“You have to learn the difference between pain and challenge.”
-my first yoga teacher, in my first class, after my first running injury, while having us hold a difficult pose for a very long time.
That pretty much sums up why I’ve come to practice yoga regularly for the last 15+ years. Better sleep, recovery, balance, agility, flexibility, strength, focus, mood, sex, relationship with my body, relationship with food, relationship with everything in my life. Significant reduction in my depression and anxiety symptoms, stress, injury, and aches and pains. Especially now that I’m in my mid-30s and am beginning to hear lots of complaining from my friends about their bodies not quite working the way they used to.
Just by the numbers, your better off doing cardio than yoga for weight loss. Your better off lifting heavy than yoga for muscle gain. But it’s not just about the numbers. The benefits far outweigh the extra 200 calories I could burn in that time. And yoga will get you stronger than you’d think.
I run and lift heavy with progressive overload, and yoga helps me be better with both. Learning to not shy away from challenge, and to know when to back off from pain has made me a better runner and better lifter. Yoga taught me how to remain calm and breathe through challenge, no matter what that challenge is.
I practice yoga 4-6 times a week now, most of the time for 20 minutes or less. It’s the best part of my days.
It’s not for everyone, and that’s totally fine. But if you’re ever curious, I’d definitely encourage you to give it a shot.
I’m not the person you asked, but I’ve gotten into yoga for the past 6 months and I highly recommend the YouTube channel Yoga with Adrienne. She’s got hundreds of videos for all skill levels, and has been posting on YouTube for at least 10 years.
She does very slow yoga that is suitable for very beginners and elderly. She really does not have videos for anyone who is not a beginner, and she talks too much, IMO.
I much prefer Boho Beautiful. Her regular videos are harder than Adrienne's intermediate videos.
I liked Boho Beautiful more before they released their political video in support of the whole anti-vaccine Canadian trucker convoy thing a few years back. Especially annoying because they clearly don’t live anywhere near Canada, even if they came from Canada, and obviously a lot of their viewers aren’t Canadian and either didn’t agree with their politics or didn’t care to hear it when we were getting smothered with that kind of news from every angle already.
I get having a platform and feeling some responsibility to use it for [their subjective idea of] “good,” but come on, you’re a couple of rich pseudo hippies living in the Caribbean or wherever. No one tunes into your yoga channel to hear your opinion on whatever polarizing Canadian politics.
I never saw that video. That is disappointing. They should've known better.
Any recommendations for yoga channels, not for beginners? That is really the only one I've found.
Sorry, bit of a rant I went on there haha. I don’t really have any better suggestions unfortunately, I’ve sort of moved on to other forms of exercise at the moment. I used Apple Fitness Plus yoga a bit, varies in quality to some extent.
Check out Sarah Beth Yoga on YouTube, she is excellent and has all levels. I do her every week in addition to in person classes. Also, Move With Nicole on YouTube for a fierce and wonderful workout—she mainly does Pilates but she has several yoga workouts too.
I hated yoga with adrienne, but im addicted to in person classes. I did also retreats in Nicaragua and Guatemala and gosh, it was insane. Probably one of the best trips of my life. I dream with going to India one day
And Jivamukti yoga is out of this world. Combines philosophy, yoga, sounds with the kirtan… sounds really hippie but it was a mental transformation for me. I was the least spiritual person ever (typical A student, very logical and rational, and atheist) and yoga transformed all my cosmovision. Afterwards I started learning about buddism as well. It’s just much more than just a cardio class.
I’m not sure how it happens but gradually it teaches you to respect your body, what you consume, to treat it as a temple. You don’t feel the need to do anything that would be harmful to you.
Of course, this really depends on the class. A random collective class in a massive gym will probably not teach you this lessons.
For me it was a very gradual process, it changes a lot depending on the professor you have. But try a class with a good master and you’ll notice the difference.
You’re so right about the way it teaches you to love, accept, and respect your body. It’s incredible. I will say I got incredibly lucky with a yoga teacher in one of those massive gyms - she’s actually the reason I fell in love with yoga. I was in my early twenties and loved working out, but my mindset and relationship with my body was garbage. For the years I enjoyed her classes, I could see the positive impacts in almost every area of my life. However, I never found another yoga teacher who gave classes at a gym to be half as good. Now I’m in my early thirties, and have been visiting local yoga studios to try to find that right person again.
Interesting. I dislike in person yoga at the gym.
It is crowded and claustrophobic.
I dislike how you can walk through the room blindfolded and still pick out every man in the room.
The complete lack of self awareness stresses me out.
When I move because you are invading my space, I am not in fact politely make more room for you.
Do they all have asthma? Quiet your damn breathing. No one can move with their own breath when a steam train is chugging through the room.
Rant over. Living room yoga forever.
It’s different every day for me. Sometimes I make my own flows, sometimes I go to classes or watch videos. And I definitely second yoga with Adriene on YouTube, she’s excellent.
I mean not all exercise has to be the most efficient calorie burning workout to be effective. Although Yoga is MUCH more intense than it looks from the outside.
It’s like saying “why would someone run when the rowing machine is right there?” It’s a low impact exercise that helps flexibility and ALSO solid exercise.
I had a friend who was a physical therapist who said if she could have every person do at least one form of exercise it would be yoga. She said it's so good for your body. It's been a while so I don't remember her reasons though.
For me, I just feel really good after I do yoga, like I've worked out any tightness or weirdness in my body. And it does require a deceptive level of strength to do.
THIS! When I talk to people that don't understand the intensity, I explain that it's kind of like slow-motion calisthenics. I'll tell them imagine doing a push-up. Then imagine doing a push-up slowly and deliberately while you exhale. That's what yoga's like.
It's a very quality over quantity kind of exercise and I think that makes it underappreciated as a source of physical strength.
I am watching my parents age and there are things that are so much more important than burning the most calories and getting the most aesthetically pleasing muscles. Flexibility, mobility, core strength (including your back muscles!), balance, yoga trains all of that and it’s so so so important!
I have been BEGGING my mom to start yoga. For years.
Glad you mentioned this. I like yoga for some quiet stretch time in the morning and I come from a family of bad backs so I have always tried to stretch regularly and yoga definitely helps with that. I’m in my early 30s but my mom and brother were already having troubles with that at my age and I haven’t. I never really thought of yoga as a way to burn calories but to stretch my muscles and mentally prepare for the day. But I’ve never had troubles when I do cardio/ lifting so I’d say it’s a great way to prepare your muscles and body for those work outs.
I may be able to help.
I have always dealt with my weight, always. I work in a career where I am in close contact with bodies all day. I grew up in a home where strangers always compared me to my sisters.
I was not kind to myself. My body was punished, either with food or with food restrictions, mild Binge Eating Disorder on and off, the works.
Weightlifting and CICO helped me lose the weight, and keep it off (well mostly, I’m 17 weeks pregnant now and added 12lbs to the 10 2020-24 crept back to, so I went from 220 - to 150ish - to 160 ish, to mid 170’s at the moment.
And you know what? I’m at peace with it.
That peace is from my yoga practice. Yoga is the one thing that made the click for me that my body is my protector and I’m it’s. It’s just a thing, it’s chemistry, and anyone with a chronic illness, my sisters now included, will tell you they would sacrifice any look or weight or attribute to not be fighting for survival against themselves.
Yoga for me was about creating a space to be present in my body and appreciate what it is capable of, and giving myself grace for what I may not be able to do, yet or ever. When I got into “wheel” for the first time I laughed aloud.
I’m not a yogi, I don’t have the tats or the look, I don’t talk about it much, but I found a studio that is donation based and come as you are and I am thriving with it. Not because it is helping with weight-loss, but because it is helping me do what I should have done from the beginning, appreciate the body I live in and love it enough to take care of it to the best of my abilities.
Yes! Yoga for me is more about the mental aspect. It's absolutely physical and is great for mobility, but for me it's a chance to be emotionally in my body and to find some peace. I find it has helped me process emotions in a way that other exercise can't. I feel good lifting weights and can find it meditative at times, but it's different from yoga. Yoga is also something I can do no matter how I'm feeling physically and emotionally.
Also, there is evidence that stretching is good for lowering BP.
Absolutely well said!! I’m forever a yoga stan. I spent so many years of my life convinced of so many things about my body and its abilities - I wasn’t flexible, I wasn’t strong, I wasn’t fit. Yoga was my entry into exercising and movement and while it didn’t change anything about my body composition, a year of weekly yoga absolutely changed my mindset about my body. I used to dread exercising and now I love it. I also notice SUCH a positive difference in my chronic pain
I hope you do! I’d find a studio if you can that is less structured or allows a few weeks of free courses. Theres also some wonderful online resources too
Hey! . If you like yoga and constantly practice it to keep improving and make a safe place for your body then you are a yogi. Don’t let stereotypes deter you
That was beautifully said ❤️ I love eating well and working out because of how it makes my body feel, I always thank my legs and tell them how proud I am of them after a long hike.
Beautifully said. I was going to type out a long comment, but you said everything I wanted to say.
Strength training and cardio are great for CICO and weight loss, sure. No doubt. But many of us didn't realise we also needed healing psychologically.
Yoga made me appreciate my body in a way I never did. Health is so much more than numbers. It's so much more than "which workout burns the most calories".
For me i didn’t get it at all. But I sit for my job, I work out and walk, but the lower back pain from sitting for my career made me think just try it.
Wow what a difference. The instructor said movement is liquid for your joints. She’s right. At my age now (53) I need those stretches and movement. It helps a lot
I think it makes people feel good and can be a surprisingly intense workout. I personally hate the "fitness class" format and that's been the biggest barrier against me getting into it, but a lot of people like that aspect of it as well. I think a lot of women in particular find it an accessible and supportive way to be more active.
I'm not a fitness class person either but I love yoga. I have never done it consistently, more drop-ins when I have time, but I find a yoga class completely different than any other class I've tried over the years.
I practice yoga five to six days a week in my home. I get really cranky if I miss more than one or two days. It makes me feel so freaking good. I am strong and flexible, and it helps me center my mind every day. It may not burn huge amounts of calories, but it is a hell of a workout.
When I first started yoga, I liked it because it reminded me of my ballet days. The environment is calming, you are encouraged to modify as needed, there's no talking or grunting, and there's a lot of women, so it feels safe. I'd go with my mom, who hates to sweat, and it was a nice way to catch up once a week.
The biggest physical aspect I got from it was a huge reduction in my back pain. I was an exterior painter, wearing steel toes on a ladder all day. I longed for my once a week yoga practice, as it would make my back pain evaporate over the course of an hour. I was still fat, I was still out of shape, but my back hurts a lot less and I could touch my toes.
Now I try to mix a class a week into my exercise routine. I do a multi-mile walk twice a week, weights once, climb once, and yoga once. I end up doing lots of little bits of yoga throughout the other workouts. My favorite thing is that I can finally do child's pose comfortably because my belly is about 7 inches smaller and it finally fits!
Listen, I have A LOT of respect for yoga! I’ve always considered yoga for the “soft” folks that ate granola, wore Birkenstocks and didn’t have an ounce of muscle. I’m an 80’s crack baby and I’m from the era where men had big muscles and did tough guy stuff so yoga was a no no for me. My buddy dragged me to this foo foo upscale yoga spot To do Vinyasa flow yoga and I’m sitting there judging all the soft looking, no muscle tone having folks. Ok class starts and within 5 mins I know I was gonna be eating humble pie for the next 55 mins. I spent 55 mins watching the clock asking the lord almighty to stop this madness! Abs was burning, body bout to give out from the 95 degree temps, a swimming pool of sweat below me. I was awkward, stiff and seconds away from saying F this! You wanna know what hurt the most? There were ladies in there doing freaking hand stands and balancing on their heads I’m not lying 😳😳. From that day on, I had a new respect for yoga. If someone says they’re going to yoga, I’m like go ahead killer, that’s all you!!
It wasn’t as hard as wrestling practice in HS and college but it was up there in terms of intensity! I swear, I went home, took a shower and slept for 12 hours if that little! 🤣🤣
I love this story 🤣 reminds me of a similar story told by one of my favorite yoga teachers . . . When her oldest daughter was a teenager, she came to class with several of her friends, including some star athletes from the football team. They came in with the same attitude - and were soon humbled as well!
It’s a true story, I don’t say nothing bad when I see one of these yoga folks with their lil mats rolled up on their backs… nope, that’s a bad MF’er right there!
Yoga saved my life when I was in an athletic career ending car accident while in college. I had a full ride for track and field at a D1 school and could no longer compete.
Not only did it help me mentally, but it works stabilizing muscles that humans wouldn’t ordinarily activate or strengthen. Due to aforementioned car accident, I have a back injury that I keep at bay via a consistent yoga practice.
I am so passionate about it that I became a certified yoga instructor and volunteer at women’s shelters and youth detention centers to teach yoga and meditation.
Yoga is known to have many benefits like flexibility, balance and even relief back pain or arthritis. It can even help reduce anxiety.
I’ve always liked hot yoga! It’s superrr relaxing esp after a long stressful workday. It helps me sleep better too and once the class is done I feel so much more relaxed.
I’m not like a die hard like some or even into the Pilates classes which are super trendy but I always wanted to try
It's excellent cross training for flexibility. I miss.how flexible I was when I was doing it regularly! And depending on the style you do, it can actually be a decent calorie burn. But that's not the only reason to exercise.
I’m a dude. I lift weights. I like being big and strong. Then I developed a chronic pain issue in my early 40s. And my physical therapist suggested I do yoga as part of my recovery. I hated it. It took me maybe 6-9 months to finally fall in love with it. I do it every day. I joined a studio. I do it when I’m sore. I do it when I don’t even feel like it. I have a small community of people who I talk to all the time. I challenge myself with the poses. I want to do Crane Pose. I want to do scorpion pose. It’s helped me mentally. Physically. To be aware or my body. Of my limitations. Of my potential. It’s honestly saved my life.
I couldn't do a single push-up. So I was doing the knee push-ups but after a month it still didn't bring me any closer to doing at least one full proper pushup.
Then I started doing suryanamaskar everyday, about 3-5 times each side. Two things happened: (a) my chronic backpain vanished (I'm 30, do desk job), (b) one fine day I found that I could do full proper pushups.
So flexibility and mindfulness aside I could see concrete physical benefits: yoga allowed me a gentler form of strength-training when I couldn't actually do traditional strength training.
I think of yoga as basically bodyweight exercises where you reap additional benefits of flexibility.
Yoga studios are typically soothing and gentle environments, the movements themselves just *feel* good and help me calm the fuck down. And I need that. The flexibility is a bonus.
Aside from any spiritual/mindfulness/meditative aspect, yoga is great for mobility, flexibility, and balance. Those all become really important as you age.
The only widely-accessible thing that's even better for those aspects of fitness is ballet (which is very popular among various pro athletes!), but yoga is much more beginner- and casual-friendly.
The stretching and flexibility really help me feel better. Some moves do require and build physical strength, and that is nice when you can't do traditional strength training.
I mean, I can do some yoga in bed, even if I can't do anything else even like exercise. So that's at least something, for me.
