yoga

[paynelisa]

Hello-

I am new to the fit bit community. I hope someone can answer this for me...I want to be more active so I do walk daily and reach my 10,000 ( most days) I am going to yoga. My fit bit does not record this activity as steps. I do not increase my heart rate and it is really more relaxing. Is Yoga a good component to add to my life? Is it as beneficial as a brisk walk?

[Ukase]

I'm kind of looking forward to the responses on this. From my ignorant perspective, I think yoga does things internally, things like massaging internal organs and stretching - whereas a brisk walk gets the blood flowing a little faster, a little more oxygen being used. If it weren't so expensive, I might give yoga a try myself. For now, stretching seems to me to be doing the same thing.

I'm sure someone who knows a lot more about yoga than I do will chime in. For what it's worth, I've never heard any people talk about doing yoga who weren't already fantastically fit, so there is probably something to it.

[Lightsinger]

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@Ukase wrote:

I'm kind of looking forward to the responses on this. From my ignorant perspective, I think yoga does things internally, things like massaging internal organs and stretching - whereas a brisk walk gets the blood flowing a little faster, a little more oxygen being used. If it weren't so expensive, I might give yoga a try myself. For now, stretching seems to me to be doing the same thing.

I'm sure someone who knows a lot more about yoga than I do will chime in. For what it's worth, I've never heard any people talk about doing yoga who weren't already fantastically fit, so there is probably something to it.

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I have done yoga off and on over the years, and found it to be one of the best toning and stretching forms of exercise I've ever done.  It's low impact, and while your heart rate might not go up, I've never sweated so much in my life.  LOL!  It requires more strength than you expect, but it helps you build that strength, so it's all good.  It can be done at any age and any fitness level, and as a supplement to cardio, it's a great addition. 

[paynelisa]

I do like the class....I am not "bendy" but I do feel stretched. I guess as long as I am moving. I wonder if there are different forms of yoga? I am taking my class through the rec department. So, I guess I will not get steps. I it is a good component to my daily life.

[paynelisa]

Aubsy what is the yoga called? It sounds interesting. 

[kimny72]

I'm relatively new to yoga myself. I have read a lot about stress hormones cause you to store more fat - not sure if that is true or not, but we could all use a little de-stressing to increase our health regardless!

Also, flexibility is key to staying active and avoiding injury.

And any movement burns more calories than sitting on the couch!

I personally believe that physical activity has a snowball effect, the more you do, the more you want to do.

There are different kinds of yoga, some move faster or are structured to get your heart rate up. I am not knowledgeable enough yet to know which is which though 🙂

So it might or might not directly cause weight loss, but it is good for your overall health, so if you enjoy it, go for it.

[MajoFitbit]

Hello @paynelisa 

Yoga is definitely an amazing way of doing exercise. I'd say you should give it a try, at the beginning it might be difficult to strech as much as your trainer says, but it's a matter of time until you'll do it perfectly. I've tried the regular yoga and aeroyoga. I personally like the aeroyoga better. And as @Lightsinger was saying, I've never sweated so much in my life. You'll get more flexible and feel great. Let me know what you decide regarding yoga or if you've already tried this, tell us about your experience. 

[tamado]

I haven't posted in this thread before but I have been posting in a weight loss group for a couple of years as I lost over 100 lbs.  I have a story to share...

OK, this is cool and exciting for me.

A couple of months ago I went for physio due to a chronic sciatic issue and the therapist noticed an anterior rotation in the right side of my pelvis.  She gave me a few exercises to do put pressure on the right side and encourage it towards re-alignment.

I did the exercise a bit but felt like I did not put in adequate effort and felt guilty, but I had also focused my yoga practice on it.  Every time I did hip openers, pigeon, happy baby, etc I focused my attention on rotating the pelvis.  I had noticed a decrease in my usage of prescription NSAID (non steroidal anti-inflammatory)  but wasn't sure if I just wasn't having a flare up.

I returned to physio for my second treatment two weeks ago.  She could barely notice any rotation at all and she said it was one of the biggest improvements in three weeks after one session she had ever seen.  She kept re-checking and she was amazed.  

She had been to a conference since the last time I saw her which focused on long holding to encourage myofascial release and I brought up Yin yoga.  She couldn't believe I knew what she was talking about as she put pressure for five minutes on my side to help me.  Since that time I have been working to increase the time I spend practicing Yin (a specific type of yoga focusing on long holds to increase flexibility and restore mobility).

I was so affirmed that body awareness through yoga has helped me to repair myself.  She gave me the diagnosis and I was able to take that and target my practice to correct my body and IT IS WORKING!.  It’s been a couple of weeks since the last treatment and while I am still aware of an ongoing sciatic issue I have made great improvements and am still not taking pain medication.  I am excited and affirmed and thankful.

Yoga is life!

[Esya]

Just because a sport/exerecise does not give you steps, it does not mean it is not good for your health. By that logic biking would not be a good exercise and I think we can all agree that biking is a healthy exercise. Yoga is not cardio though. I consider it as strength training myself.

Yoga helps mostly with strength, flexibility and balance. Those are the three main things you practice when doing poses. However, it has more benefits beyond those three (similar to other sports making you feel happy and not only improve your heart). It helps with releasing tenstion as you tense and relax your muscles. It is one of the greatest tools to counter anxiety (I can say this from experience). It helps with good posture. It helps with good lymph health and hormone balance. It helps with sleeping well. I could go on for a bit 😉 .

There are different types of yoga. The base of yoga is hatha yoga and all other yoga forms are derived from hatha yoga. Yin yoga as described by the poster above me is a different form for example, where you hold certain poses for an extended time and try to relax as much as possible. But there are also yoga forms that aim to get your blood flowing and your heart pumping (vinyasa). There are many more types of yoga out there.