Does anyone just do yoga for their workout.

[rawpromises]

For years I have done the gamet of workout. Weights, yoga, running. You name it. Somehow in the midst of all my workouts somthing always bring me back to yoga. Mostly power yoga. However even though I love it with a passion I can't bring myself to let go of the typical weights/cardio. On a very poplar yogi's website it is stated that ( one does not weight train. There is no need since using man made plates and handweight has never been proven to be more effective than lifing your own body weight. It goes on to say that lifing heavy will impead the next days power yoga because the muscles are prefatigued beyond your body weight. .In theory and in yoga I love the spiritualy and healing it gives my body but for some reason my mind set is that I need to do more which is conterproductive to all that yoga teaches me. So I'm wondering who practices yoga only and how do you feel. Now being raw and really getting in tune with my body I want to seach for the real meaning of what working out should be for me.

This morning I got up and my body was craving a yoga workout. I had the most clearest mindset and enjoyed every bit of it as I usually do. Going raw has ( for me) made my mind race so much less.

So back to real question. Anyone do a daily yoga ( power, hatha ect.) and nothing else. How do you feel. How have you change mentaly and physicaly being raw and practicing yoga.

[Aleesha Sattva]

i pretty much only do yoga... with some rebounding as well here and there...

i'm 160 pounds lighter and i've done yoga throughout the last 18 months getting here so... in my life... it works!

[green jeanie]

i will say this....i had been doing bikram really regularly all summer and yes saw awesome results in strength increase and toning

then,,,,i didn't go for about 4-5 months. For the last 6 weeks I have been lifting 2-3 times a week...went to a bikram class last week and man was I so much stronger. Poses that had troubled me were really improved.

All that said...my muscles really loved having the balance of the yoga in there!! a perfect compliment!!

[Eva]

Bikram and power yoga are my staples right now. I used to run a lot but have not been. I am looking to add more strength, though. I want to be stronger than these are getting me, although they do help! :)

[green jeanie]

HI Eva

just wanted to pipe in and say that after 5 years of dedicated exercise habits

(and the good fortune of a solid foundation of exercise as a kid)

that the new way I am weight training has blown my mind!!!

I started working with a trainer in december and within 2 weeks I could really feel a whole different level of development

basically her move is slooooooooooooooow. on both lifting and dropping the weights. not a ton of reps. just slooooooooooow

enough weight that by the 12th rep you are really struggling

it is working!

[rawchic]

very timely question - I have just been thinking about the same thing!

For the last two weeks, I have only been doing yoga (hot hatha & power vinyasa). I've been trying to go every day, and occasionally twice a day.

I used to vary my exercise from day to day with weight training and cardio, but ever since I started going to hot yoga, it's what I want to do all the time.

I'm hesitant though because I feel like I should vary the routine - but why do I feel that way? It's really just because that's what "everyone" says that is you "should" do. But why should I have to follow what I've been conditioned to think?

I've decided to try doing just yoga for an entire month and then analyze to see if I feel like I'm lacking anything by doing so.

[rawpromises]

A few years back I did yoga for one entire month but ate the SAD and felt worse. I pushed though poses, injured my chest and so forth and then went back to doing step and weights. I never gave up yoga but didn't do it consistenly anymore. One or two times a week. I missed the enitre point of the practice all by pushing past what my body new was best and then eating utter garbage on top of it. Then I became a runner. Did numerous 5k's, halfs and so forth just to beat my muscles up even more. What am I doing to myslef I thought. I'm am completely proud of what I have done with running but not is the way I feel when I finish a good yoga practice when all the peices come together. I was never a runner who ran to just run. I ran to beat myslef in time, length and distance. I've always been that way and I'm thinking this is why I always come back to yoga. I'm always trying to get somewhere instead of just being where I'm at.

I really appreciate the feedback because it has given me the encouragement to drop my standard beliefs ( that you have to do cardio and weight training to be healthy) and move onto a higher place in learning. It amazing how raw food can clear and obsessive mind.

Rawchic- i jsut read your post and had to edit my responses to say " I get it" Why can't we let the way we think go. Maybe that is the very reason we should do yoga.

[rawchic]

we're a lot alike. I did my first triathlon two summers ago. Running was the hardest part for me, so last year I decided to work on running. I started with 5k, 10k, 12k and then did a half marathon. I was proud of my accomplishments, but I got really burnt out on it all because I was forcing myself to do it. I never did find any sort of inner joy by doing it - not like I do with yoga. Plus, it was really hard on my body. I was having a lot of knee pain, but I brushed it off that "I needed to train more to get stronger" rather than taking a step back and realizing that maybe I needed to back off.