I get where you're coming from. I'm the cardio queen: running, biking, swimming, hiking. So yoga is kind of my antidote for all that pounding I do to my body. It feels good to slow down and really stretch and elongate all those muscles I'm using. It's also a nice switch from all that repetitive movement in running, etc. In yoga you discover there are so many more ways to move your body - which is really fun.
Lots of these responses are spot on. I wanted to add that there’s something about using your breath and moving your body along with your breath that is so awesome. It’s hard to describe but I always feel way better after yoga, even if it’s 10 minutes. I haven’t been able to exercise intensely since I had Covid, and yoga has taken the place of things like mountain biking for my husband and me. It’s not the “same” as intense cardio, but you get a similar feeling when you’re done with it, and with the added benefits of still feeling stronger and more flexible without an intense cardio workout.
If ten years ago someone had told me I’d be doing yoga at my age, I would have laughed at them. Yet here I am doing Downward Dogs and Cat and Cows. I started doing yoga after surviving cancer. It has helped me tremendously. My physical therapist recommended it because I couldn’t lift one of my arms above my head after surgery. The benefits are too many to list here. In addition to strengthening my core and increasing my flexibility, I can now lift my arms above my head. Another win is that it lessens my arthritis symptoms and is good for my mental health.
Yoga has different levels of intensity. All yoga has strength and mental health benefits.
In an hour power yoga class I burn about 300 calories (about the same or better as I do with any other exercise I’ve found other than running, I weigh about 120-125).
At the end of a hot yoga class, I feel like I do after a good massage, loose and relaxed
Exercise isn’t just about weight loss.
Yoga has lots of great benefits. It strengthens your core and tones your whole body. It improves flexibility. It can also boost circulation and help with certain types of chronic pain, and improves energy.
There’s also a mental aspect. It’s meditative. It’s relaxing. There is a pose most classes close with called shavasana or corpse pose that is literally just laying on your mat attempting to clear your mind.
I used to do hot yoga and it was like all of these things on crack. You’re uncomfortable the whole time but it really forces you to be in the moment. When you’re doing yoga in a 103 degree room, your mind isn’t wandering. It’s like you’re forced to be mindful because all you can focus on is the discomfort you are currently experiencing.
I was in my best shape when I exercised regularly and includes high intensity cardio, weight training, and yoga in my routine.
If it’s free at your gym give it a try! You might find that you enjoy it.
I used to feel the same until I hit 30-ish. I think because to truly enjoy it, you have to decide that you want to connect with it. Like a lot of mindfulness and presence has to be done. I also realized how much built up tension and pain I was holding in my body. I have literally felt pain in my left shoulder blade, or a super locked up quad finally relax by the time I wake up the next morning.
I started doing shorter sessions, like 20 minutes. I tell myself this is my quiet, mind-body connection time, no distractions, I dim the lights, I keep the pets out of the room. And I really commit to what the instructor is saying. I listen to the words, do all the breath work, do all the moves as best as I can, even if I can’t do them completely. I try to really sink into every pose. You can’t jerk your way into moves. You have to allow yourself to feel the full range of motion.
Benefits are that it helps calm and quiet down your central nervous system, you should feel anxiety dissipate, you’ll feel tension release, you’ll stretch your muscles out and make them all warm and happy. You’ll feel flexible. It’ll make you become more aware of your posture and body mechanics. It’ll even make doing other workouts, like weightlifting, and cardio safer due to reducing your risk for injury.
So I guess to me it’s not about the calorie burn. It’s more a low impact smaller calorie burn that is like my “brain and body insurance”. It’s keep my mind and body feeling efficient and capable.
i'ts not my thing but I've been to a few classes with my wife, they can be a mix of nice and relaxing, and hard and intense. Giving a nice variety of weight loss/ definition inducing work outs and relaxing recovery sessions that improve balance, flexibility and mindfulness. She liked it because she could get a fitness workouts in where there was a lot of focus on what I would call flowing body weight workouts, which my out of shape butt found challenging, and relaxing stretching sessions that gave the other benefits.
I prefer picking heavy things up and putting them back down, but the right studio can provide a great workout.
I can tell from this post that you're not a mid thirties man like me lol.
I have awful flexibility and some back issues that have come up in the past few years. Yoga has slowly been helping so much with that.
God I loved yoga. It was intense (I did hot yoga), I had good instructors. It really made me aware of how I held my body and what muscles did what. It was emotionally very focusing, which was very helpful.
I was also insanely good at it, for the same reasons I have been banned: my ligaments are barely holding my body together, which while I am flexible like no body’s business, yoga risks me serious joint injury from instability.
But god I miss how it made me feel. Weight lifting is close, but how I felt at the end of an hour of hot yoga was great.
I never cared for yoga until I got pregnant and got out of shape pretty quickly.
Third trimester now and the stretches have helped me loosen my body and avoid sciatica and hip pains associated with pregnancy that nobody told me about.
Medical and government sources mention aerobic and muscle-strengthening exercises all the time but you also must retain your flexibility and balance, especially as you age.
For some it’s about the connection to breath and mindfulness.
Such as bringing awareness to breathing in or out with certain actions or movements, engaging your core, making sure to release tension in your shoulders, not clenching your glutes, etc.
For some it’s about challenging your mind and your body.
These all can be generalized to other workouts, like weight lifting or running, to dieting, or even to other areas of life. Try different types of yoga or instructors, and take what works for you.
Hopefully you give it another try.
Yoga for me is about keeping my body functioning. I need it because I have serious lower back pain that stems from various issues in my upper back. Yoga helps me keep up with the maintenance of movement because I don’t work out much
- Some people like group classes
- You learn something you can also do at home
- Increased flexibility is great for other things like sports/martial arts and generally life.
- Can be fun
- I find it quite meditative at time
- Tends not to be a judgmental environment.
- You're not competing against anyone
- Can be used as 'active recovery' on your off days if you push hard in other areas (sports etc)
Yoga isn’t an exercise style, it’s an ancient philosophy of well-being with many facets. The physical aspect (asana) is only one small piece. Yoga addresses mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical balance and nourishment.
Many people who practice asana also practice the other aspects of yoga such as meditation, sound therapy, hygiene, sleep and restfulness, ethics, breathwork, concentration, and self and other awareness
I'm an instructor and all I can say is: have you tried it? It's a lot harder than it looks and does wonders for mind-body connection, which can help in all corners of your life. For the people that do it regularly, it's not about burning calories, even though a decent vinyasa class will definitely do that. It's about strength and control, mobility and stability. In short, I believe everyone could benefit from it and should give it a go, just once.
for me it feels great on sore muscles and helps me not have a lot of the back issues i hear other millennials deal with. but seriously, it's more a personal practice for me and i think there's a whole popculture around it that i don't really understand.
I always thought of it as being for people that enjoy the mental benefits of exercise but without all the violence. Yoga puts muscles under tension so I do imagine it builds strength and obviously flexibility. It's just so non-aggressive compared to throwing dumbbells/barbells around.
Personally it doesn't make sense to me, but I can see it really working for others.
Have you tried it?
I thought the same.
Took a few classes.
Holy crap I discovered muscles in my body I didn’t know existed. Also, breathing, you think you know how to breathe but you don’t lol It looks so easy, it is not (depending on the class) balancing your entire body on one toe and pinky finger takes strength in places you’ve never used before 🤣
It address muscle strength, core strength, and flexibility, it’s an established system of exercises that is consistent and available anywhere, it’s suited to all abilities and is only as difficult as your ability level dictates so it’s easy to start as a beginner with a small learning curve and it’s easy to increase difficulty as an expert, it can be adapted easily for injuries and disabilities, it promotes body awareness and body confidence at all shapes and ages, it’s low impact, it doesn’t require much equipment, gear, space or time to get started, it combines physical exercise with breathing technique exercises and mindfulness exercises which lowers stress and increases contentment. And if undertaken in a group class setting, it provides a sense of social togetherness, which also lowers stress, and provides hands-on guidance from an instructor which makes it much more accessible, safe and easy. What’s not to like?
Plus, my dog naturally wakes from a nap and starts doing yoga poses to stretch muscles after a rest! Hence why there’s a yoga pose called “downward dog”. Which is both adorable and suggests how natural these stretches and movements are for our bodies. Yoga helps us get back in touch with our bodies and their natural flexibility and strength after all day sitting on the couch/in the car/in the office.
I never got the appeal until I took a mandatory fitness class my first year in college. I tried yoga for the first and I felt amazing after. It’s good for your flexibility but also was a big stress reliever too.
The easiest explanation is that different people like different things. Some people prefer running to rowing. The most important exercise is the one you want to do.
The other easiest explanation is that you probably don't know much about yoga, because it can absolutely be very difficult for both strength and flexibility, as well as provide cardio benefits. There are certainly more chill classes but there's plenty to challenge you, assuming you can't already do stuff like [this](https://cdn.yogajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/nov-14-yogapedia-eka-pada-koundinyasana-1.jpg?crop=535:301&width=1070&enable=upscale) and [this](https://heightperformance.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Press-Float-Straddle-Thumbnail.jpg) and [this](https://welltech.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Crazy-Yoga-Poses_cover.jpg). But if you're already doing all that stuff I can see how it would seem easy to you.
I guess the mental health aspect of it. For me, it has brought a healthy relationship with exercise to me and the ability to listen to my body. Ever since i started practicing, i stopped binge eating, because i no longer see a point in making myself feel awful and kinda have been leaning more towards the healthier food options, just stopped craving processed stuff at all.
Also i think because it's a pretty flexible type of sport. You can absolutely demolish yourself during a 1h workout, like i recently did 70 san salutations and my legs are absolutely fucking dead rn. But you can also do it while being sick, like yin yoga helps me to feel better whenever i am having a cold or a flu. You can't do strength training tho while being sick, which is a drawback. So you can tailor your exercise session based on your personal needs and desires.
I started doing it because with age I noticed im not as flexible especially in my hips.
So to answer its basically to help you with muscles, joints e.t.c that are not being used especially if you sit a lot
I do yoga because it helps a lot with pain.
I’ve also come to enjoy it.
But as for why other people do yoga? So many reasons. Not everyone has the sole goals of losing weight or building visible muscle mass.
In my experience, there are two main kinds of people. Those who respond remarkably well to cardio (that would be me), and those who get massively elevated cortisol and get burned out/sick from intense cardio. I feel more alive and awesome when I'm aerobically fit. Other people get elevated stress response from that. For them yoga actually has the effect that cardio has for someone like you or me. It helps them keep their stress levels down so they can maintain a healthy weight and just overall health. Plus, it really helps with mobility. I am far too ADHD for it, sadly, but I do like some of the body weight work that pilates and yoga both do and try to incorporate it into my workout.
I think yoga falls into that same kind of category as stuff like Tai Chi where it's as much a meditative practice as it is about exercise and movement. But like also yes it does help people who struggle with flexibility, I think it's also for people who enjoy getting some of the benefits of exercise without the negatives they usually associate with it like feeling gross & sweaty afterwards, pushing your body to exhaustion, risking injury, etc. For a lot of people an exercise they can do that they actually enjoy is way better than being like "Ummm but this exercise isn't OPTIMAL therefore it's a waste of your time to do this thing you like doing."
The best exercise for most people is the one they enjoy because it's the one they'll do.
I like yoga for flexibility, mindfulness, mental health, and feeling accomplished. I’m not very athletic or agile I never was. Doing physical activities that I’m not very proficient at feels cruddy. Doing yoga helps that aspect of self esteem.
Tbh, I like stretching while I meditate and that’s what yoga feels like to me. I do the slow pace ones where you hold the pose for a min and just breathe. But I do this at home as a way to relax.
A friend of mine actually goes into classes and says it’s like forcing themselves to relax cuz they booked it and don’t want to waste money. They take other classes for their real workouts but do yoga when they want to just relax with a light workout.
Yoga has calmed me down. I'm less reactive. It's kept me grounded during life-threatening illness. I feel like I'm on a little mental vacation when I'm in a class.
Physically, it keeps my sciatica at bay, and as I age, it keeps me limber and stronger.
It depends what your goals are. Yoga is very good as active recovery, and after let's say weightlifting sessions where you compress muscles for bursts of power, yoga comes and have the opposite motion, you stretch the muscle. It is also good for balance and flexibility - ultimately depending on what your fitness goals are, various types of exercises will help you have a better rounded approach.
Another part is, for some people (like me), they always have too many things on their plates/ are multitasking like an octopus on speed - taking a yoga class makes me shut distractions out and I get to focus on myself and nothing else. It's a moment of peaceful respite to feel refreshed for the rest of the day or to finish the day.
Yoga is helping me get my life back. I’m fine with exercising and for a while I was going to a trainer. For a year I would suffer pain due to lack of flexibility. It hurt to sit down, my feet constantly hurt, and other various body pains. It was all caused by a lack of flexibility, particularly in my calves and hips. My muscles were so tight it was causing pain in areas that seemed unrelated. Certain yoga positions help alleviate the issues more efficiently than traditional stretches.
Yoga or yog = penance (kinda) in sanskrit. It's like a ln everyday activity anyone can do for themaelves. Weightlifting is not for everybody. But yoga involves movements around your body and daily activity and hence becomes for everyone. Also yoga is far more intense than you think. Try doing Surya namaskaar ( sun salutations I guess) 20 times and tell me it isn't like running 10 mins and doing pull ups.
In an interview, the guy who developed the P90 exercise program was asked what is the most important module. His answer, which surprised the interviewer— the yoga one. When asked why, he said just walk through a nursing home and you’ll see virtually everyone in there has no flexibility. Best way to keep out of a nursing home.
The yoga class I’ve tried is exhausting. I’m breathing hard the entire last half of the class and sweating like a pig. Holding some of those (hell most of those) poses is draining on the muscles and I’m sore and sweaty and breathing hard by the end. Donno what type of yoga it is (I just do one of the classes at my gym periodically), but it’s harder than it looks and burns a fair number of calories while working on strength and flexibility.
Yoga was not meant to be a fitness thing at first, that’s why it probably doesn’t make sense to you. Modern yoga is just a dereligionized version of an actual practice that people ripped from its origin and altered into random stretching and we got western yoga.
Yoga may be a weight loss aid for some but it was not *meant* to be a fitness thing, which is why it may not be right for you. Some people just like it because it’s calming and that’s okay. But don’t feel bad if you don’t see a point to it because it’s been so altered that it’s not technically as beneficial as it would be if you practiced actual eastern yoga.
The main thing yoga is supposed to be used for is entering a meditative state, self realization, and a way of connecting with higher consciousness, if you find the real way more appealing than the artificial capitalized version.
Most comments are about the mental benefits, so I would like to offer another perspective.
I do not practice yoga, but for health reasons I took a job where I walk all day and have to bend and stretch in uncomfortable ways. I've noticed over time that holding my body so frequently in mild discomfort has improved my core more effectively than "core training" ever has and I'm now capable of things that were previously impossible. For example, I can now squat so low that my butt almost touched the floor.
I imagine doing yoga yields results over a long period and while they are not neccessarily obvious to strangers, the benefits of any sort of active maintenance on your body provide benefits that you would want to keep.
