1.“Yoga isn’t really a form of exercise.”
This is really funny when I think about it now. My friend recently took me to Yoga Flex and we did the hour and a half Power Yoga class. I wasn’t 20 minutes into the class before I realized how far out of my league I was. Out of the 15 or so of us taking the class, I was one of the least “fit”. These women were in amaziyng shape, and when I asked them what other form of exercise they did, most of them said yoga was their main source of fitness. Yoga is serious exercise!
2. “Yoga is boring”.
I have to admit to being a little bored at first. But as the class went on, and I had to focus on the various positions I was doing (attempting to do is more like it), the hour and a half was over before I could think about boring.
3. “I am not flexible enough to do most of the positions in Yoga.”
Ok, this is the truth, plain and simple. I have to be one of the most inflexible people on the planet. But I realized how foolish this sounds. I am the very person who SHOULD be doing yoga!
4.“Yoga doesn’t make me sweat”.
Obviously I wasn’t really doing yoga. The only reason I didn’t sweat the first few times I tried yoga was because I gave up on most of the harder poses before I could work up a sweat. The class I did recently was full of sweaty women, me included, by the time it was over! And then I had to admit, being sweaty is overrated!
5. “My heart rate doesn’t get high enough when I do yoga”.
While this might be true for some yoga classes, it isn’t true for all of them. But the point isn’t really to increase the heart rate anyway. Yoga is a different kind of exercise. It really stretches you out, and actually can help tremendously in keeping you injury free for the other “exercise” you do. My friend, Sonna, who took me to Yoga Flex, says she can’t get enough of yoga for that very reason. A triathelete, she believes yoga is what is keeping her strong and resisting injury.
6. “Yoga is heavy on Zen-like meditation.”
I don’t know about all the different forms of yoga, except that there are many. I have only experienced yoga a few times, and so I realize I am fairly ignorant. However, the classes that I have taken were more focused on relaxation than on meditation. I’ve decided not to get too hung up on this. If I am uncomfortable with any of the meditations, I will just use the time to relax and be grateful. I think the more yoga you do, the more educated you become on the various types. I will stick with the ones that emphasize relaxation and athleticism. (I realize that I am talking about what some call the “revisionist” yoga, that is more in line with a fitness movement than the more spiritual or traditional yoga.)
7.“I can’t possibly fit yoga into my routine!”
I felt like I didn’t have time to fit another thing in to my day. Two things are making me rethink this. One is P90X. The first time I tried P90X Yoga I got very annoyed (actually pouty and childish is more like it). The truth is, I was just mad that I had so much trouble doing most if it! But actually, the best thing about it was that I could do it at home. I could get up early, or do it after the kids (some of them) went to bed. The second reason I’m rethinking this is that I really do believe that when we “mix” our workouts up, we can benefit in many ways. We can “trick” our bodies by changing things up, and we can also avoid getting tired of any one thing. So yoga can become one of the things in my “bag of tricks” that keeps me from getting tired or bored of any of the other things I’m doing for fitness.
8. “Yoga is for older people…I will have plenty of time for that later.”
I know…this is ridiculous. First of all, if I think I am inflexible now, why would waiting another five years make me more flexible? Secondly, yoga is for all ages, and the sooner I get comfortable with the poses, the better off I will be as I get older.
9.“I don’t have yoga clothes or a mat”.
Okay, Im joking here. Im really not that vain. I just wanted “nine” reasons so that it could fit neatly into the whole 9 kid fitness thing…. You can wear shorts and t-shirts for yoga. And I have plenty of those…
What do you think of yoga as a form of exercise?
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