A new yoga studio just opened that is half way between my condo & office. I've been going every morning on my way to work, and on my way home when I can. So far the only negative has been running out of clean workout clothes :)

Yoga & raw go hand in hand for me: the more raw I eat, the better I feel when I'm doing yoga because I'm clean & light. the more yoga I do, the more raw I want to eat because it makes me strong & focused.

[rawpromises]

I am so glad I posted then. We are so much alike. Somthing told me today to reach out and see if I could get some clarity from others and I'm so gald I did. I know all about knee issues and pushing through hills when you know you shouldn't. I'm so happy you have a yoga studio near your home. We have classes at the local Y but I'm not sure that those classes offer the same as a yoga studio whould. I usually do my practice at home since I have three children and I homeschool. Let me know what your analysis is at the end a month and I will do the same. I wish I had a hot yoga studio near by. I guess I could heat up my house but my kids and husband would think I was nuts. Well, come to think of it " Not really" they know all of my passion for yoga and health so they love my nutty ways. . My kids practice yoga as well and I even got my husband to do a tape once.

[cara4art]

i did, for a year and a half at least, some beginner Ashtanga yoga that my friend introduced me to many years ago. It was awesome, but you know, esp. for beginners, it really is better to have daily instruction by a good teacher(which my friend was, but she lives in Hawaii and I lived in New Mexico in a rural area, far away from any studios whatsoever). Anyhow, I soldiered on for a year and half, and got a SLIGHT increase in flexibility out of it, and I actually lost some strength, believe it or not, bummer, when I thought I was doing such great things for myself with those full-body poses! After that year and a half, I picked up my basic weights again, and felt like I'd come home, as awesome as yoga is. Within two weeks I noticed such a difference in strength from even my little home set-up that even I was surprised. Before I had moved to NM, I was a gym goer for years, and loved it, but there was no gym out in the country at all, so I had to improvise greatly for exercise over a 10year period. I'm now back in a large city, and back at the gym. These days, my workouts include basic, full-body weight-training, the Tibetan 5 rites of Rejuvenation, and some brief, high intensity cardio(long slow cardio does NOT do it for me - for that, I might as well take a long walk, which I do anyway.) If I had had free access to a good teacher always(can't afford yoga classes 6 days a week, which is what it takes to really make progress and get all the benefits)I likely would have stuck with it, as that teacher can really give you the attention you need and help you modify poses as you need to, and align you correctly(this is more important than people know). Sure, it's fine to have the DVDs at home, but they are really better for when you really already know what you're doing pretty much. Those DVDs can't give you the attention and realignment that's appropriate for your body at any particular time, as this is a longer-term process.
Then again, people do really respond to different forms of training. My Hawaii friend totally transformed her body by way of solid Ashtanga practice(she's now an instructor). For the first 3 years of her practice however, her live-in boyfriend was a master Ashtanga yogi, so she had the benefit of one-to-one nearly daily instruction which as I mentioned makes a huge difference as far as how one just gets beyond the very beginner stuff, which in itself is very good, but not really a full workout. I always felt like I "needed more".

[czpinky]

I practice asana everyday, for about an hour each day. i've been doing this and only this for my "exercise routine" for about six months and i love it! i think it is important to remember that although yoga may tone your body and give you a great butt, it is a 5000 year old tradition that is meant to free the soul and release the ego. the physical pracitce (asana) was once only meant to bring good health to the body so that yogis may focus on matters of the soul and spirit. even if you only seek yoga for the physical benefits, you will be somehow be affected by the spiritual portion...whether you realize it or not. back to the original topic, i am also considering starting rebounding for it's health benefits and just for fun. however, i do not consider any exercise but asana to be essential for me. peace and love!! :)

[cz213]

I like doing yoga cardio and light weights. It works for me...:)

[Eva]

HI Eva

basically her move is slooooooooooooooow. on both lifting and dropping the weights. not a ton of reps. just slooooooooooow

enough weight that by the 12th rep you are really struggling

it is working!Thank you for sharing!! I "need" the yoga for peace, but I do really want to do something. I've got a strength training video (and FOUR yoga videos! LOL) on the way to me in the mail. I do have some weights, but they're light (maybe 8 or 10 pounds). I might poke you for more info soon if this isn't enough for me. I love to hear about what's working!


I used to vary my exercise from day to day with weight training and cardio, but ever since I started going to hot yoga, it's what I want to do all the time.

