands. Any changes I can make? When doing this transition, do both hands usually find the same placement?

I love extreme mat twists. But I can't remember the ones I learned from an instructor at West Valley College near San Jose. She taught there around 2012. In hopes that she published a video, I tried to find her name and couldn't.

Which mat twists take it a little bit further? I've got yoga cards and a book, but I haven't found the pretzels I'm seeking. Can you recommend extensive twists. They were warm up, not really part of a flow.

Also, if anyone knows who that instructor was,- if she made a video routine, I need it.

Thanks

We are looking to go as a couple over very specific dates - new years, but have 9-13 days. Most retreats are 3-5 days, which is a bit shorter than we are looking for. It’s also too short for teacher training.

We are looking to go to a specific town or yoga ‘retreat’ center that has several classes each day. Basically want to do vinyasa each morning, but then do 1-3 other classes - meditation, philosophy, etc… each day.

I’m having a hard time finding this. I am OK to stay on property or travel to one or more studios nearby.

I weight lift, run, and do hiit classes often. As I aged I started waking up in pain with a lot of stiffness and my light stretching doesn’t cut it anymore.

I took like 5 yoga classes and now I don’t wake up with extreme tightness to where it’s hard to walk anymore.

I know this is obvious, but yogas pretty cool. I bought a mat and all that. Will be going 3x a week on rest days now.

Good morning everybody!

So this Is a request.

I already meditate, practice japa, do asanas, pranayama.. Everything. I understand Yoga Sadhana and I know how and why It works. Not a mistery for me anymore since a few years. Therefore my question/request Is specific.

While doing my practice and gradually enhancing It I came to realize how effective Is to me mantra chanting. I usually pair It with mudras and energetically speaking... the effect is astounding. To this day, after years of practice my Heart and soul are filled with gratitude for the fact there exist such a powerful instrument.

Well, the point Is that I discovered that beej mantras, being essential, have a specific impact on your Energy. Also a specific beej mantra paired to a specific, resonant mudra can be extremely precise to obtain the state you are looking for. So the question Is: Is there some kind of manual that breaks down from roots to leaves the science of Mantras?

The desire for this appeared in me when I discovered that there aren't Just beej mantras for single chakras, but there are beej mantras like Klim, Hrim, Krim etc.

Also what I'm looking for Is for a way to create mantras by myself, without the Need to search on websites or books. Also, if the book (or books!) talks about Number of repetitions, breath and mudras, that would be awesome, but the priority Is the structure of mantra science.

Thank you very much :)

I’m travelling the UK (London, Manchester, edinborough, Cornwall) Ireland (Culdaff) Germany (Berlin, Munich), Italy (Rome) and a few other places next year September - October, I’m from New Zealand and wanting recommendations for cool yoga places to potentially stop by. Any suggestions? I like more spiritual and traditional yoga, big fan of yin and haven’t done ashtanga but very interested in it. Mainly do Vinyasa, I like hot yoga for the meditative aspects.

Hi,
Can I do restorative yoga with open eyes. I am not talking about yin yoga but restorative yoga specifically . Also if one leaves doing yoga after 5-6 years, can it lead to any side effects?

Where should I start if my goal is to improve life energy, mental clarity, calmness and overall wellbeing through traditional yoga?

I'm interested in learning about Prana, Pranayama, Kriya Yoga, Kundalini, chakras, nadis, Dhyana and Samadhi. I want to understand how these practices fit together and, more importantly, which practices I should actually learn and practise.

My goals are to improve physical and mental energy, feel more present and alive, develop inner calm, and support my overall health and recovery.

For those with substantial experience in traditional yoga: Which lineage or system would you recommend studying, and in what order?

Are there particular teachers, YouTube channels, books or structured programmes you'd recommend for learning both the theory and practical techniques properly?

I'd love to see if there's videos on YouTube that's accurate. Mostly it's just people stretching and doing pilates so it's hard to navigate.

Hello everyone! For PT they are recommending that I do inversions with a headstand bench. I tried it during my session today and it was amazing. The bench they had there had handles. I feel like I’ve seen people talk about FeetUp, but it doesn’t have handles and the rectangular legs look awkward to grip onto. It’s also expensive haha. Does anyone have one that they recommend?

Edit: I ended up ordering FeetUp because it seems like it’s on sale and I found a promo code to use on top of it. We’ll see how it goes!

Anybody here heard of Svenja Berndt? I love her flows I see on Instagram and was wondering if anyone ever tried her programs.

I am also a huge fan of Dylan Werner and his class styles so I’m curious if anyone out there is similar with me :)

I'm always looking for a new challenge. I enjoy The Glow Method and Breathe and Flo on Youtube.

My sweet and generous friend gifted me a Manduka PRO for my birthday.

I used my table at work for the sea salt scrub, which quickly become a giant zen garden salt play table. Every person who came into my room could not keep their hands off my mat.

My office mate asked me how often I have to exfoliate my mat with salt. I apologized for taking up the table and said hopefully not for several months.