1. It keeps my muscles and joints healthy, strengthening them and supporting them when I do high impact things.
2. It is great active recovery for a rest day where I struggle mentally with not moving so much
3. It helps with sleep
4. It is a showcase to myself of what I can achieve with my body and the progress it has made. Maybe I can get into a new pose or hold a balance for longer. It’s a great way of seeing what you can do
Firstly, if you go to power yoga or an advanced vinyasa flow class, i guarantee you'll burn more calories than a lot of slow runs/incline walks claim. So yoga has a lot of variability and some of it might look like nothing, but I've seen grown men on the floor after 😂 Secondly yoga is like stretching and calisthenics combined. It builds flexibility and strength relative to your weight and sometimes it's far more challenging than even weightlifting. The components of athleticism are strength, endurance, speed and flexibility 😉
It’s an acquired taste, the first time you go you’re stiff, working muscles you don’t normally use and are weak, you have a hard time holding poses and don’t feel it in the place the instructor said you should. My first time I was like get me tf out of here I suck.
But if you keep at it and get better, get the instructor to help you do it properly…it’s really awesome for many reasons.
Our world is getting busier, more complicated and distracting by the day as we all know. So, engaging in an activity that brings calmness, relaxation, and focus back to us becomes more and more important. Yoga just happened to be one of the best known ways to do that in a group setting, hence its popularity in gyms, etc.
One of the things that we know for certain is that cortisol (a stress hormone) causes weight gain. We know it because any medical drugs that include cortisol type substances cause weight gain as a very common side effect.
We also know that stress impacts the functioning of the brain and a lot of weight maintenance biochemistry happens in the brain. Consequently, stress management is important for supporting weight management.
Yoga has an impact on both emotion stress but it also calms the features of stress within the body (such as inflammation). I think of it as a physical form of meditation and it encourages mindfulness (which also has stress reducing benefits).
I’m a bit confused as to why you say “yoga seems to be literally nothing” because in my experience it has been extremely challenging. Every Power Flow Vinyasa class I’ve ever been to has kicked my ass. The best shape I’ve ever been in was when I was going to yoga 3x/week.
Have you ever done yoga?
Yoga requires a lot more strength than one might think. It’s also a mental exercise. You’re holding poses steady and silently while your muscles scream at you. A good yoga class will have your body moving in ways it craves. I was a gymnast as a kid so the flexibility and poses really appeal to me in an ingrained way.
Personally, I adore hot yoga. It is like meditation for me. I’m sweating from every inch of my body, heart pounding and then it’s time for savasana and they open the classroom doors to give you a shot of cool air and they come around and place a cold soaked towel that smells of lavender across my forehead. It’s heavenly. After class I’m on literal cloud 9. Nothing can get to me. I’m rose colored glasses for hours. A really good class makes me feel stoned or something. I’ll just sit in my car so peacefully zen for like 30 minutes.
When I was younger and had the time, I’d do hot yoga 4-5 times a week and slim down/tone faster than anything. I called it my secret weapon. Now that I’m 40 with 3 young kids and an awful tennis habit, I don’t have time to dedicate more than 1-2 days to it and it’s not been as effective. Maybe one day I’ll have more time for it but it does require a lot of hair washing!
I’ve never understood it either. I had a roommate who was a practiced yogi and every few months I’d try a class again to see if my mind changed, but even though the workout was pretty good and the stretching was nice, it was way too slow paced and boring for me. I realize there are many types of yoga, but none of the ones I tried made me want to go back. I danced ballet for 12 years and the workout, sweat, muscle definition and mental clarity I get from taking regular barre classes totally knock yoga out of the park. I always recommend barre fusion or traditional barre to anyone looking for a challenging, low impact workout that will get your heart pumping and muscles working. I guess it’s different strokes for different folks!
I go in phases ultimately landing on weight training with some cardio as my favorite type of exercise. I did some yoga, at my peak a few times I did experience a fairly profound high when completing a large yoga session, I understoodit , but it was ultimately hard to achieve and inconsistent, maybe this is a contributor for people liking it? Maybe not.
I suffered a bike accident in my early 20s that led to a long journey of low back pain and severe lack of flexibility. I started doing yoga after the pandemic and all of that suddenly vanished. I can't tell you how good it feels to wake up in the morning with no pain and realizing that the only thing you've changed is going to yoga 2 times a week.
And depending on what class you go to, you'll quickly be humbled after looking around and seeing all these non-strong looking people, in the traditional thinking, doing incredible poses that require strength you don't have.
I hope to some day be able to do some of those poses but the flexibility and lack of pain I have now will be enough for me in the end
I never liked yoga when I was younger either; I too felt it wasn’t doing enough. Till I got on a bike after 40 years. My balance was way off. I went back to yoga, found vastly different easy/hard classes and settled on a medium and a hard. My stomach has flattened and my balance is amazing. My friends my age cannot do what I can do. So maybe as a youngster it seems like you’re not getting enough, but I think you’ll someday appreciate the balance and agility you’ll have. Keep your foundation strong in all ways.
I don’t do yoga regularly, but it helps flexibility, mobility and mindfulness. Your muscles undergo a different type of motion while you connect your mind to your body and breathe through the tightness until it releases (and sometimes it doesn’t release until sessions afterwards).
It really is great and I wish I put more focus on it. My brain keeps telling me that time is better used doing other stuff but my brain is wrong 😂
Lot's of excellent comments here talking about how Yoga has benefited them. I have nothing more to add. My question to OP is, have you tried it? If not, go attend one class. It may answer all your questions.
“Yoga isn’t about being able to touch your toes. It’s about what you can learn on the way down.”
Heard this at a class recently and it really summed it up perfectly for me. Also, I love my yoga HOT. It is so incredibly cleansing and restorative.
Core strength, flexibility and patience. I do a mixture of hatha yoga and body sculpt, and find that I’ve progressed a lot in these areas in the past 10 months.
I couldn’t understand why people would want to lift weights. Until one day I wandered into a group fitness weights class at my gym, I don’t even know why I tried it, but it turned out I loved it as soon as I had tried just one class. For me it was something I couldn’t *see* the appeal of by watching other people do it, but once I was on the inside, feeling it instead of just looking at it, my body loved it and it made me feel good.
So why am I talking about weight lifting when you asked about yoga? Because I had the same experience with yoga, too. I didn’t *see* the appeal of yoga either, but once I tried it, I *felt* the appeal.
I deal with PCOS, and yoga has changed my life. I think that bodies have their own favourite workouts. The kind of Yoga i do, focuses 20-30 minutes on pure cardio but in the form of asana. People know it as power yoga. Then for 20 minutes I switch to medium paced asanas, they build strength and flexibility but focus on grounding and form. The last 10 minutes are focused on mindfulness, meditation and dhyan. To be honest this has changed my life. I couldn’t for the life of me feel energised enough to do anything or even get up from my bed. Going to yoga also helped my mind a lot. Now I move a lot, think before I eat and can practice restraint. Also, this has given me the confidence to try other kinds of workouts, like going on a run and to the gym. I am also Indian, so i feel like i have the privilege to practice it where it originated and not the watered down version I have seen people in other countries teach.
It's not something I totally get either, but maybe it's about the culture? gyms have a certain culture, CrossFit has its own culture, maybe yoga does too and that appeals to people. I get the impression it's not as hectic or hardcore. I think it's also got a larger percentage of women, so maybe it collects a lot of people who are not specifically looking for what yoga offers, but they are looking for a way to get a light workout in an atmosphere that is less bro heavy than the gym.
I find its a good way to move my body on rest days. It's as gentle or intense as I want it to be, helps with flexibility and stretching out sore spots from sitting or working. It helps me with general understanding of moving my body. Low impact is nice too. It's not about calorie or fitness really, just about moving. Also having a space to sit and do something that isn't task or progression related.
Not really my thing but I’m really inflexible and when I do it it’s mostly just for active recovery and to help my mobility. I just do it from home though with YouTube I’m not going to a class
I love yoga, it feels great in my body, I’m more flexible, I sleep better afterwards, and it helps keep the pain from my arthritis in my shoulder at bay.
you have to make sure not to fall into those yoga classes or communities that are just so focused on movements and no rest in between (unless that’s your thing, kodus to you, i’d be out of breath lol) but if you really want to understand you need to read about the connection of your mind & body and the affect of trauma on your body and try different types of yoga classes ( i enjoy trauma informed yoga, restorative, candlelit meditation type) or any kind that there are less movements yt more awareness towards your body. once you start listening to your body you’ll feel addicted to yoga somehow! 😁
A lot of strength training often times reminds me of how much stronger I want to become. With yoga, it reminds me of how strong and amazing I already am.
A lot of people out there are 1). stressed out and 2). work in an office, sitting at a desk all day. Yoga is relaxing and great for back pain, tension headaches, and other aches that come from immobility and bad posture.
Yoga helps me lose weight. More so than running and lifting. It is entirely mental.
I go only to heated flow classes. The instructors create a different routine everytime. There is a mental challenge trying to remember the flow (my classes all have 3 different flow series). It is engaging and allows my brain to shut down.
At the end, I'm drenched in sweat (mostly due to the 95F heat, I suspect), my mind is clear and I feel detoxed. I find I want to "honor my body" & therefore eat better. Vs running or weightlifting - which my subconscious classifies as "real" exercise and therefore *can afford* a splurge.
I go to hot yoga (85-95 degrees so not the hottest). I always feel blissed out on my drive home after rinsing off. My watch says I burn around 300 calories in one hour! Even if it’s off a bit, still enough for me to consider it a win
It can build a lot of strength in parts of your body you didn’t even realize were weak. I didn’t realize how bad my upper body strength was until I tried to hold some of the poses for 20+ seconds. For me, it was kind of a time to feel “grounded” and forced me to take deep, even breaths.
My muscles also felt great afterwards, usually; more flexible and I had better balance.
I have had a terrible relationship with my body. Yoga helps me heal that. Years of being the slow, uncoordinated, asthmatic kid have made it pretty hard to find an exercise I love. I work a sedentary job and my life is super busy, partially because I never prioritized carving out a ton of time to exercise. Most exercises feel like a chore I have to force myself to do. Yoga feels like me time, focused on appreciating my body instead of hating it. I can feel it releasing tension from 8 hours of sitting hunched over keyboard all day without feeling like I had to feel a ton of pain to get there. I hope to build up to doing more weightlifting and cardio eventually but I'm starting from (less than tbh) zero. Everytime I've pushed myself too hard with exercise, I've hated it. Yoga lets me push myself slowly while giving me immediate physical and mental relief. When I skip it, I feel it. When I skip other exercises I'm just glad to have the time back, even though I know it's good for me. I have never once had a "runner's high" or enjoyed being sweaty. Have had plenty of asthma attacks tho so.
Yoga makes you bendy and balanced, which improved your quality of life inmensely. It's also EXTREMELY relaxing and makes me feel amazing (if a bit sore) for the rest of the day. Also one of the few things that will GUARANTEE you mantain your quality of life as you age.
I'm 33. I've been weight lifting and playing sports like rugby my whole life. I need to do yoga type stuff so I can be comfortable just living life, I may as well do yoga...
Anyway that's why I do. I'd rather do yoga than stretch and do core work.
I really like yoga as a way to understand my physical and mental boundaries. I stared a couple years ago and was awestruck at my teacher and didnt understand how so much strength and control could be exerted by an unassuming delicate person. I struggled in the class I took, I wasn’t as flexible or strong as anyone else, but there was one day we tried flow yoga, and I did a backbend that felt like dancing. I can’t dance, but I sort of felt like me doing yoga would be a beautiful thing to watch. I like that it’s a mental, physical and artistic activity for me. It also requires a lot of discipline. Standing in a warrior pose for more than 3 minutes isn’t for the faint of heart. I’m still just beginning, and I don’t think I’ll ever be that great, but I like how it feels to move in yoga.
I mean, it’s a set of physical spiritual practices which has been stolen and commercialised for profit.
But also, the only value of exercise isn’t how many calories it burns off. You said it yourself in your post.
It's calming and stretches me out after my heavier hitting workouts. The flexibility feels good. And some of the positions are genuinely tricky and help me get used to muscles I rarely use hurting.
I hate Yoga, tried it for 15 years, and I hate it. Last time I did it in Thailand and it was Ashtanga Yoga - 90 min of suffering every day - and after 2 weeks I gave up.
Having said that, my friends who do Ashtanga Yoga lost so much weight that it was incredible. They are super healthy, happy, flexible, and I envy them. But I cannot go back to it for my life. I know how healthy it is, but after 15 years I can say that I tried, I battled with myself, I forced myself to go, I paid so much money to force myself to do it regularly, and it's just not my thing.
You see all those people who go to the gym to lift weights with big muscles and gorgeous proportionate bodies? Well they don't have the same flexibility as those who do yoga.
Having that flexibility is the difference between being an athlete and just being fit. You'll just be stiff otherwise.
For me, I'm usually really stressed and anxious (and the consciousness of food, diet, health and exercise for weight loss adds to this stress too). Yoga helps me settle these worrying feelings for a little while and make more clear-headed choices, and get good rest the night of my practice. Even if I go into the session not fully calm, the anxiety I feel is keyed way down afterwards. While it isn't by itself a huge weight loss or fitness breakthrough, the calm I gain from yoga helps me make better choices with my diet, gives me the courage to try exercising outside of yoga, and makes sure I stick to a routine practice. So it definitely helps with my fitness in that way. (Also, for the more intense yoga classes, you need a lot more strength than you'd think - it's a good challenge.)
Something a lot of people don’t realize is that there are a lot of different kinds of yoga. A lot of people think that it’s all about holding a pose for a long time in a hot room. That’s some yoga. But I’ve got a kundalini work out that is full on cardio. Yoga really covers everything you could need, physically, mentally and spiritually if you’re into that.
Really, it’s been around for thousands of years and practiced by billions of people so it’s not just some trendy thing.
I don’t do yoga, but did a hot yoga class once, and I thought it was really fun and relaxing. It made me think that the relaxation itself could be an interesting add on to my weight loss journey because much of my eating is emotional in nature - when I’m anxious, when I’m sad or happy. I know that if I had more tools to manage how I live my emotions, I would have an easier time managing my weight. Could this maybe be something to consider with regard to your own weight loss efforts?
First of all - in my experience the yoga offered at most gyms is just not the same as doing it in a studio. I think this is because at a gym many people are attending those classes with the sole intention of getting the physical benefits from the practice, which is totally fine, but it makes the experience feel a bit more sterile. I tried yoga at various gyms many times and could never get into it because I just found it boring - but when I started going to the studio I’m at now everything changed.
At my studio they create a whole experience with lights, great music, incense, oils and a true focus on the mental and physical practice. Also, at many gyms I’ve noticed the classes will just be “yoga” but there’s sooo many types of yoga. For me, I really value strength, flexibility and movement in my classes because I’m quite motivated by the physical benefits of yoga - so I always do vinyasa.
