[Annabelle]

Has anyone ever tried it? Do you think you get any benefits from it? Just curious.

[dirdybirdy]

I love yoga, but not for fitness or losing weight. For me, it doesn't seem to provide any kind of real 'workout'. I used to get together with my girlfriends and we would all do yoga videos in someone's living room just to chill out after work/school. For relaxing it's awesome....

[Effie_drine]

There are several different forms of Yoga!

Hot yoga or "Bikram yoga" (started by Bikram Choudry, the yogi to the stars) is trendy on both coasts, and it appeals to men in a big way

Hot it most definitely is -- sauna-style hot, in a room heated past 100 degrees Fahrenheit, It's supposed to make the muscles more flexible, thereby reducing the possibility of damaging muscles. But any type of exercise in 100-degree heat is difficult on the body. If you're 20 or 30 you can probably do it, but if you have undisclosed cardiovascular disease like a lot of boomers do, it can be dangerous.


Extreme yoga appeals to some because it makes you sweat, makes you hurt. It's the American mentality -- no pain no gain,


Ashtanga yoga -- another extreme style of yoga -- has been made popular by stars like Gwyneth Paltrow, Madonna, and Sting. It's a very demanding series of asansas (postures). It has many levels, gets you out of breath, It's not an easy style to practice.

Traditional Yoga Is Spiritual, Strengthening, Relaxing

Yoga is something that offers benefits to people at many different levels,People come for stress management, or because they're trying to mange some physical illness. Some come because of a very strong spiritual curiosity, they want more quietness in their lives. They don't know precisely what yoga offers, but they know that relaxation and meditation are part of it.


In mild cases of asthma and high blood pressure, yoga can reduce the need for medication, Yoga also can be helpful in helping people cope with diabetes, Parkinson's disease, cerebral palsy, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder -- and, especially, back pain. Yoga relaxes you, It makes you more aware of your body, helps you stretch it, strengthen it.


For pregnant women, yoga helps with back pain as well as varicose veins. It provides release from the effects that gravity has on carrying the heavy load, It's not a panacea; it's not a guarantee to make labor shorter, but yoga has certainly helped many women have a more successful and useful labor in the sense that they've learned a lot about breathing, and they've prepared their bodies. If you do take yoga for pregnancy, make sure you're working with a trained instructor. It's a good idea to make sure your doctor knows about it, too.

[FrenchBread]

Yoga is great!! I took it for a summer class last summer to get an extra credit hour and ended up loving it. The first couple days were hard because of the different positions, but by the end I was alot more limber and had less probs with over-stretching my muscles when working out. The twisting stretches are suppose to help digestion too.

[PonyGirl]

Originally Posted by dirdybirdy

I love yoga, but not for fitness or losing weight. For me, it doesn't seem to provide any kind of real 'workout'. I used to get together with my girlfriends and we would all do yoga videos in someone's living room just to chill out after work/school. For relaxing it's awesome....

bump...I do it on my rest days; it's a great way to stretch out muscles