Yoga is for skinny people.
Most definitely not. I for one, started my yoga journey at my heaviest, 79kg for a 1.64m Asian female.
I put in the effort, I turned up to class.
And the weight loss came naturally with the amount of energy I expend in every practice.
I speak with experience, and so do they:
Source: mynameisjessamyn, nolatrees
I have to be flexible to do yoga.
Source: Mauro Pilates
I disagree on this one as well! Excuse me, just saying… I started my yoga practice with the inability to physically touch my toes in a forward fold with straight legs. And downward facing dog was most definitely not a “resting pose” – as defined by a teacher once. I was struggling with all that weight on my arms and my heels were way off the ground.
I’d say, practice with awareness – use props, use modifications – go to a beginners’ class and ask your teacher how to modify the pose safely. With time and determination, you may be able to reach the state of “flexibility” which you aspire for! And if you don’t, find out why, and work on it. There may be a time when you realise that no matter what you do, there’s no way you can bend that far (for example, in bound angle pose) – and it may just be a matter of bone structure!
If that happens, let it go – there is no point holding on to something that doesn’t serve you if you end up hurting yourself for it.
Yoga is a “Girl sport”.
“Eeee, only girls do Yoga – so “gu niang”.”
First of all, Yoga isn’t a “Sport” – according to Wikipedia it is defined as:
“Yoga is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India. Yoga is one of the six orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy. “
A long, long time ago, yoga was actually a male-dominated practice. Perhaps now as well – since I have heard from a friend in my YTT course that she was very surprised when she came to Singapore and saw that Yoga is “female-dominated” – as it is mostly done by Males in India.
Okay guys. You might get this misconception due to how commercialised Yoga has become, and how it’s portrayed by slim, beautiful women.
“If you ask the average person what yoga is, they immediately think of a beautiful woman doing stretches and bends — that tells you how commercialized it has become, and how limited,” Phillip Golderg, spiritual teacher and author of “American Veda,” recently told the Huffington Post. “What yoga has meant for thousands of years is not just that.” – Source: Huffington Post
Don’t be shy though, come and join us ladies – studies show that there’s been a rise in Men doing Yoga, and may you be inspired by these strong men as well:
Source: DJ Townsel (@dade2shelby) , Dylan Werner (@dylanwerneryoga), Jared (@jared.fu)
More: Do You Yoga
