I'm giving yoga a try this week

[JamesC]

Negative, Ghost Rider. A room full of hot, sweaty flexible women will be your secret sanctuary. Leave momma at home.

Your logic is not logical.

I want my wife to be one of those sweaty, flexible women.

[JamesC]

Well holy crap. That was...not easy... I had a conversation with the teacher before class about weightlifting. She used to be a crossfitter. I told her about my nagging back injury and it seemed that she worked on that area for a good portion of the hour. My back feels better than it has in years.

We did a relaxation thingy at the end that I found quite nice. It worked for me.

MK tell me it gets easier to flex/relax/breath correctly.

[GeneChing]

Yoga is great for rehab/therapy. It's awesom that it is helping your back.

At a certain point, it will conflict with your martial arts training, but there's still a lot you can glean from it.

[MasterKiller]

MK tell me it gets easier to flex/relax/breath correctly.

Does it get easier? The point is to keep pushing yourself ****her once you adapt. So, in a sense, it never gets easier.

But you don't have to kill yourself. Move at your own pace. Don't try to keep up with others in class. It's not a contest. I can tell you, I pretty much hated it for the first 2 months. Once my shoulder got strong, though, I started enjoying it more. I'm almost a year in and honestly love it.

The breathing is different than for fighting/martial arts. It's almost backwards, in fact. But the core strength gains more than make up for whatever you need to do to balance that with your other training.

[JamesC]

Yoga is great for rehab/therapy. It's awesom that it is helping your back.

At a certain point, it will conflict with your martial arts training, but there's still a lot you can glean from it.

I actually don't practice anymore so we will see where this yoga stuff goes. I do some light workouts at the moment that are circuit based. A lot of bodyweight stuff. It didn't help lol. My triceps are going to be so sore.

[GeneChing]

When you do yoga right, everything is sore. The soreness is samsara leaving your body. At least, that's what one of my former yoga instructors told me, but I can't remember which one.

[MasterKiller]

When you do yoga right, everything is sore. The soreness is samsara leaving your body. At least, that's what one of my former yoga instructors told me, but I can't remember which one.

The body is weak and must be punished.

[Dragonzbane76]

The body is weak and must be punished.

I say the same thing to my liver every weekend.

[Hebrew Hammer]

But you don't have to kill yourself. Move at your own pace. Don't try to keep up with others in class. It's not a contest. I can tell you, I pretty much hated it for the first 2 months. Once my shoulder got strong, though, I started enjoying it more. I'm almost a year in and honestly love it.

The breathing is different than for fighting/martial arts. It's almost backwards, in fact. But the core strength gains more than make up for whatever you need to do to balance that with your other training.

MK is right on, Yoga is a tough or as easy as you want it to be...every pose has a more difficult and an easier modification, its such a perfect battle within yourself. That's it's reward. Once you get comfortable you can always focus on your breathing, your stretch, your ability to relax another part of your body...releasing tension. Developing your center.

I love going in and getting a what I hope for out of the class. Sometimes its a gentle stretch, others a good sweat, a warm up for my other activities. I see it as another side of Chi Kung, that they are different branches of the same tree. A Yin to a Yang weight training workout.

When I haven't been practicing and get back into it, it always kills my hamstrings and the upper middle part of my back between the shoulder blades.

Good luck with your yoga adventure.

[Alex Córdoba]

Those are easy ones for beginners

[GoldenBrain]

The pose in the lower right photo looks unnatural. It doesn't seem like it would be good for the knees. At least not my knees.

I just watched my wife run through her yoga poses in our living room. Although she can't do anything as freakish as that girl with the crazy legs, it does remind me that I am a LUCKY man.

The photo on top looks similar to what MasterKiller was doing in his frick frick frick thread. Which by the way has inspired me to work more handstand exercises. So, thanks MasterKiller! I'm finding out that handstands are totally awesome for working the upper body and core. I can't do much away from the wall yet but I'm well on my way.

I might have to give this yoga thing a try as well.

[Scott R. Brown]

I have done yoga most of my life, I started when I was 12 and now I am 54.

I have injured myself doing almost everything in my life, from work to workouts.

When I was 48 or 49, after 36 years or so of yoga, I finally injured myself. It was my own fault, not paying attention, but it was the most serious injury I have had in my entire life. I am still not healed from it because it is a ligament deep in my hip. I almost never walk without pain. Every step is painful some days.

So, my advice, take it slow and pay attention to your body, and don't over do. It is better to go too easy than to push yourself too hard to soon.

[GoldenBrain]

That sucks! Sorry to hear about the injury Scott. Which pose were you doing when the injury occurred?

[David Jamieson]

Be moderate and you will be well.
That is a sort of unwritten rule.

[sanjuro_ronin]

How flexible we are depends on how flexible we need to be.
Sure as MA some of us need to be more flexible than the average person, some FAR more.
When I did TKD I could do the splits in all directions, between chairs and so forth.
Made no real difference in every day life or even in actual MA practical skills ( great for forms though).

Like David said, moderation is the key.

Do as much as you need at any given point BUT never push too far.
How much is too far depends on the person of course.

Personally, in my life, I have found what I need in everyday life and "special occasions" to be, if I were to prioritize things:

Strength.
Speed
Stamina
Flexibility.