I want to do Yoga, but don't even know where to start!

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

Hello,

I’m new to the forums, and was hoping to get some resources to begin yoga.

A little about myself. I’ve been overweight pretty much my entire adult life. At the beginning of this year, I was around 280 lbs. I decided enough was enough. I did the research, and have steadily been losing weight, through resistance training, diet, and cardio, and currently I’m at 243 lbs.

I am still continuing on my weight loss, and my goal is to reach around 210 lbs. I am 6’3", so I think that would be a good weight, especially since I have built some lean mass in the past 4 months.

So that’s the good news.

The bad news, is that I’m feeling the effects of physical activity on my joints, and I am having moderate pain in my lower back, every single morning I get up. I am only 29 years old, and I feel like an 80 year old man in the morning. It takes me 5 minutes to get up, because of LOWER BACK problems I have.

So that brings me to Yoga. I have always thought about doing yoga, but right now I am very serious about it. I want to my body to reach its best genetic potential. I’ve been losing weight, building lean mass, and now I want to combine that with yoga.

The problem is, I don’t know where to start. I used google, and found a website by a guy called AnmolMehta. Have you heard of this website? If so, would you recommend that this is a good starting place for me? The website is a little complicated at first, but I’m starting to get a hang of the outline/format.

I just wanted to know if its a good starting point. I haven’t ready his syllabus yet for the basic class, but I plan to. But before I get into it, just wanted to look for recommendations first.

On one hand, it seems like a FREE resource for a complete yoga program. But on the other hand, i realized that nothing can be that good, and nothing comes free. so is there some kind of catch to the program? is he going to make me buy stuff half way through?

Thanks, and sorry for the really long post.

#2

Hi MyronGaynes,

Welcome to the forum. Congrats on your determination and drive to fitness. Yoga practice will certainly add to your success, as well as helping with flexibility and joint relief, among many other things.

Your question comes up often here and I may sound like a broken record, but I truly believe that in order to gain the benefits of yoga practice you need to learn the proper practice for YOU. This really can only be done through a good teacher and, unless you can afford private instruction, the appropriate class.

As a studio owner, I am asked this question a lot. I always suggest an intro or beginner’s class. A lot of studios offer an inexpensive introductory special to help you try their studio. Pick a couple and try their intro offer, test the classes / teachers, and find one you resonate with. You will gain a lot more from yoga this way than from any on-line program.

#3

Hi,
As you seem to have a serious issue with your back (it is[B] not[/B] normal to take 5 mins to get up and have pain every day)…you should [B]go to classes[/B] with a properly qualified teacher/therapist who can help you.
Working with DVDs is OK just as reminder for those with yoga experience not for beginners it is easy for a beginner to misunderstand or do the exercise incorrectly and do more harm to themselves…or just work ineffectively.
I had not heard of this teacher before…but did look at one of his youtube videos, he claims it is for beginners but the exercises he is showing are not good…and absolutely NOT good if you have a back issue or back and/or abdominal weakness.
Please go to an appropriate class. Good luck and enjoy.

#4

Hello Myron,

You’ve opened a fairly complex thread and that complexity significantly reduces the likelihood of a sound reply. In short there are simply too many variables. I’ll cite a few here in order to peel the onion a bit.

Pain in your back can come from something going on physically, mentally, emotionally or nutritionally. When a sedentary person opts to move there are certainly physiological things that go on. Soreness is often one of them. However when soreness is not in muscles but rather in joints there is certainly cause to look deeper at what is going on.

When muscles are weak AND they are taxed AND that taxing does not remain in the muscle, then the connective tissue (tendons and ligaments) can be overused. Since that is closer to joints it can seem like joint pain. The work should remain in the muscles and not delve into the connective tissue.

If you are willing to be more descriptive relative to your weight training then we might find a culprit of the 80-year-old-man feeling. When are you lifting, how, with what duration, in what ways etcetera…these are the relevant questions. Of course if you are doing any sort of crunches and you are doing so without the supervision of a trained personal trainer then it’s likely you are aggravating hip flexors (read: not fully isolating abdominal) which often results in torquing the pelvis (read: lower back pain).

Nutrition would also be a factor in a body feeling 80 when it is not yet 30. This would be an entire post to itself and I’ve already prattled on.

