How to make progress in yoga if it's not your strong point

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

This article is rather not for those who love yoga and do it constantly, but for those who use it for cross-training. Often such people find it difficult to study, since it is difficult, sometimes boring and quite often accompanied by extremely unpleasant physical sensations. In such cases, you need to come up with a worthwhile goal and confidently go towards it.

Choose the right target

First you need to determine your level and set a real goal for yourself. In principle, it is believed that nothing is impossible and with a certain level of diligence and constancy, you can perform any pose. Therefore, step number 2 after choosing a certain posture for which you are striving is to start attending yoga classes. You must measure your level in the chosen pose, of course, modified (all difficult poses have simpler options). This is necessary so that you can track your progress.

Get instructions from a coach and practice at home

You must choose a set of exercises that will help you develop the necessary skills: strength, flexibility, balance, and so on. Doing it yourself, especially if yoga is not your forte, is difficult and fraught with injuries, so it is better to consult with a teacher.

After that, it is not necessary to constantly attend yoga classes, since you can do simple exercises at home by selecting suitable videos on the same YouTube. And you can come to the teacher when you need to make the next qualitative leap.

Record your progress

Keep a sports diary and keep track of your progress. In the process of transforming a pose from a simpler to a more complex one, it can slow down, because we can never say with one hundred percent certainty how our body will behave if we change the angle of inclination, for example, to the leg by at least a few degrees.

It is best to take photos or shoot short videos to record progress. It is imperative to go to the next level with a coach who will correct mistakes and put you in the right way. After that, fix this in a photograph and try to remember at the level of sensations how the new modification is performed correctly. To be sure, you should go to classes several times in a row.

Advice

In order for progress to be noticeable and new skills firmly entrenched in your body, you need to follow fairly simple rules:

• Constantly work on strength, flexibility, and balance, not only in your chosen pose, but also through other exercises.
• Never forget to warm up before your main workout! Stretching temporarily changes your perception of pain, so once you warm up properly, you can move a little further without much discomfort.
• Make simpler modifications to your chosen pose: they help develop more strength, flexibility and endurance to achieve the desired result.
• Use auxiliary sports equipment: special blocks, rollers or rubber bands. They will back you up with difficult exercises and help you avoid injury.
• Don't forget about the psychological side of preparation. Perhaps you are afraid of falling, and this fear, not a lack of physical fitness, can be the main obstacle to achieving your goal - learning how to perform a headstand or scorpion pose.

Exercises

Low plank

This is one of the easiest positions in the advanced category, so we will have it first.

Crow pose

The first video shows the simplest option, from which it all starts.

The second video is an advanced modification.

Headstand

Before learning how to do the headstand, you will go through several intermediate stages. We have selected several training videos for you, but it is advisable to perform your first stance under the strict guidance of a trainer, since neck injuries are very serious.