From the article: How to Start Doing Yoga
All of us who are hooked on yoga have a story to tell about how we first got into yoga. Did you grow up on an ashram? Were you inspired by a early teacher? Did you do it to meet girls? Did you accidentally walk into the wrong class at the gym? Share your yoga story here! Share Your Story
"Sorry we are renovating"
- I was 'gym-hungry' and had just suffered a severe relationship break up. I decided to put a stop to my crying, and drove off to a local fitness center. LUCK - that fitness center was closed for renovation. And don't we all know how annoying it is to read those words!! Next to the center was a Yoga studio. And just like how it all was so perfect, Yoga it was for me for that day. Thank goodness for having the city's most renowned fitness club closed just for that day, so that I could enter the magnificent world of Yoga. My first yoga class.. the sweetest memory. I have been practicing Yoga everyday since that first class. Its a personal thing and I'm so proud to share this story. Yoga is bliss!
- —Guest Ishrat
A lifelong reset button
- While a teenager around +/- 40 years ago, I began following Lilias Folan's "Lilias, Yoga and You" on public television. Shortly after, as a freshman in college, I picked up a copy of Richard Hittleman's instructional yoga book w/ its black and white photo illustrations. Both of these resources began a life of self-taught yoga on a daily basis, and "spoke to me," perhaps because I am naturally hyper and really appreciate rare moments to take in whatever is simply around me. People often underestimate my age by many years ("You move so youthfully") and surely yoga has contributed greatly to my health and flexibility. Currently I incorporate yoga w/self-accupressure, the latter helping to rebalance chi in conjunction w/ deep breaths. Although continuing to work in cities on occasion, I live w/my husband and son in a remote rural community on the Oregon Coast. Finding a nearby yoga class would be impossibile, and I have been asked to teach the basics to a few local friends.
- —Guest jaderiver
How I got hooked?
- I had a bulging disk in my lower back I discovered a year after my son was born. Went to a chiropractor for a couple of weeks which really helped but wanted to find a way to keep my back healthy. Did some research online and discoved that yoga was the best way. So I checked out the poses on this website and got a video and taught myself. There is not a studio within two hours of where I live. As long as I do my routine at least three times a week, I have no problems with my back. Let me skip and it starts hurting again. I love my yoga time because it gives me the opportunity to block everything else out and focus just on the poses. It is an active form of meditation. It never fells after a good yoga session I can meditate forever. It has really enriched my life.
- —Guest Helen
How Did You Get Into Yoga?
- when my son was about 3 we took a parents and kids yoga class at a studio called 3 West Yoga. I really didn't think when we started that it would become my life's passion and that I would be teaching 6 years down the road but here I am. After a few parents and kids classes I started taking adult classes. Eventually I met an Iyengar yoga teacher that wanted to train me to teach because of my passion for yoga. this past August I got my RYT-200 and have been teaching at a school for the arts. I had been doing martial arts for years and yoga fit right in. My son has grown up around yoga and the martial arts. I can remember many nights carrying my yoga mat and sleeping son off the bus and setting him down in the back of 3 West Yoga to sleep while I took classes. this is the same studio where I met the teacher who trained me to teach. 3 West Yoga is gone in the physical sense, but the impact that it and yoga have made on my life are still there.
- —Guest Eric
Teach it or lose it
- I was shamed into taking yoga by a friend 13 years ago and 5 years after that, the primary instructor left, so to keep the program at work alive I had to teach it. Got trained and have been teaching for 8 years and love it. It's satisfying when classes are full each week.
- —Guest Jon
My First Yoga Class
- I was dragged to what is now my home yoga studio by my younger sister shortly before my 50th birthday. It's now been 3 years - and I will never stop. It's the best thing that has ever happened to me.
- —Guest Sandy
An innocent comment
- It all started with an innocent comment. One day at a spa, with my naturally very slim sister, I was complaining about my weight. She told me with honesty that i could do with losing a few pounds, and that going to the gym was only bulking me up. I was going to the gym irregularly, mainly working out with weights and did not enjoy it that much anyway. So I looked for videos of pilates to try, but quickly found it was too much. So I went a step down and tried yoga. I found videos online by a great teacher I started with the beginner poses. I quickly found I was more flexible than I thought and that my naturally strong stomach muscles helped me in a lot of positions. For me it is great way to stretch, tone, be in tune with my body and relax. I can practice whenever I feel like it, I just need my mat, so no excuse like back in my gym days when packing my bag and going all the way there seemed too much. 6 pounds lost, body a lot more toned and a new found inner peace...
- —Guest Gin
Good Luck in Nepal
- It should have been a summer course for architecture, but due to the assassination of the king I was the only student and no course. Bad luck. But I had lots of good luck: a Nepalese student and her family hosted me for the four weeks. She went to Yoga every morning at 6 am. It was still dark and I am definitely not an early bird. But I decided to accompany her. It was not a class in Western style, but some teachers teaching individually the asanas. They had set up a routine of asanas and by the end I could do all and also started with meditation. It was such a wonderful start into to day. I still have the smell of that very simple place in the nose. Now, almost 10 years later, I still do Yoga. I expanded my wealth of asanas in several classes. But I enjoy the quietness at home where I can have my pace. And with a baby at home now I can also do Yoga. She is crawling around me and making me practice my balance.
