If yoga is new to you, you may be asking yourself: What can yoga do for me? How can yoga fit in with my existing exercise program (if any!)? You may have heard that practicing yoga promotes, on the one hand, inner peace and mental clarity, and on the other, greater flexibility, strength, and even weight loss. How exactly can I gain these benefits, and do I have the time?

There are an abundance of different types of classes to choose from these days as yoga approaches the mainstream. First, you may want to think about the reasons you wish to try yoga, since knowing your goals will be helpful in finding an appropriate style and teacher. If you are new to yoga, find a class where the poses are done slowly and with attention to correct alignment. Before class, mention to the instructor that this is your first class and also tell him/her if you have a particular injury or health problem. If you find it too intimidating to begin in a class setting, or your schedule cannot accommodate one, try contacting an established yoga center and ask if they offer private lessons. There are also many high-quality yoga videos on the market that could help you to begin or to supplement your classes.

Search for a yoga teacher or practice that inspires you. And remember, like all worthwhile things in life, yoga's gifts come through regular practice. It is critical to find a yoga teacher with whom you feel mutual trust and friendship because you are potentially opening up to all aspects of yourself. Your teacher should have a regular yoga practice and come from a lineage of good teachers. Having a knowledgeable teacher's eye and helping hand ensures that you are doing the asanas correctly.

You may also need assistance sometimes in adapting a pose to meet your body's abilities and needs. Always seek movements that are enjoyable to you. If an asana hurts, find ways to modify the pose. Yoga is a source of deep body and mind awareness. Find a practice that inspires you to move and relax. While doing a pose, notice the quality of your breath, movements and mind. Your body should be energetic but soft, your breath easy and your mind alert. Notice if your class or practice helps to bring balance and awareness to your body's structure and to your breath. Your practice should allow you the open space and time to pay attention to what your body, mind, and spirit need each new day. You might ask yourself: How does this pose feel now? How might it be more beneficial for me? How is my breathing: is it smooth and flowing, or rough, strained, and uneven? Does my mind wander? This kind of self-inquiry is a wonderful way of creating mindfulness, bringing your mind to this moment.

Noticing the tendencies of your thoughts is an important step toward attaining clarity. Through observing your breath, the intermediary between mind and body, you begin this transformational process called yoga.

Yoga and Fitness

If you choose to use yoga in conjunction with or in preparation for your existing fitness program, observe what your body needs so that your preparation does not cause injury. You should ease into yoga poses as your body warms up. Begin slowly, paying attention to what your body feels like today. You may find it helpful to go for a short brisk walk or bike ride to increase your heart rate and your body's general circulation before beginning your yoga session.

There are also specific sequences of movements in yoga that help to warm up the body. One is the "cat" pose (as described below) and another is the sun salutation (this is a sequence of movements that begins with reaching the arms upward and then folding the body forward). Once your body is warm and your mind is attentive, your muscles have a "juicy" quality to them and can be stretched without strain.

The poses in yoga have one or more of the following effects on muscles and organs: they SQUEEZE, SOAK or SPREAD. In order for each part of ourselves to feel unrestricted and healthy, we need to move in every direction. We need to explore our full range of motion and then create even more movement where we thought there was none. Forward-bending is as important as back-bending; twisting is as important as sitting straight and tall. A simple torso twist squeezes the organs and aids your digestive and circulatory system in removing waste products. Once the twist is released, your muscles have spread and your organs are "soaked" with a fresh supply of nutrients and oxygen. Inversions (being upside down) give you a whole new perspective on the world, as well as build up your immune system.

Yoga poses work deeply in our bodies to release tension held in muscles and to promote the health of our digestive, circulatory, respiratory, and lymphatic systems. Yoga poses, when executed well, balance your muscles and bones. Your bones provide your structure, and your muscles move the bones. When your muscles allow your bones to be stacked one on top of the other, in balance with gravity, you are "in alignment." Structural imbalances are often caused by muscles that are tight and weak and such imbalances may have adverse reactions in other parts of your body. For example, tightness in the low back and hips can pull your pelvis out of a "stacked" alignment which could potentially be the cause of knee or ankle injury, or a tightness in the shoulders and upper back can be the cause of headaches or compression of the lungs so that breathing fully is difficult.

Balance between strength and stretch is achieved through a static stretch of one group of muscles while the opposing, or supportive, group is engaged. An example of this is in a standing forward bend, you release (stretch) the backs of your legs, the hamstrings, while engaging, or "lifting", the thigh muscles. Move gradually into each pose as bouncing or jerking movements send a message to the brain for the muscles to shorten. Staying in a pose allows time for a different message to be sent to the brain for the center of the muscle fibers to elongate. Lengthening your muscles may take some time and patience as they may have been "instructed" to contract and shorten repeatedly, over years and years, without time to also release and stretch. However, the pay-off if you persevere is great, as you receive the ancillary benefits of increased energy and mental focus from your improved circulation.

Breathing is essential, without breath there is no life. Muscles respond to the way you are breathing as you enter a pose, while you "hold" a pose, and as you come out of a pose. Breath is the key to relaxing into your body. Notice what happens when you move into an uncomfortable position. Often we hold our breath to refrain, we think, from really experiencing the discomfort. Yoga offers us techniques to move through these areas where we are afraid or simply tight. Try counting your breaths (breath in and out as one count) to challenge yourself to stick with a position for a designated amount of time.


This is a very simple way of experiencing how breath links mind and body. Work towards making your breathing soft, yet steady and strong. A yoga pose that initiates awareness of your breathing, increases general circulation, and is also a wonderful warm-up for your spine, is the "cat pose." Start on your hands and knees in "table position." As you exhale, curve your back so that your abdomen moves upward towards your spine and your head moves toward your pelvis like a cat on the defensive. Next, inhale to arch your back into a sway back, tilt your hips forward as you look up to the ceiling, and pull your shoulder blades down your back. Move smoothly back and forth between these two parts of the pose with your breath: inhaling to arch, exhaling to round your spine. Try this several times, then rest your hips back on your heels and stretch your arms forward into "child" pose. Notice how breathing with these movements of your body creates a dynamic feeling that your movements are intentional and flowing.

Yoga is a journey. The more you practice, the more your desire to practice will grow as you internalize the benefits. Begin right where you are and see where the journey leads you.




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INTRODUCTION TO YOGA

SARAH PLUMER'S BIO