Advice about Yoga
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- Which type of yoga is best for a beginner?
- Can I do yoga with spinal fusion?
- Embarassment doing upside-down positions
- Yoga vs. aerobics for swimsuit this summer
Which type of yoga for a beginner?
Oct 2008
Hi - I'd like to return to yoga which I last did in high school, but none of those memory cells are left, so my specific questions: could someone in this wise community please describe the differences in different yoga practices, and perhaps make a recommendation as to which one might be best for a mom of two teens approaching 50 who hasn't really exercised in a long time, which practice might be more likely to cause injury (if it is possible to compare injury rates)- and finally, I'd love to really immerse myself in a yoga retreat to get this whole new thing off the ground, and would love to hear ideas about where to find such a thing - perhaps Esalen? I'd really love a week-long program, close to the Bay Area if possible, for dedicated beginners. Thanks so much, Yoga wannabe
Based on your description, I think you would prefer an Iyengar based Introduction to or beginner's yoga class. Depending on where you live/work, there are several nice studios and well trained teachers in the East Bay - Alameda Yoga Station, Berkeley Yoga Room, Fourth Street Yoga, Berkeley Yoga Center. They all have websites and a variety of yoga classes including gentle, beginning, introductory, 50+, etc. classes. As for retreats, I think you should find a studio and teacher you like first. All of the afore mentioned studios have teachers that lead retreats. I am going on a retreat next month with two well known and respected Iyengar teachers (Judith Lasater and Elise Miller). The workshop specifically said there will be separate classes for beginners and more experienced students. Yoga helps me be a better mama!
Welcome back to your Yoga practice! I would suggest any practice that supports you in taking the time to get back into the practice with good alignment and room for modifications. In short, I would suggest staying away from any class that is ''hot'' ''power'' or ''vinyasa'' for the time being and choose ''hatha'' ''Iyengar'' ''yin'' ''restorative'' or ''anusara'' classes. 7th Heaven yoga studio (Berkeley) has an excellent beginner yoga series (I think it's 4 weeks long) which you might enjoy to bring you back in. Also, restorative yoga is a wonderful re-entry point. I teach a restorative class on Friday evenings at YogaKula. You can view my teaching schedule at www.anamiyoga.com. Have fun! Maybe I'll see you on the mat. Nicole
I am in my late 30s and have been doing yoga, as a total beginner, for a year now with a great teacher, Laura Peck, at 4th Street Yoga in Berkeley. It is Iyengar style, which I really love because it helps me learn about alignment and prevent injury. I completely understand the issue of being out of shape! I have had knee surgery and Laura has always been adapting some exercises for me as well as for some of the other students. If you want to try a class, aside from going somewhere for a retreat, I think you will love the class too! Cecilia
Ada Shedlock is an outstanding yoga teacher. She is great with all levels and has an older following due to her gentile style and understanding of issues related to aging. She keeps our hips in really good shape for example. She paces her classes and retreats well. She can have you doing yoga for long stretches and it is very manageable. She teaches in Berkeley and Alameda and has a website. Anon
About once a month, Namaste Yoga in Rockridge has an Intro to Yoga, especially for beginners. Though I haven't been to that class specifically, I really like and respect the teachers at Namaste, esp. Michelle Cordero, who teaches Tues. night and Sat. morning 'all levels' courses. I suspect that after an Intro course, you'd be ready for the all levels course. Most teachers will check in with the students at the beginning of the class about any injuries/ issues, and recommend appropriate modifications as necessary. Michelle's classes tend to be pretty high energy. If you're more interested in alignment and a slower pace, you might like Richard Rosen's classes on M-T-W nights at Piedmont Yoga Studio. He is a master teacher - one of the original Western teachers, and gives great instructions on alignment. My suggestion would be to ease back into yoga with classes two or three times a week, for a bit. You may find a bit of soreness as you limber up sleeping muscles. Then after a few weeks/ months of practice, a retreat might be more beneficial. Yoga saves my sanity!
Can I do yoga with spinal fusion?