I'm hesitant though because I feel like I should vary the routine - but why do I feel that way? It's really just because that's what "everyone" says that is you "should" do. But why should I have to follow what I've been conditioned to think?

I've decided to try doing just yoga for an entire month and then analyze to see if I feel like I'm lacking anything by doing so.I love it! If it works for you, who cares what you "should" do?!

Hot yoga is so peaceful for me. I love the mix of power and poise, coupled with the peace and tranquility. If only all of life could feel like that. I would keep doing JUST that too, but I'm in school to be a massage therapist and don't want to need help carrying a table or anything else! I want to be BUFF AND at PEACE! haha :)


Why can't we let the way we think go. Maybe that is the very reason we should do yoga. Ha! Yes! That is why I do it. I love the peace. I like the vigor of the hot yoga... but no matter the class, savasana is my favorite. haha.


I practice asana everyday, for about an hour each day. i've been doing this and only this for my "exercise routine" for about six months and i love it! i think it is important to remember that although yoga may tone your body and give you a great butt, it is a 5000 year old tradition that is meant to free the soul and release the ego. the physical pracitce (asana) was once only meant to bring good health to the body so that yogis may focus on matters of the soul and spirit. even if you only seek yoga for the physical benefits, you will be somehow be affected by the spiritual portion...whether you realize it or not. back to the original topic, i am also considering starting rebounding for it's health benefits and just for fun. however, i do not consider any exercise but asana to be essential for me. peace and love!! :) Good reminder!

I have really enjoyed reading the thoughts on this thread. :)

[rawchic]

rawpromises, that is so cute that your kids do yoga! If I ever have kids, I hope they will too.

I started with gym classes and videos at home. I enjoy both of those. Ha ha, that would be fun to heat the house up...probably expensive though. We actually keep our place really warm anyway - around 75 degrees. I like to be comfortable and not all bundled up. We were visiting my parents last weekend and they keep their house at 68 degrees - I was freezing!

Anyway - back to yoga...yes, let's check in again next month :)
I know it's going to be positive for me...even after 1 week, I'm already seeing some more strength and flexibility. This morning I held "crow" pose (where your shins are on your arms and you lift your toes up) for the first time. In the past, I haven't been able to lift my feet up for more than a fraction of a second. Today, I was able to lift and hold - I was so excited!

[rawpromises]

RAWCHIC-
Good for you on crow pose. I'm so happy for you. I know exactly which one that is. To hold it for any length of time shows that your body finally is at a place that it is ready to do that. It 's hard not to push your body when it's not ready. Good for you for being able to listen. It's even harder ( for me) when you see others do it with great ease. I work on that daily knowing their genetic make up, experiences and place in their life is not where I'm at. Sure I would love to do a headstand but the yogi in me should ask "Why do I want to do one so bad." That really is the practice of yoga. Looking inside yourself.

Ok, so we will meet up then and talk about our progress. How we are doing, how our practice is evolving, and how we are handeling stress and actually practicing the real yoga in life. Let us see if we make the effort to live and breath yoga. Let's see if we can let our minds go of the typical cardio/ weights that we both are accustomed to. Today I did 90 min of yoga at home and felt pretty good. My mind raced some but overall I was able to focus on the positioning, and breath.

Have a great day. You deserve it for doing so good.

[aijia]

I lift weights but I have been thinking recently how strange our workout regimens are -- machines. I feel like we should be hiking, stretching, and carrying heavy stuff, using our own bodies and doing what is natural.

I say try out a yoga-only regimen and see how you feel!

[greenfeline]

I have been doing a vigourous (mostly vinyasa flow style) yoga practice for about 9 months as my main exercise regimen and I love it! I am stronger than ever! I attend 3-5 90 min. yoga classes per week.

Once I joined a studio I dumped my gym membership and do not miss it at all. I cannot get enough of yoga, and I don't think I need anything else. The mental benefits have also been extraordinary. Also doing it at a studio is completely different than doing it at home unless you have had training. I think it is because it is extremely difficult to keep up a vigorous pace at home and you're not getting direction (although videos do help). Also the feel of a room full of others is really incomparable. When I had a home practice it seems I did need the extra cardio and weights at the gym in addition.

I could not agree more with Rawchic who said: "Yoga & raw go hand in hand for me: the more raw I eat, the better I feel when I'm doing yoga because I'm clean & light. the more yoga I do, the more raw I want to eat because it makes me strong & focused."

Exactly how I feel!