Other than its physical benefits, what has your yoga practise done for your mind? If it overlaps with your experience of chakras then pls do share. Ive been doing yoga for years now and recently have been feeling a lot of emotions. Im trying to understand.

For me it was watching my dad not being able to tie his own shoes

Also a couple of Army guys that got blown up in Iraq. Dan Nevins and Brian Mancini (RIP)

Hello,

I want to get back to yoga after a longer pause but the doctor told me I cannot do any moves which put my wrists in 90degrees angle (or similar) position. So positions like a downward-facing dog, planks, cat cows are out of the question.

So my question is how should I subtitute those? Is it even worth it trying to get back to yoga with such a limitation? I mean downward-facing dog seems to be the most common position.

Thanx

Does anyone have recommendations for a good school in Thailand? Looking at world peace yoga school and wise living yoga, wondering if anyone has gone to either of these and can tell me their experience? I like the idea of being in Chiang Mai but open to other areas too if the school is right

Hello,

I had my first yoga lesson/session today and it involved a lot of sitting. Like straight up sitting and my back slightly hurts(muscle pain). Are there any poses I can train to have less, or is it literally just a lot of lotus position holding to get accustomed to it?

Thank you

Went through it in my first class ever. It was hard on me and I had to just sit, mop sweat, and try to keep the weeping to a minimum, for a couple minutes.

I'm going back tomorrow because I'm stubborn. I'm going to need to study a bit at home because I don't know many poses and the class moved a bit quickly for my knowledge. Anyway I got mad at myself for being in the state I'm in and realizing how incapable I've become.

Blah blah skip this part

I'm a XXXL, 56yo woman. I ended up with advanced arthritis in my knees (left one almost no cartilage) and haven't managed the pain except to be sedentary since 2024. PT has helped a lot the last three months, and I got medicaid earlier this year. Turns out it pays for an LA Fitness membership so I started mat pilates last week and now tried yoga. Started losing weight and doing cardio, so some toning and balance is next. It's embarrassing being the fattest in the class, but I have a lot of work to do!

Hi! Has anyone tried this brand mat? I tried searching the sub, but given the name of the brand, the search produces a lot of irrelevant results. I am searching for my first big girl mat, ie more that 15 dollars and durable, and had been looking between lululemon, manduka, and liforme, but this brand came across my search. It seems quite unique and has good reviews but only on their site, so I don’t put much stock there.

So I’ve been practicing for a good while, but with more fervour as of late. Due to lack of good spaces nearby I almost exclusively use the downdog app. Overall loving it and seeing progress on almost everything but the elusive boat pose segments.

I try to do at least an hour of vinayasa or hatha with focus core/back/upper body strength, intermediate 2. I do tons of cardio and weight training at the gym also, but feel I am not getting anywhere with boat pose (and the never-ending twisting boat, leg lowering, half boat etc.

I get that yoga is about more than checking off the ability to hold a pose but it’s getting to me that I just can’t seem to hold it, particularly om between these variations. I keep my shins parallel to the mat but even so I seem to lack core strength. How do I rebuild it?

Just did sphinx to forearm plank x5 and I'm currently on the floor curled into a ball because my abs hurt so bad that I can't get up. Been doing beginner yoga for a year and this was the first intermediate online class that I tried to follow. Having regrets

Hi! So im starting all over with charlie follows' inversion courses cuz i bought them but then let someone talk me out of really committing to them (that person was, of course, myself). Im super comfortable in headstands, but wanted to start there anyways because there are aspects i could certainly improve on, and, also, i figured spending 4-5 weeks intensively focusing on headstand stuff would aid the push strength i need in my arms and shoulders before i move on to focus on forearm stand. Back to handstand basics! Anyways, i find myself again bumping up against setting up in both standard setups (tripod, supported) when it comes to the width and length of my base. Right away, as soon as i set my hands or elbows (below my shoulders or wrapping hands around elbows placed on mat), they look and feel too close together. Then, when i do as instructed by placing the top of my head at an equidistant point, making a triangle, EVERYTHING feels and looks too narrow. I can get up in the position, but once im there, i have a constant urge to scale up the triangle, and when i do i feel better. I cant tell from there which position offers more alignment in my wrists and elbows. Ive been wondering if my proportions are just off, so my setup might just be a little different. Idk.. Should i try to stick it out and get comfortable in the more narrow setup? I hope this all made sense. Im so bad at using words to illustrate poses and transitions:P

I'm 17 weeks and finally finally finally the nausea has died down enough I'm slowly trying to return to doing yoga. Currently I'm just wearing my regular yoga leggings and squishing/folding down the top of the leggings so it's under my bump but this does not seem like it's going to be tenable long run as I get bigger. Does anyone have any suggestions for either maternity leggings or loose/long tanks?

Cheers!

Any tips on how to stop bunching up so much in my back??? I can’t seem to lift my shoulders or head. TIA

Hi:
I am a soon to be 60 year old male. I am overweight(just shy of obese) but very active. I hike challenging trails (high miles with steep elevation gains )and even run 3 miles once or twice a week(10.5 min/mile) pace. I feel like I would benefit from yoga. I have been to a class twice (last time about 10 years ago and the instructor just sighed deeply and shook his head at me after every attempt at a pose. I know they have chair yoga for the truly elderly but are there classes suitable for old fat inflexible men that do not have specific mobility issues?

