yoga not good for me?

[kriz]

I'm wondering why I'm feeling like crap after each Power Yoga session. I've been there about 5 times, but I'm not motivated to go back because it makes me feel very strange for days, with lots of painful muscles, headaches, and a depressed mood. It feels good when I'm actually there, It's vigorous, but I like that part of it and it's not so hard for me to keep up. My friend, who's a beginner, LOVES it and says that she has found her thing. I must be the only soul on earth who does not like yoga, then. When I run or go to the gym, my muscles also ache sometimes (if I trained too hard), but it's accompanied with a positive feeling troughout my mind and body.

Could it be that yoga is not for everyone? What do you think could be the reason why my yoga experience is like this?

[jillian]

Maybe it's just that Power Yoga is not for you. It sounds like you're overextending yourself. Is the room heated (bikram-style) or are you generating a lot of heat? Heat tends to allow you to push yourself farther than perhaps you should go, particularly for newbies who are unsure of their own limits. Perhaps try a different style of yoga. Does the place where you take classes offer any alternative styles?

[kriz]

No, this particular place offers only Power Yoga. You might be right, I may overextend myself without noticing. Other types of yoga is, unfortunately, to slow for me...I'm a diffucult cookie I guess. Maybe I should just look at the slower type of yoga as an extention of my regular exercise, like a stretching session...

[vegancookie]

I've had a similar experience....the Power Yoga I went to was in a heated room....and I loved it my first time. But I went maybe 4 times after that and I always felt a weird sort of anxiety sometimes during and usually afterward. I didn't feel like I overexerted myself, I never really figured out what it was but I haven't been back in a long time. The only thing I can think of is maybe it was because it was really crowded and the shades were drawn. I tend to get anxiety easily anyway.

[kriz]

I love fast paced aerobic exercise, but maybe yoga is not meant to be aerobic...I don't know.

[jillian]

In reality, you might have better luck if you try one of the slower forms first, purely for stretching sake . . . rent a DVD or video, even, if you have to. This will get your body accustomed to basic moves and give you a sense of what is comfortable, what is a little bit challenging and what you really shouldn't be trying yet. If you do this first, perhaps you can jump back into Power Yoga . . . as long as you trust yourself to follow the advice your body gave you during a slower session.

[adam antichrist]

yoga is not exercise, it's meditation. I tend to think of yoga as a time for self nurturing, it's not about increasing flexibility or supplementing exercise, but enabling me to focus on individual muscles which are tense and neglected the rest of the time, thus making me more centred. If you feel bad afterwards, perhaps you may subconsciously be holding on to the things which are trying to be released...

sorry to get all hippy about it but really that seems to be how it works...

[kriz]

The thing is that I feel more relaxed and centered during my stretching session after a regular workout...Adam, don't you think it might be possible that certain people just don't respond well to yoga? My symptoms are so severe afterwards that I can barely function normally. I used to think until now that all types of exercise is good for EVERYONE (including yoga)...if not they're not doing it right or don't give it enough time...BUT now I'm not sure anymore.

[Tigerlily]

The same thing happened with me, but with tai chi. I only went to 1 lesson though. I felt like crap for a few days afterward.

[kriz]

Weird, huh, Tigerlily...

[adam antichrist]

The thing is that I feel more relaxed and centered during my stretching session after a regular workout...Adam, don't you think it might be possible that certain people just don't respond well to yoga? My symptoms are so severe afterwards that I can barely function normally. I used to think until now that all types of exercise is good for EVERYONE (including yoga)...if not they're not doing it right or don't give it enough time...BUT now I'm not sure anymore.

But... it's not supposed to be exercise, it is supposed to be meditation. What I am trying to say is if you change your attitude toward what you are doing you may have a different result.

[jillian]

But... it's not supposed to be exercise, it is supposed to be meditation. What I am trying to say is if you change your attitude toward what you are doing you may have a different result.

I wholly I agree with you with respect to "classic" yoga, but power yoga is another type of animal altogether. It's a bastardized yoga form altered to work up a little more sweat. I've never really cottoned to it. I do yoga for relaxation and meditation. I have my torture device, err, elliptical trainer for sweat.

[Tofu Monster]

i agree with a lot of the above comments. you should come out of a yoga class feeling mellow and chilled, not like you just went 10 rounds with mike tyson!

[Mr Flibble]

yoga classes at uni used to leave me all hot under the collar. We did it in a room with floor to ceiling mirrors on 2 walls and out of about 70 people in the class I was one of 3 guys, one of 2 hetrosexual guys

[kriz]

I wholly I agree with you with respect to "classic" yoga, but power yoga is another type of animal altogether. It's a bastardized yoga form altered to work up a little more sweat. I've never really cottoned to it. I do yoga for relaxation and meditation. I have my torture device, err, elliptical trainer for sweat.

So...then maybe the solution is taking a REGULAR yoga class for stretching, relaxation, and meditation, and get my workout in the gym instead.

[Gorilla]

i've tried yoga and didn't feel i was suited to it, i stuck at it for weeks as it was part of a course, it wasn't power yoga though it was gentle yoga with meditation. i used to feel awful (mentally more than physically) after the sessions and it got worse as i went along.