Can you teach us how to Yoga?

darqness

My wife just had twins in June, and now we're looking to tighten our bodies up. Not to mention that we want to start taking better care of ourselves since we have to stick around as long as we can for these little ones.

I am not very flexible, and neither is my wife. We're hoping Yoga can help us with this. Does anyone have recommendations for Yoga routines/programs or are they all mostly the same? And what else do we need? I imagine we'll need mats since our floor is slick hardwood. Ideally we would like it to be a 15-20 minute thing every day that we do in conjunction with the couch to 5k program.

schuss

First:
Find some recommendations and go to a good place in your area and let the instructor know that you're looking to develop your own daily program. Getting the positions correct is key to getting real benefit out of yoga, and if you just use a dvd or something, you'll slack on posture because you don't know what the correct position feels like. From there the instructor can probably recommend a daily routine. I don't recommend starting with Bikram though (that's the yoga in a 100 degree room)

Lail

I would recommend that you check out a yoga studio or your local rec centre and do a couple of drop in classes before doing yoga at home. It's really easy to think you're holding a pose properly, but a subtle adjustment can make all the difference. And a good instructor will make sure you're doing everything right. Plus they'll change up the routine from class-to-class to keep things interesting and fun.

However, since the addition of kids may make it harder for you two to get out to a class... I would assume any video series would do (I can't recommend one unfortunately). If you're on hardwood you'll want a mat for sure and possibly blocks to help for certain poses if you're really inflexible.

I would also suggest looking into Pilates too. I have taking a few Pilates classes from time to time and really enjoyed them as well.

grouch993

I recently had a yoga instructor that came to our home for weekly sessions. Helps if you have an open room with a hard floor but carpet can work, just a little more balance trouble.

Rikushix

schuss wrote: »

First:
Getting the positions correct is key to getting real benefit out of yoga, and if you just use a dvd or something, you'll slack on posture because you don't know what the correct position feels like.

Nailed it. The advantage of going to yoga classes is that you have the instructor there to correct you. Good ones (depending on what you're comfortable with) will tell you quietly that you need to correct something or even press very gently on (as silly as this sounds) a part of you that's not in the correct position. You get the most out of it when you're doing the poses properly.

After trying it, I decided it really wasn't my thing, but only because I'm super busy and I'm also incredibly impatient when it comes to physical fitness. As far as flexibility goes, you'll feel amazing after a suitable period of time.

edit: I am just going to reiterate what others have already said: you wouldn't believe how the subtlest of changes to your posture affects how a pose feels/what impact it has on your body. Without an instructor, or some very good guides at the very least, it's all to easy to get into a "rut" of thinking you're getting the positions right when you're actually not.

darqness

Thanks for the input everyone. It sounds like we'll have to start with classes so we have someone who actually knows what they're doing to correct us. It'll be tough with newborn twins, however I'd rather we do it right. Is there a dress code for Yoga classes? I know you always see people wearing skin tight clothing in the videos, and I assume that's because it's more functional. But I would rather stay away from that clothing if there's something more comfortable for men.

EDIT: I just told my wife that it would be best to start with classes and she actually has a close friend who is an instructor!

schuss

I always did yoga in sweatpants and a t-shirt. If they truly are a close friend, make an offer of "show us to yoga, we'll take you out to dinner" or something.

darqness

Her normal cost to teach in house is $50.00, however she said she would get us a better deal.
Hopefully it's $25.00 which would cost less than dinner for three (four if her husband comes!).

Lail

Dress code: Wear whatever you feel comfortable moving around in. I'd either wear track pants or shorts and a t-shirt. My stuff was often looser as I felt I could move around better in it.

Edit: oops, nevermind!