Like a lot of things, yoga isn’t quite what it’s made out to be in the mass media. Super-bendy, bottle-tanned beauties in lyrca, sitting on the floor and chanting ‘Ommm’ over and over again? Far from it. Most modern yoga classes are aimed squarely towards toning the muscles, increasing flexibility, and reducing stress and tension. They’re populated by the people who need that kind of thing the most- older men and women who are beginning to find that they aren’t as supple as they once were and young professional types who spend long hours hunched over keyboards.
Sure, there’s still the odd fitness fanatic in any sport and some yoga instructors do insist on the chanting, but it’s not difficult to find a class that’s perfectly suited to practical minds looking to drop a little weight. The ones run in gyms and neighborhood sports centres are usually the best place to look for maximum workout with minimal ‘Ommm’.
One of the best things about yoga is that most classes cater for all fitness levels. You bend as far as you’re comfortable bending and you hold the postures for as long as you’re happy doing so. The fitter folks can go further and hold it for longer and most instructors include both easy and difficult options for the tricker postures.
It is a completely no-competitive sport. There is no team, no big game to worry about, and nobody to judge your performance. No matter how unfit you are, there will probably be weaker people in the class, even if they are grannies. You don’t need any special gear or fancy clothes. Yoga is not a sport. It’s just an instructor helping a bunch of people improve their fitness, lose weight, and relax.
It won’t be long before you start to see improvements in both strength and flexibility. Yoga works the core muscles (back and stomach) as well as the limbs and it’s usually the core that benefits most, especially in those who spend a lot of their working day and leisure time sitting down. Very probably, the first thing you’ll notice is abs- hard muscle appearing where a couple of weeks ago there was only belly flab.
For many geeky yoga practitioners fitness is a side benefit. The big draw is improved posture and muscle relaxation. After a long day at even the best workstation your neck and back will get knotted up and the shoulders tend to roll forward. An hour of yoga will straighten your posture and get rid of that tension but there is no doubt that it’ll knock off some fat and give you a little extra muscle tone too.
Jess Spate spends a lot of her life on a computer, working on behalf of sites like Outdoor Equipment Online, Appalachian Outdoors, and Sustainablog. She goes to a yoga class at least once a week and swears she comes out an inch taller than she goes in, every time.
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