Here I have collected some of the questions I often encounter when I teach.
I'm not very flexible, will I be able to go to yoga?
One of the big misunderstandings about yoga is that it is only about flexibility and that you have to be flexible to be able to practice yoga. Yoga will make you more flexible and agile, but it is not necessary to have this flexibility to begin with.
Yoga is a tool for working with your body and through continuous training to build greater strength, balance, spaciousness, flexibility and agility (mental as well as physical). Yoga is about balance, and all poses are performed with a focus on creating balance, between strength and flexibility, the front and back of the body, mentally and physically in the body, etc.
Roughly speaking, you can say that your physical and mental starting point can tell you a little about what you can expect to achieve with yoga, so look at it this way, the more challenged you feel you are right now, the greater the gains you will experience from yoga.
This is not to say that you cannot achieve anything by practicing yoga if you, for example, is already very flexible. Yoga gives you exactly what you need here and now, whether it's balance, strength, mental strength or calm you're looking for, then that's exactly what yoga gives you.
Yoga can be adapted to everyone regardless of starting point, age and physique. It's just about getting started.
Can I bring my own mat to yoga?
Many people prefer to train on their own training mat, so of course you are always welcome to bring your own mat.
If, on the other hand, you want to take a mat with you to increase the thickness of the normal training mats, I recommend instead that you use a folded blanket for the exercises where you think the mat seems too thin, e.g. below the back knee in Low Lunge. It is important that the mat is not too thick, as we want to have good contact between our feet / hands and the ground in all supporting / standing poses. It is precisely here that we work with the balance and the basic feeling of having contact with the earth (being "grounded").
Should I bring water to yoga?
I often find that students take a bottle of water with them to training. Unless you choose to practice a form of Hot Yoga where you may be in danger of dehydrating, you do not need to bring liquids with you to Yoga.
Yoga consists of a large number of twists, forward and backward bends, all of which massage the internal organs, including the stomach, which is why it is not necessarily appropriate to consume liquid during the exercise. In addition to the purely physical exercises, in yoga we build up an internal body heat which helps to make it easier for muscles and joints to perform, among other things, deep stretches. Therefore, it is not an advantage to try to cool down the body with cold liquid during training.
On the other hand, it is always a good idea to drink water after training.
Can I eat before training?
When the body is digesting food after a meal, it does not have the same resources and energy to perform physical activity, which is why many of us feel heavy and more tired right after a meal.
Yoga consists of both dynamic and more passive exercises, but common to both is that you work intensely with the whole body. Although yoga may look very calm from the outside, you use all the muscles of your body in connection with the training. In addition, there are many forward bends, back bends and twists in yoga, all of which help the body to remove waste by massaging the internal organs.
So avoid eating a large meal for up to 2 hours before the yoga practice, a snack or similar can be eaten approx. 1-1 1/2 hours before.
Can I practice yoga even if I am in a "heavy" period?
Yoga is precisely the perfect tool to loosen up and alleviate many physical and psychological symptoms. Many forms of exercise deplete the body's energy reserves, yoga is one of the few forms of exercise that increases energy levels and recharges you.
Yoga increases oxygen absorption in the body, generates energy, clears the brain, improves your sleep quality and relieves pain. Yoga calms the sympathetic nervous system (which controls our fight or flight reflex), which helps to limit stress, muscle tension, anxiety and nervousness, etc.
So unless you are seriously injured or ill, e.g. with a fever, you are always welcome.
What clothes should I wear to yoga?
You should wear clothes that is comfortable to move in, without any too tight places. It is an advantage to have close-fitting flexible clothes, so the top, for example, does not "fall" into your face in forward bends and more inverted poses. If you know you get cold easily, you may want to have a pair of socks and a sweater to put on during the final meditative exercise. (usually Savasana)
Yoga is performed in bare feet on a mat.
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