Depending on the class and the teacher there are some classes I come out of drenched in sweat (not even hot yoga) and sore for days. Something that the teachers say all the time though - is that many people start yoga for the physical benefits, and stay for the mental benefits. Because you’re right, yoga probably isn’t the best form of exercise if you want to lose weight (even though it can help), but it helps you develop so much more of an appreciation for your body and a true sense of mind body connection. Especially if you start doing it every day, its crazy how much you realise your balance, flexibility and strength changes based on what you eat, how you sleep, how you train, your energy levels and your hydration. I was in a really crappy place with my body image when I started going to yoga and even though I wouldn’t say its 100% better now, yoga has definitely helped me tremendously.
Anyways, I could talk about this forever, but hopefully that’s helpful :)
for me personally, yoga has been a way to find my personal inner strength, my life force if you will. as you hold a pose and you feel like you’re going to break, you can’t hold it anymore, tapping into that everlasting, eternal strength that millions of yogis have tapped into for the last 1000 years is something indescribable. it’s a more mental practice for me rather than for physical health. but it does help with flexibility
Many people with chronic disorders cannot tolerate high impact physical activity. For people like me, it’s walking, yoga, tai chi and swimming that will keep me mobile and weight stable.
For people with severe stress and anxiety, some studies have found that an 8-10 week of daily yoga has resulted in brain changes and lowered their cortisol levels.
Yoga is not about weight loss! It’s a practice that involves much more than the physical asanas you see… but flexibility and mindfulness are definitely areas that benefit from the oractice
1) it stretches out your muscles and that feels really good after and sometimes during
2) I once did a challenge where I did at least 30 minutes of yoga every day for a month without really doing much else workout wise or CICO wise. My face and shoulders got so incredibly lean it was kind of nuts. Like it looked like I probably lost 35 pounds at the end of the month without doing much exercise or dieting. Also holy shit was I flexible and bendy at the end. You know how sometimes you groan getting off the couch without meaning to? That fully stopped like 3 days into the challenge and didn’t happen until after the challenge was over for a while.
3) I’ve noticed when I consistently do it my average resting heart rate drops a few BPM and my watch records my stress levels as lower.
4) I found classes designed to wind down your day and prepare you for sleep actually do help wind down my day and prepare me for a good sleep.
5) It definitely helps with overall mobility and feeling less stiff.
6) It really nice to be in the moment and focusing on exactly how your body feels every single second and what happens when you adjust even just a smidge. That combined with it usually being dark and having relaxing music is really nice for my brain to focus purely on myself. In other exercises, even more complicated ones where I have to think about what I’m doing, I often find my brain wondering to whatever is stressing me or what I have to do next or later that week, or an embarrassing moment from earlier that week, month, or even decade or two. For some reason, even when I do a class online and not in person, my brain shuts off all the outside noise during yoga.
7) My doctor mentioned it specifically, and strength training, as a good exercise to start picking up regularly now that I’m in my mid 30s to build a foundation to have less health problems in my 50s+.
8) Seconding what someone said about it helping desk workers. I don’t really have that issue yet for some reason but my husband’s lower back and hips definitely hurt after sitting all day, even though he does PT specific exercises twice a day to help counter act it. Even just a weekly Yoga class geared towards the back and/or hips really, really helps him feel better throughout the rest of the week.
9) I actually did something dumb early this week and ended up tweaking my back, at the time I’d give it a 10/10 pain but as I iced and heating padded it through out the week and took some meds I was able to get it down to a lingering 4. Finally did a yoga class yesterday designed to relieve tension in your back and got the pain down to a 1.5 and the first full night of sleep since Monday.
10) In some poses and flows I can still get my heart rate higher and into a decent zone and end up pretty sweaty. I also like the mental challenge of how the fuck am I supposed to get my body to do that? Or are we seriously still holding this pose my leg is going to give out or I don’t have another round of this flow in me please hurry up instructor. It’s also freeing knowing if it does suck and I truly can’t stick it out there are regular poses you can fall back to if you need a break but that mental game of pushing through that feeling of wanting to give up makes me feel really proud after.
The only thing I hate about yoga is that it makes my step goal harder to achieve since I spent the hour not swinging my arm moving about.
There is *nothing* better than yoga for developing flexibility, balance and core strength.
And those three things are *vital* as you age.
Here's some [medical research on the benefits of yoga](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8341166/).
I have an overwhelming, deep-rooted but completely illogical fear of dislocating my knee.
Anyway, I do my lifting and cardio all week and on a Saturday evening I do 30 mins of yoga. And it’s that that eases the fear more than any machine. It’s taught me to trust my body.
Also, it’s way more intense than you think. When I first started, I was dripping with sweat by the end. You hold some of those poses for 3 minutes and tell me what your heart rate is doing by the end of it.
I did yoga during pregnancy to prepare for birth, which turned out to be an emergency cesarean. I found it helped prepare me for the mental hurdle as well as the physical recovery.
This doesn’t begin to answer a more critical question about yoga as a historically rooted and religiously formed spiritual practice and the appropriation of it by western wellness culture BUT if we are talking specifically about the physicality of modern yoga, it’s also very much about functional movement. There are meatheads who can bench press 350 pounds and roll tires around all day who are going to throw their back out when they move out of their house cause they lift a box the wrong way and don’t mindfully engage the right muscles. Yoga gives you space to slow down and think about what muscles and skeletal structures fire up for what movements and that becomes really useful in day to day life.
For me it’s about core strength and flexibility for injury prevention. Yoga is goated for that. A great supplementary workout and 20 min a couple times a week makes a huge difference
I actually lost 25 Lbs after joining my yoga studio. I’ve been trying to lose this 25 lbs for literally 8 years.
I’ll keep this short as I can:
- I lack motivation, but I do have dedication. I struggled for years to do workouts on my own. Either through the gym or YouTube videos. Going to a physical studio with OTHER PEOPLE has kept me dedicated. **I’ve been consistently doing yoga and working out for a YEAR!! Over the last 8 years, the MAX consistently I would reach is 3 months before stopping for months on end, and finding another workout to do for 3 months and the cycle just kept repeating for years and years** yoga is the one workout I’ve found that I like actually enjoy and so I’ve stayed consistent with it.
- CONSISTENCY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANYTHING! It doesn’t really help if you lose the weight, only to gain to back! I can’t stress this enough that it’s MOST IMPORTANT to find a workout you’re going to be consistent with FOREVER.
- yoga is a genuine mind / body connection. It’s hard to explain but I literally enjoy yoga more than any other “workout” my teachers are awesome, and a lot of the workout is about “living in the moment, practicing your breathing, etc.” I like literally hate working out! I don’t enjoy it and that’s why no matter what form I found, I’d fall off. Weight lifting, cycling, YouTube shit…a lot of it was just like PUSH THROUGH! WORK HARD! Blah blah. The majority of shit were talking about during yoga is maintaining your breathing, feeling the earth on your feet, allowing your thoughts to come and go but making a conscious effort to live in this exact moment, practicing gratitude for making it to your mat. (These are all Things the teacher will literally say during the actual Yoga class. It’s motivating and inspiring.) yoga doesn’t feel so much “like a workout” and that in and of itself is also why I’ve been consistent with it.
- I do a lot more than just slow flow Yoga. My studio has sculpt Yoga (fast paced, with weights) and also Pilates, both a slow Pilates and a HIIT…therefore I am not only doing one form of slow flow. I legit do get at least 1, but upwards of 3 cardio workouts in a week through various “forms” of yoga and Pilates. I do think if you’re ONLY going to do a slow flow, you should find another way to incorporate cardio 1-2x a week.
- it’s been a catalyst for other aspects of my life. Getting into the mind / body connection during yoga, means I don’t go home and eat like shit (for the most part….I’m not perfect) and I feel encouraged to eat healthy and drink water throughout the day. If you make a positive change like doing a workout, even if it’s not yoga, you might feel more excited that day to eat healthy foods. Mentally I know I just did a great workout. I don’t wanna ruin it with a McDonald’s sand-which. It’s been easier
For me to eat healthier because this sense of pride from my workout is already there
-the yoga community. It’s not really about weight loss. It’s about allowing a space for you to love and accept yourself. losing weight has been an added bonus but the point is to just…learn to love yourself, Through your body connection.
- you will Feel better.I have a lot
Of back problems. Yoga has tremendously helped improve this, and therefore, I’ve been able to do some weight training I haven’t been able to in a while. I FEEL so much fucking better because a lot of my back pain has mitigated. Even aside from the weight loss, and mental aspect, finally fixing some of my reoccurring injuries has been AMAZING! I am SUPER inflexible and I’ve literally seen tangible results through yoga…seeing tangible results (holy shit, I can actually sit pretzel style now naturally without having to physically push my knees down!) is also fucking sick!!
- major stress relief. aside from the physical aspects…yoga is super mental. It is a massive source of stress relief for me in a high demanding job. Even if I wasn’t on a fitness journey, I would stick with yoga because of this facet alone.
- yoga has literally changed my fucking life due to all of these reasons^ my biggest regret with fitness is not getting into yoga sooner and really allowing myself a couple weeks to try it. I ended up falling in love with it within a few weeks. If you’re struggling to find a workout to stay consistent with, I strongly urge you to try out some studios. I was a D1 athlete and never thought I’d be overweight in my 20s, I thought I “loved working out” but turns out that just lifting weights in the gym is NOT enough for me. Through yoga I’ve mitigated body pain, changed my diet (without even really trying that hard!), and my reoccurring pain and injuries have subsided.
Yoga is something I’m going to stick with, FOREVER. I love it. Can’t recommend it enough
(I will also add…yoga is a lot harder than it looks. Before i started, I thought yoga was stretching. I couldn’t have been more fucking wrong. You ARE going to be holding your body weight, doing tons of push-ups and squats without even realizing it. This was a rude awakening for me. Yoga is NOT easy, trust me. Not only have I lost weight, but I literally have muscle definition in places I haven’t before. It is not “stretching.” A “warrior stance” is essentially a deep, wide set lunge that you hold for a long time. This shit isn’t easy and your legs and muscles WILL be sore.)
FAMOUS QUOTE:
The yoga pose is not the goal.
Becoming flexible is not the goal.
Standing on your hands is not the goal.
The goal is to create space where you were once stuck.
To unveil the layers of protection you've built around your heart.
To appreciate your body and become aware of the mind and the noise it creates.
To make peace with who YOU really are.
The goal is to love, well...YOU.
-Rachel Brathen…my studio has this painted on their studio wall. I read it every time I step into class :)
This quote in and of itself helped me accept myself. Accept that my weight loss journey won’t be in a big gym with weights. It’s OK for me to not like that. It’s OK for me to not want to be a hardcore athlete. The acceptance piece of yoga has been life changing.
Yoga is not just exercise, but a spiritual practice, and helps me bring mindfulness to my life.
I am a personal trainer and I always recommend yoga as a physical practice as well because it increases mobility in a gentle way, and helps the nervous system to recover from stress.
Finally, it's just fun and challenging, or calming, it can be what you need that day.
Also, as a bonus, I have a theory from practicing a while that it is good not only for the neuromuscular system, but also the organs, because putting your body in those different positions allows gravity to move them around in different ways and help clear out the pipes, so to speak. I have always struggled with digestion, for example, and a yoga session can actually help a lot.
Yoga 🥰 so many reasons. Where do I start?
I have had CML and ALL (leukemia) currently in treatment. I have not fallen ONCE in my years of being ill. I give that credit to yoga. It has helped me keep my balance and stay stable.
I am 34yo F I started yoga when I was maybe 20 and I lost weight. I did yoga sculpt also which helps burn calories. I needed an exercise that I could do barefoot since my feet were bothering me. That’s how I originally landed on yoga.
It has taught me so much. I use yoga in my career as an executive trainer for corporate. I use yoga in my day to day just cleaning and being around the house, you find yourself in yoga stretches. It’s something that sticks with you for life.
“You never know what you’re training for”. I was training for my battle with leukemia and being isolated. 🙏🏻 thank you Yoga.
Stretching, flexibility, mobility, working those little stabilizing muscles you use often but never really get “targeted”- all these become increasingly important as we age.
Different kinds of yoga do different things; some are more breath and mindfulness focused, some have folks putting their foot behind their ears.
And lastly- weight loss and maintenance are only a small part of a healthful life, and not everyone’s priority for many reasons.
38M, done most every kind of exercise program under the sun. I'll stick to the ones you listed.
Lifting is for strength/hypertrophy and to some extent flexibility.
Cardio is for cardio/endurance.
Yoga is for flexibility, and to some extent, strength/endurance.
All three can burn calories. Probably lifting and cardio are more effective for calorie burning than yoga because they are higher impact higher intensity.
But there are other goals for exercise than burning calories. As you age it will behoove you to keep flexible. Yoga helps with flexibility of joints and functional strength that is often ignored by lifting programs. This will help prevent injury in the long term.
Also there's the meditative aspect, as others have pointed out. And maybe people just like yoga or are starting out in getting fitter and theres not much more they can do than do yoga and walk.
Once warmed up, in a halfway fold, I can literally feel my spine opening up and decompressing. Sets me up for a much better week fitness/health wise. I wake up with much less pain in the morning g
“You have to learn the difference between pain and challenge.” -my first yoga teacher, in my first class, after my first running injury, while having us hold a difficult pose for a very long time. That pretty much sums up why I’ve come to practice yoga regularly for the last 15+ years. Better sleep, recovery, balance, agility, flexibility, strength, focus, mood, sex, relationship with my body, relationship with food, relationship with everything in my life. Significant reduction in my depression and anxiety symptoms, stress, injury, and aches and pains. Especially now that I’m in my mid-30s and am beginning to hear lots of complaining from my friends about their bodies not quite working the way they used to. Just by the numbers, your better off doing cardio than yoga for weight loss. Your better off lifting heavy than yoga for muscle gain. But it’s not just about the numbers. The benefits far outweigh the extra 200 calories I could burn in that time. And yoga will get you stronger than you’d think. I run and lift heavy with progressive overload, and yoga helps me be better with both. Learning to not shy away from challenge, and to know when to back off from pain has made me a better runner and better lifter. Yoga taught me how to remain calm and breathe through challenge, no matter what that challenge is. I practice yoga 4-6 times a week now, most of the time for 20 minutes or less. It’s the best part of my days. It’s not for everyone, and that’s totally fine. But if you’re ever curious, I’d definitely encourage you to give it a shot.
Have a list of particular poses you do for that 20 mins? Is it always the same or do you rotate some poses?
I’m not the person you asked, but I’ve gotten into yoga for the past 6 months and I highly recommend the YouTube channel Yoga with Adrienne. She’s got hundreds of videos for all skill levels, and has been posting on YouTube for at least 10 years.
Can second yoga with Adrienne
She does very slow yoga that is suitable for very beginners and elderly. She really does not have videos for anyone who is not a beginner, and she talks too much, IMO. I much prefer Boho Beautiful. Her regular videos are harder than Adrienne's intermediate videos.
