The Beginner’s Guide to Yoga

beginner's guide to Yoga

If you are looking to get fit, one way to do this is by doing a lot of yoga.

For those of you who are skeptical about doing yoga not only is this something that you can do on your own, but it is something that is going to require little exercise equipment and help to improve things like strength, core muscles, stress removal, flexibility and more.

Many professional athletes today do yoga on a regular basis in order to keep themselves fit and ready for the physical aspects of the sports that they play.

In order to introduce you to the world of yoga, we have come up with a bit of a guide to get you set up and on your way.

Yoga Equipment

If you are ready to get started and get into yoga, the first thing that you are likely going to want to have is a mat and towel.

You don’t necessarily have to get yourself a yoga mat, but it is not really a good idea to be doing yoga on top of a hard floor as you may find that you are pretty sore after doing all of your exercises.

Another thing that you may want to consider is whether you want to wear shoes during the duration of your yoga; this is simply personal preference as some people like to do yoga in their bare feet.

Due to the difficulty of the exercises that you will be performing it is important to make sure that you are on a surface with grip of some kind so that you don’t fall and hurt yourself.

A good mat will be your first priority – and take your time researching!

Location

Once you have the appropriate equipment to start doing yoga the next thing that you may want to do is figure out where you want to do yoga.

Remember that yoga is a very commonplace activity and there will surely be a variety of groups within your local area that do yoga.

The benefit of doing yoga with other people is that they can help to show you the proper techniques and let you know when you are doing an exercise improperly.

Doing yoga with others also provides you with the opportunity to get to know new people and go to areas that you haven’t been before.

Doing yoga on your own may give you some peace of mind as you know that no one else is going to be looking at you as you perform the exercises.

You would be surprised at just how accepting yoga groups are to newcomers and the amount of people that you may run into at these yoga clubs/ meetings.

Schedule/ Routine

Once you decide the location that you want to do your yoga it is important to make the time for it in your schedule so that you can stick to a routine.

People who don’t have a routine often give up on activities within a short period of time.

Setting yourself a time of day or even if you only want to do it once a week, setting a time is going to make it seem like more of an obligation to your body and you will be more likely to follow through with your plans once they are set into place.

Remember that the more you do yoga, the more strength and flexibility gains you will see.

Depending on what your goals are it is important to keep both the duration of your workouts as well as the frequency of them in mind when you are making up a schedule for yourself.

Benefits of Yoga Class

When you go out and go to a yoga class there is most likely going to be an instructor who teaches the class how to do each and every exercise.

If you aren’t familiar with yoga it may be a good idea to keep an eye on other people in the yoga class and watch the techniques that they use in order to support themselves.

Some people aren’t as flexible as others and it is important to know that just because your yoga instructor can do the splits does not mean that you should be able to as well.

It is good to know your limits and to try to push them a little bit at a time so that you don’t end up hurting yourself. You are your own person and you should not let other people and how good they are at certain exercises let you down.

With practice, you will only improve.

How to do Yoga from Home

If you do yoga from home there are several things that you can do in order to make an exercise routine for yourself and to make sure that you are performing the exercises properly.

One thing that you can do is watch an online fitness instructor do a routine and simply copy what they say.

This routine does have its flaws as some instructors aren’t the best at explaining the types of movements that you need to perform in order to do the exercise properly.

The nice thing about watching an online yoga instructor is that you can watch it at any point during your day so that you can fit it into your schedule whenever you want to.

You can also choose the instructor that you want and you may end up finding a really good instructor somewhere online that is very good at teaching you how to do exercises properly.

Making a Custom Exercise Plan

Another great way to set up an exercise routine is to research various different yoga exercises based on the qualities of your body that you want to work on.

The great thing about this method is that you can look at various sites as to how to do an exercise properly so that you can have a better grasp as to how to do the exercise and get the opinions of multiple people rather than just from one person.

The main downfall to this type of exercise routine is that it does take some time for you to set one up for yourself especially if you want to do something like performing a different exercise routine for each day of the week.

If you want your own workout routine and don’t want to watch a video or spend the time making one; you could hire a trainer to work with you for a while so that you can develop a training plan that works for you.

After going through this article hopefully, you now have a better idea as to what it takes to be able to do yoga as well as the many benefits that yoga has for your body.

Yoga is by no means something that is easy to do and it is used by professional athletes largely because it is so difficult and because it has so many benefits.

Hopefully, this article has helped to convince you a bit that yoga is worthwhile for you and that you can use it to get into better physical shape no matter how fit you are to start with so long as you stick to it and practice it often along with your regular training methods.


 

Pete

My name's Pete Stec and I'm one of the owners here at SportConsumer.com and Sport Consumer Family (YouTube). My family and I invite you to travel our journey of wellness for your kids and family through nutrition and exercise while we continue to provide the very best reviews on the sports gear you need for serious competition or for your leisure activity!

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