Jan 2008
I know there are a lot of yoga instructors out there -- here's a question for you: I'm in my early 40's, and am interested in beginning yoga, something I have never done. When I was a young teenager, I had a spinal fusion (for scoliosis)and I have two Herrington steel rods in my back. Do you thing I could do yoga? or would it be too difficult with my stiff back? I can really only bend at my waist. Thanks for any info you can provide! stiff spine
I have the same thing as you - two rods and a spinal fusion. I'd say try the yoga - it's not going to kill you and it's virtually impossible to ''wreck'' your back. But you'll probably find there's a lot you can't do. I've tried some yoga, and it's just created more backaches for me...but it all depends on where you're fused and how much of your back is fused. I have a full spinal fusion with 1 vertabra free. I get a whole lot more out of aerobic exercise, and I'm not limited in that way. --Yoga not the answer for me
As a long-time yoga practitioner and teacher, I would highly caution you from doing any yoga except with a truly qualified teacher who is TRAINED and EXPERIENCED with your kind of spine, and preferably one of the local specialists in this area. I would recommend someone who is certified in the Iyengar method -- these teachers must pass rigorous tests to become Iyengar teachers (unlike most yoga teachers) and the Iyengar method emphasizes medical treatment and in particular back care. In Berkeley, Todd Semo (who is a very skilled teacher and student of Manouso Manos, one of the most senior American Iyengar teachers and back care specialist) teaches at 7th Heaven Yoga (http://www.7thheavenyoga.com/). In San Francisco, one of the top back care specialists is Anne Saliou, who teaches at the Yoga Loft. Also Octavia Morgan, while not as experienced as Anne, is an excellent back care specialist in SF (also a student of Manouso Manos')(http://www.octaviayoga.com/). Please be very conscious of whom you pick, and talk to them about your condition before you attend their class. If you study with one of these teachers or their ilk, I think you will have a safe, enhancing experience. Good luck!
You need Chris Hoskins! He has a ton of experience teaching yoga to people who have disabilities of one kind or another. I studied with him for about three years and witnessed him help many people and I know he had many private clients-one of whom was paralyzed from the neck down. He has a website studioyoga6.com. Another great teacher in the area with heaps of experience is Barbara Kaplan. She can be found on the web at harmonyyogastudio.net. Best of luck to you! yoga is for everyone!
Hi I am not a yoga teacher but I do my own form of yoga. I have a herniated disc, which is different than a fused spine (They wanted to fuse my spine but I wouldn't let them) The long/short story is: they told me I could never do any vigorous exercise or twist my spinal column ever again. I DID give up horse-back riding (I used to do dressage and jump) but I took up snowboarding and definitely twist my spine when I do my yoga moves. I would try it and do only what you are capable. I think it's really good for you and your body. You'll build up and become like you were before. It's been 24 years since I've herniated my disc and I am still feeling strong. Good luck! burkenli
YES! most definitely! It may facilitate new movement that you never thought possible. However, it's extremely important to find a teacher who is right for you, has classes small enough to give you personal attention (don't go to those popular classes that have 30 people in them!), and is confident in modifying poses that are right for you. Shop around for a teacher. You might consider having a couple personal classes first, just to spend time learning the poses and how you can modify them for yourself, and then entering a public class. You might consider ''gentle'' yoga. good luck. Esther
Yes, you can do many yoga positions with spinal fusion. Tell the instructor before class that you cannot bend your back above the waist due to the rods in your back. And, take a class with lots of old, out-of-shape people in it. That's what I do. Try the ''downward dog'' exercise at home, and you'll see that you'll have no problem at all. It's a great pose to strengthen your arms and shoulders plus a great stretch for the backs of your legs. Easy yoga fan
Embarassment doing upside-down positions
June 2003
Hello there, I just started to take yoga again, which I enjoy very much. However, now I remember what used to embarass me about it because it happened this morning in a class...whenever I do upside-down type positions, like legs in the air, etc., for some reason air gets sucked into my vagina. So when I am upright again, it sounds as though I am ''breaking wind'' as the air escapes. It is very embarassing for me! I should ask my doctor about this, but I just thought I'd see if this ever happens to anyone else. Perhaps I need to do Kegel exercises? Or just live with it and not worry! thanks for any advice! -anon
I experienced the same thing when I started doing yoga -- it is terribly embarrassing. I've started wearing a tampon before class which seems to do the trick. I'm curious to find out if anything else works. anon Embarassed in yoga
I laughed out loud when I read your posting because the same thing began happening to me when I returned to yoga after giving birth to my first child! I found that if I do kegels on my way up as well as on my way down from inversions, the problem desists. Also, coming down very slowly so as to release the air in a slower fashion can be helpful. You are not alone! anon
you're not alone. same thing happened to me. i try to be very cautious with some of the positions, not doing them as rigorously. i imagine kegels would eventually solve the problem. not sure. curious to read other responses! anon
I've had the same problem of ''air intake'' in inverted yoga positions ever since I started many years ago, pre-baby. I haven't been taking yoga for several years but I am ready to start again and wondered about how to deal with the inevitable noises that escape upon coming out of position. I've tried holding my vagina ''closed'' when inverted, kind of like a sustained Kegel but I it really compromises my concentration in the pose. I am anxious to get feedback on possible solutions- embarrassed too.
Pulling air in the vagina during inverted poses is not all that uncommon. It happens when the diaphram is pulled up into the rib cage, with a relaxed pelvic floor. This causes air to be sucked into the vagina, which then ''farts'' out again when you resume an upright position. It is more common after childbirth, because the pelvic floor is more flexible.