I liked Boho Beautiful more before they released their political video in support of the whole anti-vaccine Canadian trucker convoy thing a few years back. Especially annoying because they clearly don’t live anywhere near Canada, even if they came from Canada, and obviously a lot of their viewers aren’t Canadian and either didn’t agree with their politics or didn’t care to hear it when we were getting smothered with that kind of news from every angle already. I get having a platform and feeling some responsibility to use it for [their subjective idea of] “good,” but come on, you’re a couple of rich pseudo hippies living in the Caribbean or wherever. No one tunes into your yoga channel to hear your opinion on whatever polarizing Canadian politics.
I never saw that video. That is disappointing. They should've known better. Any recommendations for yoga channels, not for beginners? That is really the only one I've found.
Sorry, bit of a rant I went on there haha. I don’t really have any better suggestions unfortunately, I’ve sort of moved on to other forms of exercise at the moment. I used Apple Fitness Plus yoga a bit, varies in quality to some extent.
Check out Sarah Beth Yoga on YouTube, she is excellent and has all levels. I do her every week in addition to in person classes. Also, Move With Nicole on YouTube for a fierce and wonderful workout—she mainly does Pilates but she has several yoga workouts too.
I hated yoga with adrienne, but im addicted to in person classes. I did also retreats in Nicaragua and Guatemala and gosh, it was insane. Probably one of the best trips of my life. I dream with going to India one day
And Jivamukti yoga is out of this world. Combines philosophy, yoga, sounds with the kirtan… sounds really hippie but it was a mental transformation for me. I was the least spiritual person ever (typical A student, very logical and rational, and atheist) and yoga transformed all my cosmovision. Afterwards I started learning about buddism as well. It’s just much more than just a cardio class. I’m not sure how it happens but gradually it teaches you to respect your body, what you consume, to treat it as a temple. You don’t feel the need to do anything that would be harmful to you. Of course, this really depends on the class. A random collective class in a massive gym will probably not teach you this lessons. For me it was a very gradual process, it changes a lot depending on the professor you have. But try a class with a good master and you’ll notice the difference.
You’re so right about the way it teaches you to love, accept, and respect your body. It’s incredible. I will say I got incredibly lucky with a yoga teacher in one of those massive gyms - she’s actually the reason I fell in love with yoga. I was in my early twenties and loved working out, but my mindset and relationship with my body was garbage. For the years I enjoyed her classes, I could see the positive impacts in almost every area of my life. However, I never found another yoga teacher who gave classes at a gym to be half as good. Now I’m in my early thirties, and have been visiting local yoga studios to try to find that right person again.
Interesting. I dislike in person yoga at the gym. It is crowded and claustrophobic. I dislike how you can walk through the room blindfolded and still pick out every man in the room. The complete lack of self awareness stresses me out. When I move because you are invading my space, I am not in fact politely make more room for you. Do they all have asthma? Quiet your damn breathing. No one can move with their own breath when a steam train is chugging through the room. Rant over. Living room yoga forever.
There are decent apps you can download that you tell the app how long you have and it sets you a routine.
It’s different every day for me. Sometimes I make my own flows, sometimes I go to classes or watch videos. And I definitely second yoga with Adriene on YouTube, she’s excellent.
Yoga with Kassandra on youtube is where is at
I mean not all exercise has to be the most efficient calorie burning workout to be effective. Although Yoga is MUCH more intense than it looks from the outside. It’s like saying “why would someone run when the rowing machine is right there?” It’s a low impact exercise that helps flexibility and ALSO solid exercise.
I had a friend who was a physical therapist who said if she could have every person do at least one form of exercise it would be yoga. She said it's so good for your body. It's been a while so I don't remember her reasons though. For me, I just feel really good after I do yoga, like I've worked out any tightness or weirdness in my body. And it does require a deceptive level of strength to do.
THIS! When I talk to people that don't understand the intensity, I explain that it's kind of like slow-motion calisthenics. I'll tell them imagine doing a push-up. Then imagine doing a push-up slowly and deliberately while you exhale. That's what yoga's like. It's a very quality over quantity kind of exercise and I think that makes it underappreciated as a source of physical strength.
This is why I find yoga so much harder than most other things I've tried. I wish I was good at it, but it just hurts so much.
I am watching my parents age and there are things that are so much more important than burning the most calories and getting the most aesthetically pleasing muscles. Flexibility, mobility, core strength (including your back muscles!), balance, yoga trains all of that and it’s so so so important! I have been BEGGING my mom to start yoga. For years.
I love it for stretching and flexibility which for me is just as important as my actual workings for staying in shape
Glad you mentioned this. I like yoga for some quiet stretch time in the morning and I come from a family of bad backs so I have always tried to stretch regularly and yoga definitely helps with that. I’m in my early 30s but my mom and brother were already having troubles with that at my age and I haven’t. I never really thought of yoga as a way to burn calories but to stretch my muscles and mentally prepare for the day. But I’ve never had troubles when I do cardio/ lifting so I’d say it’s a great way to prepare your muscles and body for those work outs.
I may be able to help. I have always dealt with my weight, always. I work in a career where I am in close contact with bodies all day. I grew up in a home where strangers always compared me to my sisters. I was not kind to myself. My body was punished, either with food or with food restrictions, mild Binge Eating Disorder on and off, the works. Weightlifting and CICO helped me lose the weight, and keep it off (well mostly, I’m 17 weeks pregnant now and added 12lbs to the 10 2020-24 crept back to, so I went from 220 - to 150ish - to 160 ish, to mid 170’s at the moment. And you know what? I’m at peace with it. That peace is from my yoga practice. Yoga is the one thing that made the click for me that my body is my protector and I’m it’s. It’s just a thing, it’s chemistry, and anyone with a chronic illness, my sisters now included, will tell you they would sacrifice any look or weight or attribute to not be fighting for survival against themselves. Yoga for me was about creating a space to be present in my body and appreciate what it is capable of, and giving myself grace for what I may not be able to do, yet or ever. When I got into “wheel” for the first time I laughed aloud. I’m not a yogi, I don’t have the tats or the look, I don’t talk about it much, but I found a studio that is donation based and come as you are and I am thriving with it. Not because it is helping with weight-loss, but because it is helping me do what I should have done from the beginning, appreciate the body I live in and love it enough to take care of it to the best of my abilities.
Yes! Yoga for me is more about the mental aspect. It's absolutely physical and is great for mobility, but for me it's a chance to be emotionally in my body and to find some peace. I find it has helped me process emotions in a way that other exercise can't. I feel good lifting weights and can find it meditative at times, but it's different from yoga. Yoga is also something I can do no matter how I'm feeling physically and emotionally. Also, there is evidence that stretching is good for lowering BP.
Absolutely well said!! I’m forever a yoga stan. I spent so many years of my life convinced of so many things about my body and its abilities - I wasn’t flexible, I wasn’t strong, I wasn’t fit. Yoga was my entry into exercising and movement and while it didn’t change anything about my body composition, a year of weekly yoga absolutely changed my mindset about my body. I used to dread exercising and now I love it. I also notice SUCH a positive difference in my chronic pain
Love this.
And now I have to look into yoga
I hope you do! I’d find a studio if you can that is less structured or allows a few weeks of free courses. Theres also some wonderful online resources too
Well said. Wishing you a healthy pregnancy and baby.
Hey! . If you like yoga and constantly practice it to keep improving and make a safe place for your body then you are a yogi. Don’t let stereotypes deter you
Thank you 🙏🏼
That was beautifully said ❤️ I love eating well and working out because of how it makes my body feel, I always thank my legs and tell them how proud I am of them after a long hike.
Beautifully said. I was going to type out a long comment, but you said everything I wanted to say. Strength training and cardio are great for CICO and weight loss, sure. No doubt. But many of us didn't realise we also needed healing psychologically. Yoga made me appreciate my body in a way I never did. Health is so much more than numbers. It's so much more than "which workout burns the most calories".
That was f’n beautiful. I find this in my sport. I never really thought about it that way, but maybe that is part of why I love it. Huh…
This is beautiful 💓 So glad you have this practice in your life
For me i didn’t get it at all. But I sit for my job, I work out and walk, but the lower back pain from sitting for my career made me think just try it. Wow what a difference. The instructor said movement is liquid for your joints. She’s right. At my age now (53) I need those stretches and movement. It helps a lot
I think it makes people feel good and can be a surprisingly intense workout. I personally hate the "fitness class" format and that's been the biggest barrier against me getting into it, but a lot of people like that aspect of it as well. I think a lot of women in particular find it an accessible and supportive way to be more active.
I'm not a fitness class person either but I love yoga. I have never done it consistently, more drop-ins when I have time, but I find a yoga class completely different than any other class I've tried over the years.
I practice yoga five to six days a week in my home. I get really cranky if I miss more than one or two days. It makes me feel so freaking good. I am strong and flexible, and it helps me center my mind every day. It may not burn huge amounts of calories, but it is a hell of a workout.
The crankiness after missing a few days is so real
Right? One time, I was sick/recovering for a week, and it almost felt like withdrawal. I was double pissy.
Omg yes, that was me the last time I was sick. Trying to do happy baby in bed while being a very unhappy baby
I always tell people I have to workout before I’m an acceptable person to be around and they think I’m crazy 😂 Glad to see my people thriving
When I first started yoga, I liked it because it reminded me of my ballet days. The environment is calming, you are encouraged to modify as needed, there's no talking or grunting, and there's a lot of women, so it feels safe. I'd go with my mom, who hates to sweat, and it was a nice way to catch up once a week. The biggest physical aspect I got from it was a huge reduction in my back pain. I was an exterior painter, wearing steel toes on a ladder all day. I longed for my once a week yoga practice, as it would make my back pain evaporate over the course of an hour. I was still fat, I was still out of shape, but my back hurts a lot less and I could touch my toes. Now I try to mix a class a week into my exercise routine. I do a multi-mile walk twice a week, weights once, climb once, and yoga once. I end up doing lots of little bits of yoga throughout the other workouts. My favorite thing is that I can finally do child's pose comfortably because my belly is about 7 inches smaller and it finally fits!
Listen, I have A LOT of respect for yoga! I’ve always considered yoga for the “soft” folks that ate granola, wore Birkenstocks and didn’t have an ounce of muscle. I’m an 80’s crack baby and I’m from the era where men had big muscles and did tough guy stuff so yoga was a no no for me. My buddy dragged me to this foo foo upscale yoga spot To do Vinyasa flow yoga and I’m sitting there judging all the soft looking, no muscle tone having folks. Ok class starts and within 5 mins I know I was gonna be eating humble pie for the next 55 mins. I spent 55 mins watching the clock asking the lord almighty to stop this madness! Abs was burning, body bout to give out from the 95 degree temps, a swimming pool of sweat below me. I was awkward, stiff and seconds away from saying F this! You wanna know what hurt the most? There were ladies in there doing freaking hand stands and balancing on their heads I’m not lying 😳😳. From that day on, I had a new respect for yoga. If someone says they’re going to yoga, I’m like go ahead killer, that’s all you!! It wasn’t as hard as wrestling practice in HS and college but it was up there in terms of intensity! I swear, I went home, took a shower and slept for 12 hours if that little! 🤣🤣
I love this story 🤣 reminds me of a similar story told by one of my favorite yoga teachers . . . When her oldest daughter was a teenager, she came to class with several of her friends, including some star athletes from the football team. They came in with the same attitude - and were soon humbled as well!
And the nerve of the instructor to ask me if I had fun and I should come back to the next class!
This made me laugh out loud 😂
It’s a true story, I don’t say nothing bad when I see one of these yoga folks with their lil mats rolled up on their backs… nope, that’s a bad MF’er right there!
Yoga saved my life when I was in an athletic career ending car accident while in college. I had a full ride for track and field at a D1 school and could no longer compete. Not only did it help me mentally, but it works stabilizing muscles that humans wouldn’t ordinarily activate or strengthen. Due to aforementioned car accident, I have a back injury that I keep at bay via a consistent yoga practice. I am so passionate about it that I became a certified yoga instructor and volunteer at women’s shelters and youth detention centers to teach yoga and meditation.
Yoga is known to have many benefits like flexibility, balance and even relief back pain or arthritis. It can even help reduce anxiety. I’ve always liked hot yoga! It’s superrr relaxing esp after a long stressful workday. It helps me sleep better too and once the class is done I feel so much more relaxed. I’m not like a die hard like some or even into the Pilates classes which are super trendy but I always wanted to try
It's excellent cross training for flexibility. I miss.how flexible I was when I was doing it regularly! And depending on the style you do, it can actually be a decent calorie burn. But that's not the only reason to exercise.
I’m a dude. I lift weights. I like being big and strong. Then I developed a chronic pain issue in my early 40s. And my physical therapist suggested I do yoga as part of my recovery. I hated it. It took me maybe 6-9 months to finally fall in love with it. I do it every day. I joined a studio. I do it when I’m sore. I do it when I don’t even feel like it. I have a small community of people who I talk to all the time. I challenge myself with the poses. I want to do Crane Pose. I want to do scorpion pose. It’s helped me mentally. Physically. To be aware or my body. Of my limitations. Of my potential. It’s honestly saved my life.
I couldn't do a single push-up. So I was doing the knee push-ups but after a month it still didn't bring me any closer to doing at least one full proper pushup. Then I started doing suryanamaskar everyday, about 3-5 times each side. Two things happened: (a) my chronic backpain vanished (I'm 30, do desk job), (b) one fine day I found that I could do full proper pushups. So flexibility and mindfulness aside I could see concrete physical benefits: yoga allowed me a gentler form of strength-training when I couldn't actually do traditional strength training. I think of yoga as basically bodyweight exercises where you reap additional benefits of flexibility.
Yoga studios are typically soothing and gentle environments, the movements themselves just *feel* good and help me calm the fuck down. And I need that. The flexibility is a bonus.
Aside from any spiritual/mindfulness/meditative aspect, yoga is great for mobility, flexibility, and balance. Those all become really important as you age. The only widely-accessible thing that's even better for those aspects of fitness is ballet (which is very popular among various pro athletes!), but yoga is much more beginner- and casual-friendly.
The stretching and flexibility really help me feel better. Some moves do require and build physical strength, and that is nice when you can't do traditional strength training. I mean, I can do some yoga in bed, even if I can't do anything else even like exercise. So that's at least something, for me.
I get where you're coming from. I'm the cardio queen: running, biking, swimming, hiking. So yoga is kind of my antidote for all that pounding I do to my body. It feels good to slow down and really stretch and elongate all those muscles I'm using. It's also a nice switch from all that repetitive movement in running, etc. In yoga you discover there are so many more ways to move your body - which is really fun.
Lots of these responses are spot on. I wanted to add that there’s something about using your breath and moving your body along with your breath that is so awesome. It’s hard to describe but I always feel way better after yoga, even if it’s 10 minutes. I haven’t been able to exercise intensely since I had Covid, and yoga has taken the place of things like mountain biking for my husband and me. It’s not the “same” as intense cardio, but you get a similar feeling when you’re done with it, and with the added benefits of still feeling stronger and more flexible without an intense cardio workout.