An appropriate asana practice would be helpful. An inappropriate one would not. I say “asana” in order to delineate the poses or postures from a much larger forest of practice known as Yoga. Generally speaking a kind asana practice is far gentler on joints than any sort of weight training but it is not inherently so. Just depends on the doing.

#5

Classes with a properly qualified teacher.

#6

Dear Myron,

Congratulations for the decision you have made to get fit and seeking yoga.

You could start your practice from anywhere if there were no issue with your lower back, But now its going to be a lot better for you if you see a chiropractor to locate the issue and then find a yoga teacher to help you to get recovered from the issue.

Health is wealth.
Take good care of yourself.

[QUOTE=MyronGaynes;73452]Hello,

I’m new to the forums, and was hoping to get some resources to begin yoga.

A little about myself. I’ve been overweight pretty much my entire adult life. At the beginning of this year, I was around 280 lbs. I decided enough was enough. I did the research, and have steadily been losing weight, through resistance training, diet, and cardio, and currently I’m at 243 lbs.

I am still continuing on my weight loss, and my goal is to reach around 210 lbs. I am 6’3", so I think that would be a good weight, especially since I have built some lean mass in the past 4 months.

So that’s the good news.

The bad news, is that I’m feeling the effects of physical activity on my joints, and I am having moderate pain in my lower back, every single morning I get up. I am only 29 years old, and I feel like an 80 year old man in the morning. It takes me 5 minutes to get up, because of LOWER BACK problems I have.

So that brings me to Yoga. I have always thought about doing yoga, but right now I am very serious about it. I want to my body to reach its best genetic potential. I’ve been losing weight, building lean mass, and now I want to combine that with yoga.

The problem is, I don’t know where to start. I used google, and found a website by a guy called AnmolMehta. Have you heard of this website? If so, would you recommend that this is a good starting place for me? The website is a little complicated at first, but I’m starting to get a hang of the outline/format.

I just wanted to know if its a good starting point. I haven’t ready his syllabus yet for the basic class, but I plan to. But before I get into it, just wanted to look for recommendations first.

On one hand, it seems like a FREE resource for a complete yoga program. But on the other hand, i realized that nothing can be that good, and nothing comes free. so is there some kind of catch to the program? is he going to make me buy stuff half way through?

Thanks, and sorry for the really long post.[/QUOTE]

#7

Hi MyronGaynes,

I am facing similar problem a few months before: I want to start my exercise with Yoga, but do not know how to start. There are many related online Yoga classes and resources, but I am still quite confused.

Lucky me that I am using an Android smartphone, and I download quite a few top-rated free Yoga training Apps from Google Play Store. Some of the apps are really good and easy to start with. Most importantly, I can start my Yoga lesson anywhere anytime. And that’s good for me.

Hope my info is useful for you:p

[QUOTE=MyronGaynes;73452]Hello,

I’m new to the forums, and was hoping to get some resources to begin yoga.

A little about myself. I’ve been overweight pretty much my entire adult life. At the beginning of this year, I was around 280 lbs. I decided enough was enough. I did the research, and have steadily been losing weight, through resistance training, diet, and cardio, and currently I’m at 243 lbs.

I am still continuing on my weight loss, and my goal is to reach around 210 lbs. I am 6’3", so I think that would be a good weight, especially since I have built some lean mass in the past 4 months.

So that’s the good news.

The bad news, is that I’m feeling the effects of physical activity on my joints, and I am having moderate pain in my lower back, every single morning I get up. I am only 29 years old, and I feel like an 80 year old man in the morning. It takes me 5 minutes to get up, because of LOWER BACK problems I have.

So that brings me to Yoga. I have always thought about doing yoga, but right now I am very serious about it. I want to my body to reach its best genetic potential. I’ve been losing weight, building lean mass, and now I want to combine that with yoga.

The problem is, I don’t know where to start. I used google, and found a website by a guy called AnmolMehta. Have you heard of this website? If so, would you recommend that this is a good starting place for me? The website is a little complicated at first, but I’m starting to get a hang of the outline/format.

I just wanted to know if its a good starting point. I haven’t ready his syllabus yet for the basic class, but I plan to. But before I get into it, just wanted to look for recommendations first.

On one hand, it seems like a FREE resource for a complete yoga program. But on the other hand, i realized that nothing can be that good, and nothing comes free. so is there some kind of catch to the program? is he going to make me buy stuff half way through?

Thanks, and sorry for the really long post.[/QUOTE]

#8

Deciding that you want to start doing yoga is the first step.