Yoga Effects on the Body

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

Greetings to everyone.

I posted a few months ago asking for suggestions about starting yoga and yoga teachers in general. So I was able to start yoga practice with a teacher, since April. While I have enjoyed the practice so far, there have been certain things that have been bothering me, and so thought I should post here and ask for advice.

I have done some kung fu in the past, and so doing yoga has been a very big change for me. One consequence has been that my shoulders and forearms that used to be pretty broad, have “shrunk” quite a bit after I took up yoga ! And in general I have become much thinner (in forearms, shoulders and legs especially) than before. I was never a muscular guy, and the last thing I need is to be losing whatever little of it I have !

My routine consists of 30mins of practice everyday (stretching, 1-2 standing poses, plank pose, downward facing dog…).

What do people think? My body was very responsive to the kung fu exercises and I was able to develop very good strength (strong bones, and muscles) relatively quickly. I am expending the same amount of effort on yoga, but I seem to be regressing !

Thanks in advance.
Andy

PS: I understand that yoga is not about “building muscles”. But I am finding it very difficult to come to terms with my present situation !

#2

Hello Andy,

You’ve already hit on several points in your post. I’ll simply reiterate them for those lurking…an asana practice is not a Yoga practice. Neither an asana practice nor a yoga practice is particularly designed for what the body should look like. Both, to degrees, may provide a level of wellness depending on the integrity of the doing.

The asana practice you outline is very nice to move the body, pump the lymphatic system, move the awareness into the physical form, and develop a sense of discipline in the practice. However it, as outlined, may not be a practice to maintain body mass.

My sense of the practice is that when it is done with a certain level of integrity (which could be a post all its own) that it moves us toward a state of balance. For some that may be losing weight. For others it may be gaining weight. The perception of what a body should look like here in the western hemisphere is obviously tainted, unsound, and distorted.

Metabolism, to me, is a bit tricky and without knowing how you are living, what you are eating, and what your overall activity level is, it is incredibly difficult to give you direction in that regard.

You can do all the practice under the sun and that practice can appear “perfect” (externally) and yet it can be relatively devoid of the actions and energies deeply engrained in yoga. It is for this reason that I abhor “five yoga moves to ______ your ______”. These sorts of things tell you what to put where but often provide nothing of the actual engagement of the posture and so the student is not only misinformed about the practice but also robbed of its juices.