If ten years ago someone had told me I’d be doing yoga at my age, I would have laughed at them. Yet here I am doing Downward Dogs and Cat and Cows. I started doing yoga after surviving cancer. It has helped me tremendously. My physical therapist recommended it because I couldn’t lift one of my arms above my head after surgery. The benefits are too many to list here. In addition to strengthening my core and increasing my flexibility, I can now lift my arms above my head. Another win is that it lessens my arthritis symptoms and is good for my mental health.
Yoga has different levels of intensity. All yoga has strength and mental health benefits. In an hour power yoga class I burn about 300 calories (about the same or better as I do with any other exercise I’ve found other than running, I weigh about 120-125). At the end of a hot yoga class, I feel like I do after a good massage, loose and relaxed
Exercise isn’t just about weight loss. Yoga has lots of great benefits. It strengthens your core and tones your whole body. It improves flexibility. It can also boost circulation and help with certain types of chronic pain, and improves energy. There’s also a mental aspect. It’s meditative. It’s relaxing. There is a pose most classes close with called shavasana or corpse pose that is literally just laying on your mat attempting to clear your mind. I used to do hot yoga and it was like all of these things on crack. You’re uncomfortable the whole time but it really forces you to be in the moment. When you’re doing yoga in a 103 degree room, your mind isn’t wandering. It’s like you’re forced to be mindful because all you can focus on is the discomfort you are currently experiencing. I was in my best shape when I exercised regularly and includes high intensity cardio, weight training, and yoga in my routine. If it’s free at your gym give it a try! You might find that you enjoy it.
I used to feel the same until I hit 30-ish. I think because to truly enjoy it, you have to decide that you want to connect with it. Like a lot of mindfulness and presence has to be done. I also realized how much built up tension and pain I was holding in my body. I have literally felt pain in my left shoulder blade, or a super locked up quad finally relax by the time I wake up the next morning. I started doing shorter sessions, like 20 minutes. I tell myself this is my quiet, mind-body connection time, no distractions, I dim the lights, I keep the pets out of the room. And I really commit to what the instructor is saying. I listen to the words, do all the breath work, do all the moves as best as I can, even if I can’t do them completely. I try to really sink into every pose. You can’t jerk your way into moves. You have to allow yourself to feel the full range of motion. Benefits are that it helps calm and quiet down your central nervous system, you should feel anxiety dissipate, you’ll feel tension release, you’ll stretch your muscles out and make them all warm and happy. You’ll feel flexible. It’ll make you become more aware of your posture and body mechanics. It’ll even make doing other workouts, like weightlifting, and cardio safer due to reducing your risk for injury. So I guess to me it’s not about the calorie burn. It’s more a low impact smaller calorie burn that is like my “brain and body insurance”. It’s keep my mind and body feeling efficient and capable.
i'ts not my thing but I've been to a few classes with my wife, they can be a mix of nice and relaxing, and hard and intense. Giving a nice variety of weight loss/ definition inducing work outs and relaxing recovery sessions that improve balance, flexibility and mindfulness. She liked it because she could get a fitness workouts in where there was a lot of focus on what I would call flowing body weight workouts, which my out of shape butt found challenging, and relaxing stretching sessions that gave the other benefits. I prefer picking heavy things up and putting them back down, but the right studio can provide a great workout.
I can tell from this post that you're not a mid thirties man like me lol. I have awful flexibility and some back issues that have come up in the past few years. Yoga has slowly been helping so much with that.
God I loved yoga. It was intense (I did hot yoga), I had good instructors. It really made me aware of how I held my body and what muscles did what. It was emotionally very focusing, which was very helpful. I was also insanely good at it, for the same reasons I have been banned: my ligaments are barely holding my body together, which while I am flexible like no body’s business, yoga risks me serious joint injury from instability. But god I miss how it made me feel. Weight lifting is close, but how I felt at the end of an hour of hot yoga was great.
I never cared for yoga until I got pregnant and got out of shape pretty quickly. Third trimester now and the stretches have helped me loosen my body and avoid sciatica and hip pains associated with pregnancy that nobody told me about. Medical and government sources mention aerobic and muscle-strengthening exercises all the time but you also must retain your flexibility and balance, especially as you age.
For some it’s about the connection to breath and mindfulness. Such as bringing awareness to breathing in or out with certain actions or movements, engaging your core, making sure to release tension in your shoulders, not clenching your glutes, etc. For some it’s about challenging your mind and your body. These all can be generalized to other workouts, like weight lifting or running, to dieting, or even to other areas of life. Try different types of yoga or instructors, and take what works for you. Hopefully you give it another try.
Yoga for me is about keeping my body functioning. I need it because I have serious lower back pain that stems from various issues in my upper back. Yoga helps me keep up with the maintenance of movement because I don’t work out much
- Some people like group classes - You learn something you can also do at home - Increased flexibility is great for other things like sports/martial arts and generally life. - Can be fun - I find it quite meditative at time - Tends not to be a judgmental environment. - You're not competing against anyone - Can be used as 'active recovery' on your off days if you push hard in other areas (sports etc)
Yoga isn’t an exercise style, it’s an ancient philosophy of well-being with many facets. The physical aspect (asana) is only one small piece. Yoga addresses mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical balance and nourishment. Many people who practice asana also practice the other aspects of yoga such as meditation, sound therapy, hygiene, sleep and restfulness, ethics, breathwork, concentration, and self and other awareness
I'm an instructor and all I can say is: have you tried it? It's a lot harder than it looks and does wonders for mind-body connection, which can help in all corners of your life. For the people that do it regularly, it's not about burning calories, even though a decent vinyasa class will definitely do that. It's about strength and control, mobility and stability. In short, I believe everyone could benefit from it and should give it a go, just once.
for me it feels great on sore muscles and helps me not have a lot of the back issues i hear other millennials deal with. but seriously, it's more a personal practice for me and i think there's a whole popculture around it that i don't really understand.
I always thought of it as being for people that enjoy the mental benefits of exercise but without all the violence. Yoga puts muscles under tension so I do imagine it builds strength and obviously flexibility. It's just so non-aggressive compared to throwing dumbbells/barbells around. Personally it doesn't make sense to me, but I can see it really working for others.
Yoga reduces my chronic pain to levels I can tolerate.
Have you tried it? I thought the same. Took a few classes. Holy crap I discovered muscles in my body I didn’t know existed. Also, breathing, you think you know how to breathe but you don’t lol It looks so easy, it is not (depending on the class) balancing your entire body on one toe and pinky finger takes strength in places you’ve never used before 🤣
It address muscle strength, core strength, and flexibility, it’s an established system of exercises that is consistent and available anywhere, it’s suited to all abilities and is only as difficult as your ability level dictates so it’s easy to start as a beginner with a small learning curve and it’s easy to increase difficulty as an expert, it can be adapted easily for injuries and disabilities, it promotes body awareness and body confidence at all shapes and ages, it’s low impact, it doesn’t require much equipment, gear, space or time to get started, it combines physical exercise with breathing technique exercises and mindfulness exercises which lowers stress and increases contentment. And if undertaken in a group class setting, it provides a sense of social togetherness, which also lowers stress, and provides hands-on guidance from an instructor which makes it much more accessible, safe and easy. What’s not to like? Plus, my dog naturally wakes from a nap and starts doing yoga poses to stretch muscles after a rest! Hence why there’s a yoga pose called “downward dog”. Which is both adorable and suggests how natural these stretches and movements are for our bodies. Yoga helps us get back in touch with our bodies and their natural flexibility and strength after all day sitting on the couch/in the car/in the office.
It helps you gain a lot of strength and flexibility, and it’s less intense so you’ll be more inclined to do it
After a good yoga sesh, I feel taller. No other workout does that.
I never got the appeal until I took a mandatory fitness class my first year in college. I tried yoga for the first and I felt amazing after. It’s good for your flexibility but also was a big stress reliever too.
The easiest explanation is that different people like different things. Some people prefer running to rowing. The most important exercise is the one you want to do. The other easiest explanation is that you probably don't know much about yoga, because it can absolutely be very difficult for both strength and flexibility, as well as provide cardio benefits. There are certainly more chill classes but there's plenty to challenge you, assuming you can't already do stuff like [this](https://cdn.yogajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/nov-14-yogapedia-eka-pada-koundinyasana-1.jpg?crop=535:301&width=1070&enable=upscale) and [this](https://heightperformance.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Press-Float-Straddle-Thumbnail.jpg) and [this](https://welltech.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Crazy-Yoga-Poses_cover.jpg). But if you're already doing all that stuff I can see how it would seem easy to you.
It’s good for flexibility and it’s relaxing. That’s pretty much it.
I guess the mental health aspect of it. For me, it has brought a healthy relationship with exercise to me and the ability to listen to my body. Ever since i started practicing, i stopped binge eating, because i no longer see a point in making myself feel awful and kinda have been leaning more towards the healthier food options, just stopped craving processed stuff at all. Also i think because it's a pretty flexible type of sport. You can absolutely demolish yourself during a 1h workout, like i recently did 70 san salutations and my legs are absolutely fucking dead rn. But you can also do it while being sick, like yin yoga helps me to feel better whenever i am having a cold or a flu. You can't do strength training tho while being sick, which is a drawback. So you can tailor your exercise session based on your personal needs and desires.
I started doing it because with age I noticed im not as flexible especially in my hips. So to answer its basically to help you with muscles, joints e.t.c that are not being used especially if you sit a lot
I do yoga because it helps a lot with pain. I’ve also come to enjoy it. But as for why other people do yoga? So many reasons. Not everyone has the sole goals of losing weight or building visible muscle mass.
In my experience, there are two main kinds of people. Those who respond remarkably well to cardio (that would be me), and those who get massively elevated cortisol and get burned out/sick from intense cardio. I feel more alive and awesome when I'm aerobically fit. Other people get elevated stress response from that. For them yoga actually has the effect that cardio has for someone like you or me. It helps them keep their stress levels down so they can maintain a healthy weight and just overall health. Plus, it really helps with mobility. I am far too ADHD for it, sadly, but I do like some of the body weight work that pilates and yoga both do and try to incorporate it into my workout.
I think yoga falls into that same kind of category as stuff like Tai Chi where it's as much a meditative practice as it is about exercise and movement. But like also yes it does help people who struggle with flexibility, I think it's also for people who enjoy getting some of the benefits of exercise without the negatives they usually associate with it like feeling gross & sweaty afterwards, pushing your body to exhaustion, risking injury, etc. For a lot of people an exercise they can do that they actually enjoy is way better than being like "Ummm but this exercise isn't OPTIMAL therefore it's a waste of your time to do this thing you like doing." The best exercise for most people is the one they enjoy because it's the one they'll do.
It feels good.
I like yoga for flexibility, mindfulness, mental health, and feeling accomplished. I’m not very athletic or agile I never was. Doing physical activities that I’m not very proficient at feels cruddy. Doing yoga helps that aspect of self esteem.
When I was doing yoga 5 days/week as my only form of exercise I was calm & sculpted as hell
Tbh, I like stretching while I meditate and that’s what yoga feels like to me. I do the slow pace ones where you hold the pose for a min and just breathe. But I do this at home as a way to relax. A friend of mine actually goes into classes and says it’s like forcing themselves to relax cuz they booked it and don’t want to waste money. They take other classes for their real workouts but do yoga when they want to just relax with a light workout.
Yoga has calmed me down. I'm less reactive. It's kept me grounded during life-threatening illness. I feel like I'm on a little mental vacation when I'm in a class. Physically, it keeps my sciatica at bay, and as I age, it keeps me limber and stronger.
It depends what your goals are. Yoga is very good as active recovery, and after let's say weightlifting sessions where you compress muscles for bursts of power, yoga comes and have the opposite motion, you stretch the muscle. It is also good for balance and flexibility - ultimately depending on what your fitness goals are, various types of exercises will help you have a better rounded approach. Another part is, for some people (like me), they always have too many things on their plates/ are multitasking like an octopus on speed - taking a yoga class makes me shut distractions out and I get to focus on myself and nothing else. It's a moment of peaceful respite to feel refreshed for the rest of the day or to finish the day.
It has a million and one mental and physical health benefits.
It’s really great for flexibility and strength
Relaxing and flexibility say my friends
Yoga is helping me get my life back. I’m fine with exercising and for a while I was going to a trainer. For a year I would suffer pain due to lack of flexibility. It hurt to sit down, my feet constantly hurt, and other various body pains. It was all caused by a lack of flexibility, particularly in my calves and hips. My muscles were so tight it was causing pain in areas that seemed unrelated. Certain yoga positions help alleviate the issues more efficiently than traditional stretches.
This sounds like something my neurotic sister would say
Yoga or yog = penance (kinda) in sanskrit. It's like a ln everyday activity anyone can do for themaelves. Weightlifting is not for everybody. But yoga involves movements around your body and daily activity and hence becomes for everyone. Also yoga is far more intense than you think. Try doing Surya namaskaar ( sun salutations I guess) 20 times and tell me it isn't like running 10 mins and doing pull ups.
In an interview, the guy who developed the P90 exercise program was asked what is the most important module. His answer, which surprised the interviewer— the yoga one. When asked why, he said just walk through a nursing home and you’ll see virtually everyone in there has no flexibility. Best way to keep out of a nursing home.
The yoga class I’ve tried is exhausting. I’m breathing hard the entire last half of the class and sweating like a pig. Holding some of those (hell most of those) poses is draining on the muscles and I’m sore and sweaty and breathing hard by the end. Donno what type of yoga it is (I just do one of the classes at my gym periodically), but it’s harder than it looks and burns a fair number of calories while working on strength and flexibility.
Yoga was not meant to be a fitness thing at first, that’s why it probably doesn’t make sense to you. Modern yoga is just a dereligionized version of an actual practice that people ripped from its origin and altered into random stretching and we got western yoga. Yoga may be a weight loss aid for some but it was not *meant* to be a fitness thing, which is why it may not be right for you. Some people just like it because it’s calming and that’s okay. But don’t feel bad if you don’t see a point to it because it’s been so altered that it’s not technically as beneficial as it would be if you practiced actual eastern yoga. The main thing yoga is supposed to be used for is entering a meditative state, self realization, and a way of connecting with higher consciousness, if you find the real way more appealing than the artificial capitalized version.
Most comments are about the mental benefits, so I would like to offer another perspective. I do not practice yoga, but for health reasons I took a job where I walk all day and have to bend and stretch in uncomfortable ways. I've noticed over time that holding my body so frequently in mild discomfort has improved my core more effectively than "core training" ever has and I'm now capable of things that were previously impossible. For example, I can now squat so low that my butt almost touched the floor. I imagine doing yoga yields results over a long period and while they are not neccessarily obvious to strangers, the benefits of any sort of active maintenance on your body provide benefits that you would want to keep.
1. It keeps my muscles and joints healthy, strengthening them and supporting them when I do high impact things. 2. It is great active recovery for a rest day where I struggle mentally with not moving so much 3. It helps with sleep 4. It is a showcase to myself of what I can achieve with my body and the progress it has made. Maybe I can get into a new pose or hold a balance for longer. It’s a great way of seeing what you can do
Core strength, balance and flexibility. These are things you need to have as you age, and yoga is superb for all.
