There are several types of yoga, but they all include three basic elements:
■ Breathing
Focusing on the breath is an important part of yoga and teachers instruct on breathing exercises in any yoga class.
■ Poses
The poses or postures are aids to boost strength and balance, while also helping flexibility.
■ Meditation
A short period of meditation is included with most classes and is usually at the end. This is to quiet the mind and leads to total relaxation. Many people say this is the best part — lying quietly and comfortably for a few minutes, before continuing the rest of the day.
Yoga was developed as a spiritual practice thousands of years ago. Today, most Westerners do yoga for exercise and to reduce stress. There are fast-paced and intense styles of yoga, but others are gentle and relaxing. The intensity level varies with the style.
A yoga instructor can help you decide which type is best for you. Techniques like hatha and iyengar yoga are gentle and slow. Bikram and power yoga are faster and more challenging.
Can yoga harm you? While generally safe, you can still hurt yourself if you do a pose incorrectly or push yourself too far. According to WebMD, some of the reasons to avoid some poses or modify them are if you are pregnant or have high blood pressure, glaucoma or sciatica.
If you have a health condition, discuss it with your doctor before you begin a yoga practice. Start slowly, if new to yoga, and learn basics to assure you are not reaching too far or too quickly. Even gentle stretching has benefits for suppleness, increasing blood flow and improving breathing.
Some people new to yoga worry about looking “weird” or not being able to manage the poses.
Teachers have ways to help modify a pose, using props, blocks, etc., to make it more comfortable. If any part of the body hurts, the instructors advise students to stop and rest or modify the movement.
Yoga targets many areas of the body:
■ Core
Yes, even your core and those troublesome love handles can be helped by certain poses that work those muscles.
■ Legs and arms
The arms aren’t built up with weights, but with the weight of your own body. The poses that involve legs work the thighs, hips and quadriceps.
■ Glutes
Those are helped by all the squats, bridges and deep-knee bends.
■ Back
Research has found that yoga may be good for a sore back. The moves that help that are the downward-facing dog, child pose and others that give the back a good stretch.
Yoga does promote flexibility and increases range of motion. It builds strength in the muscles of your arms, back, legs and core. Yoga is not competitive, but focuses on your own practice and goals. It is low-impact, so it doesn’t put a lot of stress on your joints.
Tri Yoga is a nonprofit that offers classes are offered in yoga studios in State College, Boalsburg, Spring Mills and Bellefonte. TriYoga is one style of yoga that anyone can enjoy.
“The emphasis is on rhythmic breath, spinal wavelike movements, and relaxation, even as the movements are performed,” said Theresa Shay, a senior Tri-Yoga teacher who brought the practice of Tri-Yoga to Central Pennsylvania in 2000 and has taught yoga for more than 20 years.
“Within the studios, there are different level classes and students can discover where they fit in. It is wise to start with a basic class that teaches the foundations of the postures and the transitions to the next poses,” said Mary Klingensmith, who teaches basics and therapeutics. She said that the therapeutic class is a more gentle class where the poses are held longer and is helpful for people with stiff joints or issues where the slower, more prolonged stretching is beneficial.
After a basic class or a beginner level, you could continue at home on your own with only a yoga mat and perhaps a couple of yoga blocks and a strap or two. (The straps are used to wrap around your feet when you give your legs a good stretch.) Most people seem to enjoy the friendliness and community in a group class, especially since yoga encourages students to work at their own pace.
The cost to practice yoga varies depending on the number of classes you take in a week and whether the classes are public or private.