Hello,

When I sit on my legs during thunderbolt pose I feel a dull pain on the top of my left foot. It does feel like a tightness but I'm not sure where that tightness could be because the rest of my legs are pretty flexible.

Any advice would be great!

Thanks!

I do a lot of hot yoga, and a lot of times people say they like my "energy.' what does that mean?

Would you do a retreat, training or just head to India & go explore. Based in US.

Edit: I want to get out of the US for a lil bit. Our food is garbage & sure we can consider this an eat pray love thing, but no. Just yoga & healing my body.

The manduka matt I've had my eye on is on sale. Right now I only have a matt more for hot yoga but I've been wanting a good one to practice at home. I settled on wanting a manduka pro, but I can't decide what color.

Edit: Got the blue

The last time I went for a yoga session was literally like 2 summers ago and had only been to maybe 4 or 5 sessions across 2023-2024 which were the first and only sessions I went to prior to yesterday when I tried hot vinyasa yoga. I was in this feeling where I was feeling really negative about myself and felt like I needed to go to a yoga class seeing how they’ve helped me in the past so I went online and found yoga studios near me and which one had the closest session time wise. Well it was a studio I never went to and didn’t want to wait too long before going to one so I went yesterday and did hot vinyasa yoga.

And lemme tell you something it was great it let go of all my stress and negativity and it also helped with my neck, shoulder and back pain. I went to work today and didn’t feel as hunched over as I did before and felt my posture was better. While I was in the session yesterday I couldn’t keep up with everything because about halfway through I needed to just lay down on the mat because the class was so intense but it was needed. I also ate about an hour before the class and took a 2.5 mg THC gummy which was a 10 mg one I cut into quarters so that could have made things more intense. I came out of the class sweating my ass off and felt like a new person. It was like all my back pain disappeared, I had a less negative outlook on things, I felt less hunched over and as I went about my day today which included going to work my back pain didn’t feel as bad and I feel as if I can think clearer and my mental clarity has improved.

Would this class be considered advanced for little times I’ve done yoga and how long it’s been since I last went?

Hi friends. I’m not a pro by any means. I started really doing yin yoga at the beginning of this year. I noticed my anxiety and chronic shoulder pain almost 100% disappear when practicing 4-5 times a week (before bed specifically).

About 2 months ago, my soul dog started having some minor health issues. Nothing that I thought would be a huge concern (I did bring her to the vet multiple times). But I just had this odd feeling that she wouldn’t be with me much longer. I started to spiral. I thought I was being irrational, but I couldn’t snap myself out of this frozen anxiety loop I get in. So needless to say, I stopped practicing for about 2 months.

One week ago, we ended up losing my girl to a silent and very aggressive cancer. It was very unexpected. I thought I was bringing her to the vet again because she was constipated. Little did I know we wouldn’t be leaving with our girl.

I’ve been absolutely devastated this last week. Dealing with all the stages of grief. I guess I’m just looking for motivation and encouragement to start my practice back up again. I know it will help tremendously, but I’m very prone to freeze so it’s hard for me to roll out the mat.

Any words would be appreciated 🤍🐺

Hi yogis,

I have been practicing yoga for several years but at pretty light intensity - normally gentle flow or yin.

I am in my first trimester of pregnancy but due to previous miscarriages I don't want to prematurely announce my pregnancy. I let a teacher know on a previous occasion and then I found it really awkward and embarrassing that both the teacher and the other students probably clocked on to the fact I'd had a loss. I know losses are not totally uncommon, but I felt incredibly exposed and self conscious anyway.

Is there any advice about what should be avoided if I continue to practice yoga whilst pregnant?

Thank you in advance!

Edit: Wow - lots of really helpful points and things that I can take into consideration. Thank you! If I safely get to the 16 weeks point or am showing before then, I'd tell the teacher(s) so they can offer modifications. That said, I know not all teachers have expertise in pregnancy yoga.

are we squeezing our butt cheeks in these poses to protect the low spine? or are our glutes supposed to be relaxedish while feet/shins/thighs drive into the floor?

just asking because i feel like ive been given contradicting ques now…

In my area, all of the studio schedules mirror each other. I am a member of a studio that used to have an evening power class on Fridays, apparently they got rid of it and the last power class is at 4:30 which is kind of early for me. I looked at the schedule of another yoga studio near me and they had the exact same times and equivalent classes scheduled for those times. I don't get it. It's pointless looking at the schedule of more than one studio because they all just copied each other's schedules. I guess I am here to commiserate and complain because I guess I understand why they do it but I am not happy. I want my evening class back! 😭

Hey all. I started doing vinyasa yoga and sometimes Hatha 2-4 times a week about 3 months ago. And while the goal was just to practice asanas and learn about breathing and yoga in general, I have built substantial muscle as well, somehow. Guess all those chaturangas and dolphin push ups are quite brutal lol.

But while my goal was never to build muscle, Im now concerned because for some reason my right side really gained a lot of muscle while my left side looks much smaller. I don’t want to look uneven! I was happier before when I looked equally weak on both sides 😂

I do yoga in studio and whatever sequence we do on the right we also do on the left. And I don’t think I consciously push myself more on either side?

Has this happened to anyone? Does anyone have tips? 😭