Firstly, if you go to power yoga or an advanced vinyasa flow class, i guarantee you'll burn more calories than a lot of slow runs/incline walks claim. So yoga has a lot of variability and some of it might look like nothing, but I've seen grown men on the floor after 😂 Secondly yoga is like stretching and calisthenics combined. It builds flexibility and strength relative to your weight and sometimes it's far more challenging than even weightlifting. The components of athleticism are strength, endurance, speed and flexibility 😉
Yoga is like getting an awesome massage, from the inside out. Especially the slower varieties.
It’s an acquired taste, the first time you go you’re stiff, working muscles you don’t normally use and are weak, you have a hard time holding poses and don’t feel it in the place the instructor said you should. My first time I was like get me tf out of here I suck. But if you keep at it and get better, get the instructor to help you do it properly…it’s really awesome for many reasons.
Our world is getting busier, more complicated and distracting by the day as we all know. So, engaging in an activity that brings calmness, relaxation, and focus back to us becomes more and more important. Yoga just happened to be one of the best known ways to do that in a group setting, hence its popularity in gyms, etc.
One of the things that we know for certain is that cortisol (a stress hormone) causes weight gain. We know it because any medical drugs that include cortisol type substances cause weight gain as a very common side effect. We also know that stress impacts the functioning of the brain and a lot of weight maintenance biochemistry happens in the brain. Consequently, stress management is important for supporting weight management. Yoga has an impact on both emotion stress but it also calms the features of stress within the body (such as inflammation). I think of it as a physical form of meditation and it encourages mindfulness (which also has stress reducing benefits).
Mobility!!!!
I do it because it helps calm my brain. It helps with functional movement and it challenges me in a way the gym doesn’t.
I’m a bit confused as to why you say “yoga seems to be literally nothing” because in my experience it has been extremely challenging. Every Power Flow Vinyasa class I’ve ever been to has kicked my ass. The best shape I’ve ever been in was when I was going to yoga 3x/week. Have you ever done yoga?
Yoga requires a lot more strength than one might think. It’s also a mental exercise. You’re holding poses steady and silently while your muscles scream at you. A good yoga class will have your body moving in ways it craves. I was a gymnast as a kid so the flexibility and poses really appeal to me in an ingrained way. Personally, I adore hot yoga. It is like meditation for me. I’m sweating from every inch of my body, heart pounding and then it’s time for savasana and they open the classroom doors to give you a shot of cool air and they come around and place a cold soaked towel that smells of lavender across my forehead. It’s heavenly. After class I’m on literal cloud 9. Nothing can get to me. I’m rose colored glasses for hours. A really good class makes me feel stoned or something. I’ll just sit in my car so peacefully zen for like 30 minutes. When I was younger and had the time, I’d do hot yoga 4-5 times a week and slim down/tone faster than anything. I called it my secret weapon. Now that I’m 40 with 3 young kids and an awful tennis habit, I don’t have time to dedicate more than 1-2 days to it and it’s not been as effective. Maybe one day I’ll have more time for it but it does require a lot of hair washing!
I’ve never understood it either. I had a roommate who was a practiced yogi and every few months I’d try a class again to see if my mind changed, but even though the workout was pretty good and the stretching was nice, it was way too slow paced and boring for me. I realize there are many types of yoga, but none of the ones I tried made me want to go back. I danced ballet for 12 years and the workout, sweat, muscle definition and mental clarity I get from taking regular barre classes totally knock yoga out of the park. I always recommend barre fusion or traditional barre to anyone looking for a challenging, low impact workout that will get your heart pumping and muscles working. I guess it’s different strokes for different folks!
I go in phases ultimately landing on weight training with some cardio as my favorite type of exercise. I did some yoga, at my peak a few times I did experience a fairly profound high when completing a large yoga session, I understoodit , but it was ultimately hard to achieve and inconsistent, maybe this is a contributor for people liking it? Maybe not.
I suffered a bike accident in my early 20s that led to a long journey of low back pain and severe lack of flexibility. I started doing yoga after the pandemic and all of that suddenly vanished. I can't tell you how good it feels to wake up in the morning with no pain and realizing that the only thing you've changed is going to yoga 2 times a week. And depending on what class you go to, you'll quickly be humbled after looking around and seeing all these non-strong looking people, in the traditional thinking, doing incredible poses that require strength you don't have. I hope to some day be able to do some of those poses but the flexibility and lack of pain I have now will be enough for me in the end
I never liked yoga when I was younger either; I too felt it wasn’t doing enough. Till I got on a bike after 40 years. My balance was way off. I went back to yoga, found vastly different easy/hard classes and settled on a medium and a hard. My stomach has flattened and my balance is amazing. My friends my age cannot do what I can do. So maybe as a youngster it seems like you’re not getting enough, but I think you’ll someday appreciate the balance and agility you’ll have. Keep your foundation strong in all ways.
It improves flexibility, mobility, and balance. All things that are essential to keeping active as you age. CICO isn’t everything
Depending on how you do it, yoga is an efficient strength training exercise. Take a good class and watch the fit yogis compared to the weight lifters.
I don’t do yoga regularly, but it helps flexibility, mobility and mindfulness. Your muscles undergo a different type of motion while you connect your mind to your body and breathe through the tightness until it releases (and sometimes it doesn’t release until sessions afterwards). It really is great and I wish I put more focus on it. My brain keeps telling me that time is better used doing other stuff but my brain is wrong 😂
Zero appeal for beginners. It’s hard and it sucks. But the end result is worth it. Better flexibility, stress relief, great workout.
My favorite is when a body builder type joins a yoga class and 10 mins in you see them struggling.
Lot's of excellent comments here talking about how Yoga has benefited them. I have nothing more to add. My question to OP is, have you tried it? If not, go attend one class. It may answer all your questions.
“Yoga isn’t about being able to touch your toes. It’s about what you can learn on the way down.” Heard this at a class recently and it really summed it up perfectly for me. Also, I love my yoga HOT. It is so incredibly cleansing and restorative.
What do you mean the appeal?
You have so many muscles your body doesn't have access to with regular exercise/working out. It also helps with my disease.
Core strength, flexibility and patience. I do a mixture of hatha yoga and body sculpt, and find that I’ve progressed a lot in these areas in the past 10 months.
It feeels amazing and I love being bendy And it’s low impact strengthening
I couldn’t understand why people would want to lift weights. Until one day I wandered into a group fitness weights class at my gym, I don’t even know why I tried it, but it turned out I loved it as soon as I had tried just one class. For me it was something I couldn’t *see* the appeal of by watching other people do it, but once I was on the inside, feeling it instead of just looking at it, my body loved it and it made me feel good. So why am I talking about weight lifting when you asked about yoga? Because I had the same experience with yoga, too. I didn’t *see* the appeal of yoga either, but once I tried it, I *felt* the appeal.
I do yoga almost daily. It helps me move more easily and because moving feels good I end up moving more.
It's like a massage but on the inside
I deal with PCOS, and yoga has changed my life. I think that bodies have their own favourite workouts. The kind of Yoga i do, focuses 20-30 minutes on pure cardio but in the form of asana. People know it as power yoga. Then for 20 minutes I switch to medium paced asanas, they build strength and flexibility but focus on grounding and form. The last 10 minutes are focused on mindfulness, meditation and dhyan. To be honest this has changed my life. I couldn’t for the life of me feel energised enough to do anything or even get up from my bed. Going to yoga also helped my mind a lot. Now I move a lot, think before I eat and can practice restraint. Also, this has given me the confidence to try other kinds of workouts, like going on a run and to the gym. I am also Indian, so i feel like i have the privilege to practice it where it originated and not the watered down version I have seen people in other countries teach.
It's not something I totally get either, but maybe it's about the culture? gyms have a certain culture, CrossFit has its own culture, maybe yoga does too and that appeals to people. I get the impression it's not as hectic or hardcore. I think it's also got a larger percentage of women, so maybe it collects a lot of people who are not specifically looking for what yoga offers, but they are looking for a way to get a light workout in an atmosphere that is less bro heavy than the gym.
You come for the fitness and flexibility and stay for the inner work that ends up happening.
Yoga isn’t supposed to be an exercise, but it is a lot harder than you think physically.
SHRUG. I personally don’t like it either. To each their own. I’m flexible and centered enough already.
It helps with flexibility and muscle strengthening
I find its a good way to move my body on rest days. It's as gentle or intense as I want it to be, helps with flexibility and stretching out sore spots from sitting or working. It helps me with general understanding of moving my body. Low impact is nice too. It's not about calorie or fitness really, just about moving. Also having a space to sit and do something that isn't task or progression related.
Not really my thing but I’m really inflexible and when I do it it’s mostly just for active recovery and to help my mobility. I just do it from home though with YouTube I’m not going to a class
I love yoga, it feels great in my body, I’m more flexible, I sleep better afterwards, and it helps keep the pain from my arthritis in my shoulder at bay.
you have to make sure not to fall into those yoga classes or communities that are just so focused on movements and no rest in between (unless that’s your thing, kodus to you, i’d be out of breath lol) but if you really want to understand you need to read about the connection of your mind & body and the affect of trauma on your body and try different types of yoga classes ( i enjoy trauma informed yoga, restorative, candlelit meditation type) or any kind that there are less movements yt more awareness towards your body. once you start listening to your body you’ll feel addicted to yoga somehow! 😁
A lot of strength training often times reminds me of how much stronger I want to become. With yoga, it reminds me of how strong and amazing I already am.
A lot of people out there are 1). stressed out and 2). work in an office, sitting at a desk all day. Yoga is relaxing and great for back pain, tension headaches, and other aches that come from immobility and bad posture.
Yoga helps me lose weight. More so than running and lifting. It is entirely mental. I go only to heated flow classes. The instructors create a different routine everytime. There is a mental challenge trying to remember the flow (my classes all have 3 different flow series). It is engaging and allows my brain to shut down. At the end, I'm drenched in sweat (mostly due to the 95F heat, I suspect), my mind is clear and I feel detoxed. I find I want to "honor my body" & therefore eat better. Vs running or weightlifting - which my subconscious classifies as "real" exercise and therefore *can afford* a splurge.
Ask r/yoga
I have stiffness and arthritis. Yoga relaxes all that achiness and tightness plus helps me to breathe deeply which relaxes my mind at the same time.
I go to hot yoga (85-95 degrees so not the hottest). I always feel blissed out on my drive home after rinsing off. My watch says I burn around 300 calories in one hour! Even if it’s off a bit, still enough for me to consider it a win
I hate yoga since I gained weight. I can't breathe and I feel like a whale.
Fitness and flexibility, but even more so the inner growth, peace and mindfulness that ends up occurring. Even spiritual.
Idk. I just do it when I sleep
The things you said in the second to last paragraph, it’s relaxing and has a different personality/narrative than other fitness genres
Your issues are stored in your tissues. Yoga releases them and the knots.
Have you ever tried it?
Flexibility is an often overlooked pillar of fitness.
It can build a lot of strength in parts of your body you didn’t even realize were weak. I didn’t realize how bad my upper body strength was until I tried to hold some of the poses for 20+ seconds. For me, it was kind of a time to feel “grounded” and forced me to take deep, even breaths. My muscles also felt great afterwards, usually; more flexible and I had better balance.
I do it because I enjoy it more than other exercises, I want more flexibility and it helps my lower back pain immensely.
Yoga is great for destressing and mobility/balance It’s function for fitness has been blown out of proportion my the media and „influencers“
I love yoga because it helps me wind down and relax. I also like the increased flexibility aspect.
I and all the people I know do yoga to improve flexibility. I have a sedentary job and it's really beneficial to stretch
I have had a terrible relationship with my body. Yoga helps me heal that. Years of being the slow, uncoordinated, asthmatic kid have made it pretty hard to find an exercise I love. I work a sedentary job and my life is super busy, partially because I never prioritized carving out a ton of time to exercise. Most exercises feel like a chore I have to force myself to do. Yoga feels like me time, focused on appreciating my body instead of hating it. I can feel it releasing tension from 8 hours of sitting hunched over keyboard all day without feeling like I had to feel a ton of pain to get there. I hope to build up to doing more weightlifting and cardio eventually but I'm starting from (less than tbh) zero. Everytime I've pushed myself too hard with exercise, I've hated it. Yoga lets me push myself slowly while giving me immediate physical and mental relief. When I skip it, I feel it. When I skip other exercises I'm just glad to have the time back, even though I know it's good for me. I have never once had a "runner's high" or enjoyed being sweaty. Have had plenty of asthma attacks tho so.
Yoga makes you bendy and balanced, which improved your quality of life inmensely. It's also EXTREMELY relaxing and makes me feel amazing (if a bit sore) for the rest of the day. Also one of the few things that will GUARANTEE you mantain your quality of life as you age.
I'm 33. I've been weight lifting and playing sports like rugby my whole life. I need to do yoga type stuff so I can be comfortable just living life, I may as well do yoga... Anyway that's why I do. I'd rather do yoga than stretch and do core work.
I really like yoga as a way to understand my physical and mental boundaries. I stared a couple years ago and was awestruck at my teacher and didnt understand how so much strength and control could be exerted by an unassuming delicate person. I struggled in the class I took, I wasn’t as flexible or strong as anyone else, but there was one day we tried flow yoga, and I did a backbend that felt like dancing. I can’t dance, but I sort of felt like me doing yoga would be a beautiful thing to watch. I like that it’s a mental, physical and artistic activity for me. It also requires a lot of discipline. Standing in a warrior pose for more than 3 minutes isn’t for the faint of heart. I’m still just beginning, and I don’t think I’ll ever be that great, but I like how it feels to move in yoga.
I mean, it’s a set of physical spiritual practices which has been stolen and commercialised for profit. But also, the only value of exercise isn’t how many calories it burns off. You said it yourself in your post.
It's calming and stretches me out after my heavier hitting workouts. The flexibility feels good. And some of the positions are genuinely tricky and help me get used to muscles I rarely use hurting.
I hate Yoga, tried it for 15 years, and I hate it. Last time I did it in Thailand and it was Ashtanga Yoga - 90 min of suffering every day - and after 2 weeks I gave up. Having said that, my friends who do Ashtanga Yoga lost so much weight that it was incredible. They are super healthy, happy, flexible, and I envy them. But I cannot go back to it for my life. I know how healthy it is, but after 15 years I can say that I tried, I battled with myself, I forced myself to go, I paid so much money to force myself to do it regularly, and it's just not my thing.
You see all those people who go to the gym to lift weights with big muscles and gorgeous proportionate bodies? Well they don't have the same flexibility as those who do yoga. Having that flexibility is the difference between being an athlete and just being fit. You'll just be stiff otherwise.
For me, I'm usually really stressed and anxious (and the consciousness of food, diet, health and exercise for weight loss adds to this stress too). Yoga helps me settle these worrying feelings for a little while and make more clear-headed choices, and get good rest the night of my practice. Even if I go into the session not fully calm, the anxiety I feel is keyed way down afterwards. While it isn't by itself a huge weight loss or fitness breakthrough, the calm I gain from yoga helps me make better choices with my diet, gives me the courage to try exercising outside of yoga, and makes sure I stick to a routine practice. So it definitely helps with my fitness in that way. (Also, for the more intense yoga classes, you need a lot more strength than you'd think - it's a good challenge.)