However, it is not a desirable physical action. Many of us, when trying to activate the deep postural muscles of the torso, (transverse abdominus, mutifidus) accidentially suck the diaphram up- hollowing out the area right below the ribs, the solar plexus. Instead of ''sucking'' the belly in, the action you want to develop is compression of the abdominal wall. A kind of lacing of your internal girdling muscles. Contracting the deep abdominals with a co-contraction of the pelvic floor is a very powerful technique to help the body develop core strength- especially after pregnancy and childbirth. Sucking air into the vagina directly after childbirth, when the cervix is still open can cause an air embollism, a serious life threating condition. Many inverted poses--down dog, mountain pose, and even child's pose are contraindicated in the first few weeks postpartum because of this small but inherant risk. Helene
I will probably be one of several to know no useful advice except to offer 2 terms used for this the queef and the vart (as in vaginal fart). A web search offers interesting vignettes of its universality, often during intercourse. I have certainly experienced it in a shoulder-stand and agree it is rather embarrassing! I'm afraid it is one more argument in favor of the dreaded Kegel. Anon
It's funny you should mention this, because I had never experienced it until today, and it was quite a shock, not to mention rather blush-inducing. I've been doing yoga pretty regularly for five or six years, too. Anyway, what I found seemed to work in preventing it from happening again was being very conscious of creating a ''lock'' in the root chakra, or as I think it's called in yoga, the mulabanda. Basically this is similar to doing a kegel as you inhale into the inverted position and then maintaining a slight contraction of those muscles as you hold the pose and move out into the upright poses. If you haven't done some pranayama, this might be foreign to you, but any good yoga instructor can teach you about the bandas, and they make a huge difference in your practice, I find. So I'm taking my awkward little vaginal fart as a not-so-kind reminder from my body to be more mindful of my breathing technique and internal support during yoga. It's easy to get lazy, but now I have a good reason to keep my head in the game, so to speak! anon
I have experienced this too and know how you feel. Though I have never done this, one woman I met puts a tampon in before yoga class and she says this prevents the problem. I am trying to simply go with it and rise above the embarrassment. It's a challenge. ) Keep up the yoga!! anon
Yoga vs. aerobics for swimsuit this summer
April 2003
I was just wondering if yoga works better and faster than regular weight lifting/aerobic workouts. What I'm doing now is running 30 minutes one day, and yoga the next day. It's just a beginner yoga practice but it seems too easy. For yoga to work, do I need to do it everyday? Before I started yoga,I'd been doing a video workout that was challenging for my arms, but not for my legs(which is my problem area, along with my bottom). I guess all this to say that I'm not sure if yoga is going to work fast enough for me...I really want to look good in a swim suit this summer. Any advice? R.
Do Bikram yoga every day for a month and your legs will look FABULOUS! Bikram (hot) yoga is definitely not ''too easy''! Sweating but happy
For firming up and having a leaner body, a combination of aerobic exercise (that burns fat as fuel) and strength training (that adds lean tissue) with a healthy diet: lots of whole grains, a moderate amount (25% - 30%) of the good fats, lots of fruits and veggies, and caloric balance, not too little and not too much, has proven to provide the greatest long term benefits. Yoga is a wonderful form of exercise, to center the mind/body/spirit and provides numerous health benefits, but if you want to change how your body looks, especially in a limited time frame, other forms of exercise are more effective. Helene
I highly recommend Adeline Yoga in Berkeley. They have both in person and online classes, with plenty of options for those of us in our 50s!
Not a morning class, (it's at 12pm every day), but I love Outdoor Yoga Berkeley. They meet in Ohlone park, it's donation based, the practices and instructors are gentle and you're outside enjoying the fresh air while doing it. Very easy to drop in and try it out, no registration or anything needed, just show up. And on Fridays, Lincoln, one of the instructors, often plays saxophone at the end of practice. More details here: https://www.outdooryogaberkeley.com/
I love Yoga Kula. There's a "gentle yoga" Friday morning class, which is a wonderful way to start the day. The teachers are great about making everyone feel comfortable, no matter their experience level, body type, etc. They do both in-person and online. https://www.yogakula.com/
The Green Yogi is a great studio and my friend Matt does an awesome yoga class on Friday mornings at their MLK location in Berkeley. Check out "Playful Flow" on the schedule here: https://www.mygreenyogi.com/mlk-schedule
yogaroomberkeley is Iyengar style, which is great for beginners.Uses props and teachers offer a lot of detail about alignment so you don't overdo it when you're first starting out. You could do the level 1-3 with Mary Lou at noon.If you have absolutely no prior experience then you'd probably want an intro to yoga series so you have some familiarity with terms and props.