Top 10 Yoga Questions for Beginners

Throughout our lives, we make thousands of changes to our days, strive to become better, find balance and become happier. When starting to form a habit or master new skills, we are worried about an incredible number of questions. Today we will analyze 10 questions that will be of interest to everyone who begins to practice yoga.

Yoga is the balance of soul, body and mind.

Changes in the body and psychological state can be noticed after a month of yoga classes. Your back, which often made itself known after work, will stop hurting, you will forget about chronic diseases and radiculitis.

Almost all poses are aimed at strengthening the core muscles, stretching the spine. You will become more graceful, get rid of muscle spasms, your shoulders will straighten, and your back will become straighter.

You will acquire a slim figure, due to the alternation of bodily tension and breathing. The blood is saturated with oxygen, blood circulation increases, which leads to active burning of calories.
Digestion, gastrointestinal tract, liver and kidneys will improve, while performing asanas we massage the internal organs.

The result of regular yoga classes is an influx of strength, wakefulness, a great mood, quality sleep. Practice slows down the aging process, due to better blood circulation your hair and skin will shine with health.

You will gain confidence, improve concentration, get to know yourself better. During classes you will learn to listen to your body, breathing, accept all thoughts, but not go deep into them. You will have time to comprehend your life, understand what you really want.

Often we do not notice how we begin to gain weight due to many things to do and obligations. Kilograms are deposited on our body and one fine day we state the fact of +20, +30 extra kilos. Attempts to play sports are reduced to nothing, because acquired health problems interfere. How to lose weight and improve health – rivei is simple, start doing yoga, the advantage of such classes:

• Slow or medium pace – with which you can correctly build an asana, fill the body with oxygen, avoid stress on the heart and respiratory systems.
• Loads increase only when the body is fully prepared.
• You will gain an understanding of what your body really wants, you can easily give up unhealthy food.

Some avoid yoga classes because of such stereotypes: religion, flexibility is needed for classes, classes do not bring results.

You can make the practice comfortable for everyone thanks to various variations of asanas, additional equipment. Classes with a trainer are the most alternative option for beginners. Based on your weight, strength, and skills, they will select suitable poses for you, help you get into them, and correct mistakes.

We are used to thinking that only active sports will help you lose extra pounds. Scientists have proven that deep breathing stimulates the burning of calories, accelerates the removal of toxins, and improves the digestive system.

Many people believe that only performing complex asanas helps you lose weight, but this is not true. There are many directions in yoga that you need to choose based on your physical and psychological state.

If you are starting to study yoga and want to practice it at home, then start with Iyengar yoga, from the first lesson you will find balance and tone. Over time, you can move on to Ashtanga yoga, for those who want to see the results of weight loss faster, we advise you to try Vinyasa Yoga. Remember, avoiding injury and achieving better results is possible only by working with a trainer.

Is yoga as beneficial as everyone thinks or can yoga classes be harmful?
Despite the opinion that yoga is not intended for the European skeleton, and our climate is unfavorable, classes are becoming increasingly popular.

The first rule to avoid injury for a beginner is to use blocks and a strap in your practice. This equipment will help make your stretching comfortable, correctly build the asana, and avoid pain and injury.

Why do injuries happen?

Injuries occur when the load you apply is stronger than the ability of the tissues to withstand it. Often, our desire to quickly master the asana, to make the bend stronger than yesterday leads to subsequent injuries.

When practicing yoga, it is important to remember – the main goal is to enjoy the practice, not achievements. Relax and let go of all your expectations.

Those who decide to try yoga at home need to learn the correct construction of poses. The sequence of asanas and viasanas also plays an important role. So if you combine alternately intense forward and backward bends, you can injure your spine. Be careful that health yoga does not lead to unpleasant consequences.

During classes, listen to your body, if some exercises cause discomfort – replace them with simpler asanas.

Visit several yoga classes in the studio or in our Kyiv school Dream Team to study in detail each pose, sequence, correct mistakes, sometimes an experienced look from the outside and correction of mistakes will help you learn the subtleties of the pose and reduce the time it takes to master the asanas.

You can and should practice yoga at home, this way you will find your rhythm, balance, learn to listen to your body, and improve your discipline. Independent practice will help you achieve regularity in your classes. If you do not have time for training, are very tired, want to make the practice longer or shorter, then you can simply spread out the mat at home and enjoy the process.

The initial stage of practice is learning and building poses, over time, statics will turn into dynamics. Finish training with calming and relaxation. Watch your breathing and body.

For home training, choose a place where you will not be distracted from practice. Leave all worries, problems, thoughts outside the mat, yoga is time for you. For practice, you will need a mat, blocks and a belt. This inventory can be easily replaced with improvised means: a blanket, books, a belt. When starting to practice yoga on your own, do not forget the main rules:
Do not overdo it. Practice yoga at your own pace, without excessive effort. Observe your condition, you should not feel discomfort or pain.

• No sudden movements. Do all movements slowly, smoothly and consciously. There should be no sudden movements in your practice.
• Practice yogic breathing. Do not forget to breathe, breathing helps to relieve tension, with each inhalation and exhalation it becomes easier for you to master the asana. Breathe only through your nose, calmly and evenly.
• Practice mindfulness. If your attention is distracted by some thoughts, do not get upset, return attention to breathing, body, sensations. Only conscious practice will lead you to success.
• Regularity. Do classes regularly, albeit with a shorter duration. To begin with, do no more than 40 minutes 3 times a week.

When choosing a place and teacher for yoga practice, pay attention to the comfort in the studio, classes, communication. Nothing should distract you from practice.

It is good if your teacher is charismatic. Look at his social networks, what he writes about, what image he leads, how long have you been practicing. During classes, make sure that you are comfortable and easy with this person. Trust your intuition.