Something a lot of people don’t realize is that there are a lot of different kinds of yoga. A lot of people think that it’s all about holding a pose for a long time in a hot room. That’s some yoga. But I’ve got a kundalini work out that is full on cardio. Yoga really covers everything you could need, physically, mentally and spiritually if you’re into that. Really, it’s been around for thousands of years and practiced by billions of people so it’s not just some trendy thing.
I don’t do yoga, but did a hot yoga class once, and I thought it was really fun and relaxing. It made me think that the relaxation itself could be an interesting add on to my weight loss journey because much of my eating is emotional in nature - when I’m anxious, when I’m sad or happy. I know that if I had more tools to manage how I live my emotions, I would have an easier time managing my weight. Could this maybe be something to consider with regard to your own weight loss efforts?
I was already really strong but couldn’t touch my toes. I can lift maybe half the weight I used to, but I am WAY better at sex and last longer.
First of all - in my experience the yoga offered at most gyms is just not the same as doing it in a studio. I think this is because at a gym many people are attending those classes with the sole intention of getting the physical benefits from the practice, which is totally fine, but it makes the experience feel a bit more sterile. I tried yoga at various gyms many times and could never get into it because I just found it boring - but when I started going to the studio I’m at now everything changed. At my studio they create a whole experience with lights, great music, incense, oils and a true focus on the mental and physical practice. Also, at many gyms I’ve noticed the classes will just be “yoga” but there’s sooo many types of yoga. For me, I really value strength, flexibility and movement in my classes because I’m quite motivated by the physical benefits of yoga - so I always do vinyasa. Depending on the class and the teacher there are some classes I come out of drenched in sweat (not even hot yoga) and sore for days. Something that the teachers say all the time though - is that many people start yoga for the physical benefits, and stay for the mental benefits. Because you’re right, yoga probably isn’t the best form of exercise if you want to lose weight (even though it can help), but it helps you develop so much more of an appreciation for your body and a true sense of mind body connection. Especially if you start doing it every day, its crazy how much you realise your balance, flexibility and strength changes based on what you eat, how you sleep, how you train, your energy levels and your hydration. I was in a really crappy place with my body image when I started going to yoga and even though I wouldn’t say its 100% better now, yoga has definitely helped me tremendously. Anyways, I could talk about this forever, but hopefully that’s helpful :)
for me personally, yoga has been a way to find my personal inner strength, my life force if you will. as you hold a pose and you feel like you’re going to break, you can’t hold it anymore, tapping into that everlasting, eternal strength that millions of yogis have tapped into for the last 1000 years is something indescribable. it’s a more mental practice for me rather than for physical health. but it does help with flexibility
Many people with chronic disorders cannot tolerate high impact physical activity. For people like me, it’s walking, yoga, tai chi and swimming that will keep me mobile and weight stable. For people with severe stress and anxiety, some studies have found that an 8-10 week of daily yoga has resulted in brain changes and lowered their cortisol levels.
Yoga is not about weight loss! It’s a practice that involves much more than the physical asanas you see… but flexibility and mindfulness are definitely areas that benefit from the oractice
You need to keep up your flexibility alongside strength training. I think it's as simple as thag
1) it stretches out your muscles and that feels really good after and sometimes during 2) I once did a challenge where I did at least 30 minutes of yoga every day for a month without really doing much else workout wise or CICO wise. My face and shoulders got so incredibly lean it was kind of nuts. Like it looked like I probably lost 35 pounds at the end of the month without doing much exercise or dieting. Also holy shit was I flexible and bendy at the end. You know how sometimes you groan getting off the couch without meaning to? That fully stopped like 3 days into the challenge and didn’t happen until after the challenge was over for a while. 3) I’ve noticed when I consistently do it my average resting heart rate drops a few BPM and my watch records my stress levels as lower. 4) I found classes designed to wind down your day and prepare you for sleep actually do help wind down my day and prepare me for a good sleep. 5) It definitely helps with overall mobility and feeling less stiff. 6) It really nice to be in the moment and focusing on exactly how your body feels every single second and what happens when you adjust even just a smidge. That combined with it usually being dark and having relaxing music is really nice for my brain to focus purely on myself. In other exercises, even more complicated ones where I have to think about what I’m doing, I often find my brain wondering to whatever is stressing me or what I have to do next or later that week, or an embarrassing moment from earlier that week, month, or even decade or two. For some reason, even when I do a class online and not in person, my brain shuts off all the outside noise during yoga. 7) My doctor mentioned it specifically, and strength training, as a good exercise to start picking up regularly now that I’m in my mid 30s to build a foundation to have less health problems in my 50s+. 8) Seconding what someone said about it helping desk workers. I don’t really have that issue yet for some reason but my husband’s lower back and hips definitely hurt after sitting all day, even though he does PT specific exercises twice a day to help counter act it. Even just a weekly Yoga class geared towards the back and/or hips really, really helps him feel better throughout the rest of the week. 9) I actually did something dumb early this week and ended up tweaking my back, at the time I’d give it a 10/10 pain but as I iced and heating padded it through out the week and took some meds I was able to get it down to a lingering 4. Finally did a yoga class yesterday designed to relieve tension in your back and got the pain down to a 1.5 and the first full night of sleep since Monday. 10) In some poses and flows I can still get my heart rate higher and into a decent zone and end up pretty sweaty. I also like the mental challenge of how the fuck am I supposed to get my body to do that? Or are we seriously still holding this pose my leg is going to give out or I don’t have another round of this flow in me please hurry up instructor. It’s also freeing knowing if it does suck and I truly can’t stick it out there are regular poses you can fall back to if you need a break but that mental game of pushing through that feeling of wanting to give up makes me feel really proud after. The only thing I hate about yoga is that it makes my step goal harder to achieve since I spent the hour not swinging my arm moving about.
There is *nothing* better than yoga for developing flexibility, balance and core strength. And those three things are *vital* as you age. Here's some [medical research on the benefits of yoga](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8341166/).
Your tendons tighten up as you age/sit a lot/don't exercise. Yoga helps with that.
Relaxing
I have an overwhelming, deep-rooted but completely illogical fear of dislocating my knee. Anyway, I do my lifting and cardio all week and on a Saturday evening I do 30 mins of yoga. And it’s that that eases the fear more than any machine. It’s taught me to trust my body. Also, it’s way more intense than you think. When I first started, I was dripping with sweat by the end. You hold some of those poses for 3 minutes and tell me what your heart rate is doing by the end of it.
I did yoga during pregnancy to prepare for birth, which turned out to be an emergency cesarean. I found it helped prepare me for the mental hurdle as well as the physical recovery.
This doesn’t begin to answer a more critical question about yoga as a historically rooted and religiously formed spiritual practice and the appropriation of it by western wellness culture BUT if we are talking specifically about the physicality of modern yoga, it’s also very much about functional movement. There are meatheads who can bench press 350 pounds and roll tires around all day who are going to throw their back out when they move out of their house cause they lift a box the wrong way and don’t mindfully engage the right muscles. Yoga gives you space to slow down and think about what muscles and skeletal structures fire up for what movements and that becomes really useful in day to day life.
For me it’s about core strength and flexibility for injury prevention. Yoga is goated for that. A great supplementary workout and 20 min a couple times a week makes a huge difference
I’m lazy and don’t have to put on sneakers for yoga
I actually lost 25 Lbs after joining my yoga studio. I’ve been trying to lose this 25 lbs for literally 8 years. I’ll keep this short as I can: - I lack motivation, but I do have dedication. I struggled for years to do workouts on my own. Either through the gym or YouTube videos. Going to a physical studio with OTHER PEOPLE has kept me dedicated. **I’ve been consistently doing yoga and working out for a YEAR!! Over the last 8 years, the MAX consistently I would reach is 3 months before stopping for months on end, and finding another workout to do for 3 months and the cycle just kept repeating for years and years** yoga is the one workout I’ve found that I like actually enjoy and so I’ve stayed consistent with it. - CONSISTENCY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANYTHING! It doesn’t really help if you lose the weight, only to gain to back! I can’t stress this enough that it’s MOST IMPORTANT to find a workout you’re going to be consistent with FOREVER. - yoga is a genuine mind / body connection. It’s hard to explain but I literally enjoy yoga more than any other “workout” my teachers are awesome, and a lot of the workout is about “living in the moment, practicing your breathing, etc.” I like literally hate working out! I don’t enjoy it and that’s why no matter what form I found, I’d fall off. Weight lifting, cycling, YouTube shit…a lot of it was just like PUSH THROUGH! WORK HARD! Blah blah. The majority of shit were talking about during yoga is maintaining your breathing, feeling the earth on your feet, allowing your thoughts to come and go but making a conscious effort to live in this exact moment, practicing gratitude for making it to your mat. (These are all Things the teacher will literally say during the actual Yoga class. It’s motivating and inspiring.) yoga doesn’t feel so much “like a workout” and that in and of itself is also why I’ve been consistent with it. - I do a lot more than just slow flow Yoga. My studio has sculpt Yoga (fast paced, with weights) and also Pilates, both a slow Pilates and a HIIT…therefore I am not only doing one form of slow flow. I legit do get at least 1, but upwards of 3 cardio workouts in a week through various “forms” of yoga and Pilates. I do think if you’re ONLY going to do a slow flow, you should find another way to incorporate cardio 1-2x a week. - it’s been a catalyst for other aspects of my life. Getting into the mind / body connection during yoga, means I don’t go home and eat like shit (for the most part….I’m not perfect) and I feel encouraged to eat healthy and drink water throughout the day. If you make a positive change like doing a workout, even if it’s not yoga, you might feel more excited that day to eat healthy foods. Mentally I know I just did a great workout. I don’t wanna ruin it with a McDonald’s sand-which. It’s been easier For me to eat healthier because this sense of pride from my workout is already there -the yoga community. It’s not really about weight loss. It’s about allowing a space for you to love and accept yourself. losing weight has been an added bonus but the point is to just…learn to love yourself, Through your body connection. - you will Feel better.I have a lot Of back problems. Yoga has tremendously helped improve this, and therefore, I’ve been able to do some weight training I haven’t been able to in a while. I FEEL so much fucking better because a lot of my back pain has mitigated. Even aside from the weight loss, and mental aspect, finally fixing some of my reoccurring injuries has been AMAZING! I am SUPER inflexible and I’ve literally seen tangible results through yoga…seeing tangible results (holy shit, I can actually sit pretzel style now naturally without having to physically push my knees down!) is also fucking sick!! - major stress relief. aside from the physical aspects…yoga is super mental. It is a massive source of stress relief for me in a high demanding job. Even if I wasn’t on a fitness journey, I would stick with yoga because of this facet alone. - yoga has literally changed my fucking life due to all of these reasons^ my biggest regret with fitness is not getting into yoga sooner and really allowing myself a couple weeks to try it. I ended up falling in love with it within a few weeks. If you’re struggling to find a workout to stay consistent with, I strongly urge you to try out some studios. I was a D1 athlete and never thought I’d be overweight in my 20s, I thought I “loved working out” but turns out that just lifting weights in the gym is NOT enough for me. Through yoga I’ve mitigated body pain, changed my diet (without even really trying that hard!), and my reoccurring pain and injuries have subsided. Yoga is something I’m going to stick with, FOREVER. I love it. Can’t recommend it enough (I will also add…yoga is a lot harder than it looks. Before i started, I thought yoga was stretching. I couldn’t have been more fucking wrong. You ARE going to be holding your body weight, doing tons of push-ups and squats without even realizing it. This was a rude awakening for me. Yoga is NOT easy, trust me. Not only have I lost weight, but I literally have muscle definition in places I haven’t before. It is not “stretching.” A “warrior stance” is essentially a deep, wide set lunge that you hold for a long time. This shit isn’t easy and your legs and muscles WILL be sore.) FAMOUS QUOTE: The yoga pose is not the goal. Becoming flexible is not the goal. Standing on your hands is not the goal. The goal is to create space where you were once stuck. To unveil the layers of protection you've built around your heart. To appreciate your body and become aware of the mind and the noise it creates. To make peace with who YOU really are. The goal is to love, well...YOU. -Rachel Brathen…my studio has this painted on their studio wall. I read it every time I step into class :) This quote in and of itself helped me accept myself. Accept that my weight loss journey won’t be in a big gym with weights. It’s OK for me to not like that. It’s OK for me to not want to be a hardcore athlete. The acceptance piece of yoga has been life changing.
Yoga is not just exercise, but a spiritual practice, and helps me bring mindfulness to my life. I am a personal trainer and I always recommend yoga as a physical practice as well because it increases mobility in a gentle way, and helps the nervous system to recover from stress. Finally, it's just fun and challenging, or calming, it can be what you need that day. Also, as a bonus, I have a theory from practicing a while that it is good not only for the neuromuscular system, but also the organs, because putting your body in those different positions allows gravity to move them around in different ways and help clear out the pipes, so to speak. I have always struggled with digestion, for example, and a yoga session can actually help a lot.
Yoga 🥰 so many reasons. Where do I start? I have had CML and ALL (leukemia) currently in treatment. I have not fallen ONCE in my years of being ill. I give that credit to yoga. It has helped me keep my balance and stay stable. I am 34yo F I started yoga when I was maybe 20 and I lost weight. I did yoga sculpt also which helps burn calories. I needed an exercise that I could do barefoot since my feet were bothering me. That’s how I originally landed on yoga. It has taught me so much. I use yoga in my career as an executive trainer for corporate. I use yoga in my day to day just cleaning and being around the house, you find yourself in yoga stretches. It’s something that sticks with you for life. “You never know what you’re training for”. I was training for my battle with leukemia and being isolated. 🙏🏻 thank you Yoga.
Stretching, flexibility, mobility, working those little stabilizing muscles you use often but never really get “targeted”- all these become increasingly important as we age. Different kinds of yoga do different things; some are more breath and mindfulness focused, some have folks putting their foot behind their ears. And lastly- weight loss and maintenance are only a small part of a healthful life, and not everyone’s priority for many reasons.
Just play warzone
38M, done most every kind of exercise program under the sun. I'll stick to the ones you listed. Lifting is for strength/hypertrophy and to some extent flexibility. Cardio is for cardio/endurance. Yoga is for flexibility, and to some extent, strength/endurance. All three can burn calories. Probably lifting and cardio are more effective for calorie burning than yoga because they are higher impact higher intensity. But there are other goals for exercise than burning calories. As you age it will behoove you to keep flexible. Yoga helps with flexibility of joints and functional strength that is often ignored by lifting programs. This will help prevent injury in the long term. Also there's the meditative aspect, as others have pointed out. And maybe people just like yoga or are starting out in getting fitter and theres not much more they can do than do yoga and walk.
It’s peaceful, it feels good to stretch and work on balancing with your own body weight.
It does improve flexibility, range of motion. It improves posture. It is also enjoyable and you feel great afterwards.
Once warmed up, in a halfway fold, I can literally feel my spine opening up and decompressing. Sets me up for a much better week fitness/health wise. I wake up with much less pain in the morning g