“No, I mean when can we play in the salt again?”

long story short, I'm disabled but some days are better than others. I try to do a workout (mostly just strength based pt) with light weights (only 2 lbs) + resistance bands. but it's pretty hard to do that consistently.

I've got 3 connective tissue disorders though, so maintaining some muscle tone (can just be light/functional strength) is extremely important, I don't need to be extremely fit or toned by any means (I'm really just trying to preserve health and conserve as much of my limited energy in the process).

walking and yoga seem to be the two things I can reliably do almost everyday for the past several years and yoga really helps my pain, so I'm curious if this can be enough (maybe not ideal, but just enough?) I was going through this sub and found a study on yoga and bone density, but I haven't had energy to read through that and see how reliable it is, so I'd also be interested if anyone had any info on yoga+maintaining bone density too

also most forms of yoga (including power yoga) are in the cards for me except aerial and hot yoga if that changes anything

I’m working on consistently landing a hop to crow pose. Any instructors or keen observers are welcome to offer feedback! TYIA 🙏🏿

I (29f) just did Day 1 of „30 Days of Yoga for Beginners“ by Charlie Follows after 10 months of lots of being sedentary due to my mental health (anxiety and panic disorder with severe agoraphobia). I am in therapy and will start Lexapro in 3 weeks, I‘m not seeking medical advice just fyi

It was so difficult for me. Mentally and physically completing this video was so hard. I had to take a lot of short breaks because my shoulders and upper arms were so sore since I got so weak. I had no patience doing Shavasana at the end.

I genuinely cried at the end and tears are rolling as I‘m typing this.

I used to be so active, I loved moving my body, doing yoga in the mornings, being outside, figure skating, climbing, biking in nature, exploring cities by foot and hiking. Then I got super sick with the flu last december and everything went downhill from there (if anybody was wondering, I‘m somewhat sure I don‘t have mecfs. no PEM from my recent attempts at exercising and household chores)

My arms and shoulders are SO sore from what used to be easy movements. Just being in tabletop position for an extended time hurt, and I had to take short breaks from bird dog pose. I flopped down from Chaturanga Dandasana. I had no enjoyment from delving into the deep breathing parts.

I feel like I‘m grieving the person I used to be and how strong my body was. I genuinely loved yoga, and part of me still does, which is why I‘m committing to showing up to the mat tomorrow for Day 2.

I‘m hoping that this 30 day journey will help me become strong again, today just felt really rough. Sorry for whining

From books i have read, Yoga is supposed to be so much more than physical stretching. It’s meditation, a way of life, and fundamentally centered around breath (Pranayama). However, I’m finding a huge gap in standard classes.

I’m looking to deeply learn breathing mechanics: 360-degree rib expansion, directing breath into specific parts of the torso, and conditioning respiratory muscles under different poses/loads.

I tried for a month Vinyasa Yoga at a local studio but im afraid that essentially it was just an 1 hour stretching session. No guidance was ever given on how to breathe, how to regulate our nervous system, nothing outside of just “now reach your leg with your other hand”.

Where do I go from here? I am sure there are Yogis out there that teach (or at least have the knowledge of) what I’m looking for. Is it rare to find them? Any advice is welcome.

What I’m looking for:

Detailed teaching of breathing techniques, expansion of ribcage, 360 breathing, and ideally under different poses/stretches, and also how to regulate the nervous system, how to be aware of your body, how to meditate.

If such studios are more rare in the western world, should I turn to online classes instead? Or eventually to a completely different method like PRI or Pilates etc? Since those have proper breathing under different positions as one of their primary goals.

I’ve been practicing Udhiyana bandha and Agnisara but I am unable to isolate the rectus abdominis. Any tips?

Hello all,

I’ve been casually practicing yoga for about a year. I really enjoy it! I’ve been using Kassandra and Adriene on YouTube and am looking forward to joining an in person class.

I’m posting to see if anyone has any tips for my body type. I’m about 5’3 and 145 pounds. I have very short legs and a longer torso. A lot of my weight goes to my legs and hips. This is helpful with strength, but not so much with other things. One movement I’m feeling challenged by is going from downward dog to a forward lunge. In the videos the instructors seem to just reach their leg up and it’s ahead of their hands. My legs are still behind my hands if that makes sense. Similarly going from plank to downward dog takes some adjusting (positioning my hands further back). Am I doing something wrong, or will this improve with time and practice? If so, do you have any tips to help this?

Thanks!

I'm about to have my second hip replaced, had the other one done 3 months ago. No idea how my future will look with yoga. Has anyone experienced this or working with this?

Pls suggest yoga postures to remove neck hump

My dad recently got diagnosed and I want to help him stay active and healthy while fighting cancer. I've never really done yoga before but it seems pretty chill and would be a calm way for my dad to exercise

Hi I want back to yoga. I am after cancer and radical nephrectomy can anyone recommend any yt videos? I like ashtanga style so something more moving than meditating.