Find out about the teacher’s experience, how many years he has been practicing, who his teacher is. It is easy and interesting for you to learn from him, he corrects asanas. After all, not every yogi can be a teacher.

Pay attention to how the trainer treats safety during practice, warns about possible injuries, is interested in your experience, offers more simplified poses.

Usually, a yoga studio has everything you need for classes. A mat, a strap, blocks. For personal hygiene, take a towel or your own mat, water, comfortable clothes that quickly absorb sweat. Note that the top should fit tightly. Leggings, a top, and a sports jacket are best for classes.

Choosing a yoga mat seems like a simple task until you get to the store or website. Mats not only differ in materials and colors, but also have a strong difference in price segment. The minimum cost of a mat starts from 150 UAH and ends at around 2000 UAH. A good yoga mat should meet the following criteria:

• Stable, during practice your palms and feet should not slide on the mat. The more intense the classes, the more important this point. Otherwise, your body will slide and you will not be able to concentrate on asanas and vinyasas. A rubber mat is considered the most stable.
• Do not stretch – all yoga mats are reinforced, this adds strength and durability to the mat.

The material from which the yoga mat is made determines its durability, convenience, safety and comfort. To choose the mat that is right for you, let’s compare the advantages and disadvantages of each material.

In stores you can also find mats made of cork and cotton, they are pleasant to the touch, made of natural materials.

When choosing a mat, you should focus on your goals, the intensity of the exercise, whether you want the mat to serve you for a long time or are ready to change it more often. The choice of the mat should not stop you from exercising.

Yoga is a set of exercises for the body, mind and spirit. Each lesson includes practices and meditations that are aimed at improving health, calming the mind and achieving harmony. Often, yoga is more static, one asana is held for 15-60 seconds, attention is focused on breathing. Performing asanas serves as a kind of massager for the internal organs.

Pilates is more dynamic, each exercise has several repetitions connected by a single chain. During the lesson, you need to monitor your breathing, but unlike yoga, there are no many breathing practices. Exercises are aimed at strengthening the muscle corset.

Stretching is a regular stretch that is great as a warm-up and cool-down at the beginning and end of the lesson.
You need to choose the type of exercise based on your goals. If you want to improve your health, make your body more flexible and clear your mind – choose yoga. For those who want to lose weight, make the exercises more dynamic, Pilates is suitable. Stretching will help you stretch your muscles after a workout or work day.

It is believed that in order to achieve results in yoga, you need to follow a certain diet. We cannot disagree with this, but it is important to note that any changes in your diet should be gradual. With each new lesson, your eating habits will begin to change, you will begin to feel and understand the body’s signals better.

What to change in your eating habits?

• Take your time. When eating, eat slowly – the food will begin to be better absorbed in your body, and you will stop overeating. Our brain needs a certain time to feel full.
• Stop drinking with food. Our habit has a detrimental effect on the body. You need to drink 30 minutes before and after eating.
• Chew your food thoroughly.
• It is better to eat one or two products at a time, observe the combinations of products with each other.
• Reduce sugar consumption.
• Add more fiber to your diet. It improves metabolism and intestinal microflora.
• Drink more clean water.

Experienced yogis compose their diet according to the principles of Ayurveda. Where nutrition is determined by the type of dosha (vital energy), balancing the six types of taste, observing the combination of products in one dish.

“It happens in poetry, in music, in dance, for a brief moment you slip out of your personality and touch your individuality. But only because it happens for a brief moment – ​​you are not afraid. And you always come back.” Osho.

Every day many people practice or begin to master meditation. With this activity we gain only peace and concentration or meditation can radically change our lives? To answer all the questions, to understand how meditation affects our lives, who needs to practice it, and who should give up these activities, we have studied historical and medical articles in detail.

The first written mentions of meditation appeared in 1500 BC, but people began to practice it long before that, meditation began its development in Taoism China.

The Dalai Lama claims that meditation is your natural state of consciousness.

Meditation has a positive effect on your brain – it reduces stress, anxiety, depression, improves memory, attention. During meditation, you can work on: self-acceptance, emotions, understanding of the environment and yourself. Meditation also has a positive effect on your health and body, preventing many diseases.

In 2011, students and teachers attended a 3-month retreat with various meditation techniques, after which the emotional state of the participants improved.
In 2012, patients with coronary heart disease performed meditation for 5 years, at the end of the experiment they reduced the likelihood of a heart attack by 48%.

Yoga and meditation differ from many other activities in that they have many variations, just choose one of the suggested options and enjoy.

Translated from Buddhist texts, Vipassana means to see things as they are, and not as they seem to us. The practice of immersion in silence lasts 10 days, during which time you will master meditation, get several emotional drops and offerings, and your mind will calm down.

A Hindu meditation technique that involves chanting a single word or phrase for several minutes or hours. Mantra is Sanskrit for “instrument of the mind.” During a mantra, you chant a word or phrase for a long time, thereby creating vibrations that help clear your mind. A popular mantra is Om.
Mantras make it much easier to concentrate your mind.

During such meditation, you need to focus your attention on the movements of your body and breathing. Track your body sensations at the present moment. This is not just a walk in the park, but much more. Walking meditation can be easily incorporated into everyday life, an important condition is that the place for practice should be quiet and secluded. This practice will fill you with energy, relieve lethargy and fatigue.

The essence of this practice is to let go of thoughts about the past and future and focus on the present moment. Just track your breathing, do not try to change it, observe it. If thoughts appear in your head – do not get angry, but simply return attention to your breathing.

We often practice this meditation while doing asanas.

Meditation is a skill that anyone can master.