- —Guest sun
Just for Yucks
- A dear friend of mine and I were running buddies. Due to some health issues, we couldn't partake in this pastime anymore so after seeing an advertisement for a yoga class at Dreamcatchers in Skippack, PA, we decided to try it. Not knowing what "it" was, we cautiously entered the 2nd floor, obscure studio space. Right away the instructor put us at ease and the practice did not seem as "far out" as we expected. She incorporated a lot of meditation in the practice which was nothing short of pure torture. I held onto the word "shanti" as my only saving grace to being seated for 5 minutes or more. It was during this 8-week session that I discovered that I was pregnant. The yoga journey then took on a whole other dimension. I've continued my yoga voyage through two pregnancies, divorce, breast cancer, teacher training, practicing for 13 years and teaching yoga now for 6 years. I hope that I maintain my curiousness about yoga and my practice and keep trying it "Just for Yucks".
- —Guest diane
Lovin' it
- I found it by myself after I found my excercise love last year. Everyday after school I came home, did homework and then nothing. I, just like many others, am self-concious of my body and started to work out. I found yoga on a fitness magazine's website and was totally hooked!
- —Guest Molly
Gain Flexibility
- I started exercising regularly about five years ago after significant weight gain and associated health issues associated with that. I began stretching exercises, cardio exercies, strength training and modified my diet. My weight dropped, my strength improved, my heart condition improved, but improvement in flexibility was minimal. I could not do one legitimate crunch due to my inflexible back. Furthermore, I had a sciatic nerve pain that often reminds me to stretch or exercise. In another forum similar to this, the moderator suggested that I try yoga. I had been to one yoga class previously and liked it but time constraints and priorities did not permit me to attend other classes. About 18 months ago, I decided to focus on improving my flexibility. I began by attending a weekly yoga class. After a few months I decided that one a week was not enough, so I began home practice most days of the week. I cannot say that my flexibility has improved greatly but it is inching forward
- —Inflexibleback
Inspired by Swami Ramdev Ji
- I watch live telecast by Swami Ramdev Ji on TV. Swami Ji is a great Yog Rishi in India. His aim is to eradicate all kinds of disease through yoga and make all human beings perfect in both body and mind. He tirelessly travels all over the world teaching and preaching yoga and its philosophy. It is due to his efforts that Yoga has gained it lost reputation atleast in India. I am sure it is going to revolutionize the world. Yoga has become one of daily activities like eating, sleeping for me. I give highest priority to Yoga. I might skip a meal but dont like to skip yoga. After I started doing yoga, almost 5 years back , it is seldom that i fell sick. I feel very energetic whole day till I go to sleep. My requirement of food and sleep has reduced a lot. With less I can give more. I can go on and on describing the benefits of yoga. I urge all those who have not yet tried, to give it a try. You sure will be thankful to me for this piece of advice.
- —Guest Vijayalakshmi
yoga changed my life
- The pretty girls got me in the door, but what kept me in the rooms was the spiritual practice that I found and the ways in which I was able to use my breath to link my body and mind while also finding union with a Divine spirit. I also came to yoga at a time when I was spiritually, emotionally, and physically bankrupt. Yoga gave me an hour (or 90 mins) to get out of my head; this was a priceless gift that has yet to stop giving. I recently completed teacher training so that I can give others what I get from yoga - a spiritual practice combined with a moving meditation.
- —Guest Brian Hyman
How I Became Yoga Aware
- Yoga only became a serious endeavour when the right instructor guided me. When I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at 29 years old, I was seeking something that would help me get in touch with my body. Yoga seemed to be an interesting option. So I joined a yoga center and followed a twelve week beginners program. My enthusiasm for the discipline did not seem to last so I didn't continue taking classes. As the MS progressed; five years down the road, I desperately needed to find some way to help relieve the symptoms I was experiencing. Looking through the MS Bulletin I came across a yoga class given by the MS society that was adapted; so I thought I would try it! It turned out to be the perfect synthesis for my ailing body. I became body and yoga aware! The secret is finding the right instructor and the appropriate type of yoga for you! Iyengar yoga brings the feeling back to your body by allowing it to feel even the poses you cannot attain; by using props and aids.
- —Guest Sophie
Yoga found me...
- It started from New Wave on Buddhism meditations in my city.Unfortunately, after few months I was not really sure that was really what I was looking for. I didn't want to meditate on somebody or something. It was a very strange feeling for me to sing in the Tibetan, a language I completely do not understand. Then one from the friends from the Buddhist center told me I should try yoga. It took long time until I really started to go for classes. First was reading books, listening to other people how they felt about it. Now I go for yoga classes regularly and I feel my body cries if I dont do yoga more than 5days! I have few DVDs and try also at home but it is much more difficult to find 100% peace like at yoga class. So I supose YOGA found ME ;D
- —Guest Pola Lazar
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