by Rhianna Carlson

Created on: May 26, 2007

Basic Yoga Tips
Every person should know

Work on your Yoga style
Choose to pick and practice a much gentler form of yoga, such as Kripalu, Viniyoga, or also consider Integral Yoga. There are styles of yoga that are too vigorous for beginners and inflexible people, like Bikram, Ashtanga and Power Yoga.

Picking and Instructor that suits you
Find an instructor who is experienced, certified and really cares about your physical imitations and is not wanting to push you further than you can go at first. He or she can modify the pace, maybe offer alternative poses to meet your needs specifically. Never let an instructor try to force your body into any pose. A hands off approach should be imposed.

Warming up before starting
Get in ten minutes of warming up. Try easy movements to increase circulation, lubricate joins and ready your body to stretch. Go from simple to more difficult movements, you will feel much more comfortable if you could take these extra minutes before starting, rushing into a yoga session so quickly could be extremely harmful.

Avoid certain poses.
Poses like: The plow, full shoulder stand, headstand and full lotus should be avoided, this could only be attempted by experts.. These poses can place tremendous strain on joints and disks, which could lead to very serious lesions.

Protect your back.
Try to keep your knees, slightly bent and hinge from your hips when you bend forward from any standing position. Concentrate on opening the front (for arching backwards) of the body by lengthening from the navel to the sternum. Be very careful not to over-arch your lower back, as this will compress the lumbar disks a lot.

Protect Your knees.
Avoid locking your knees when in a standing posture/position. If any strain occurs while doing sitting or kneeling postures, place a cushion or folded blanket under your bottom to easy the pressure and to protect your knees.

Protect your neck.
Be sure you keep your neck in alignment. Also keep it aligned with the rest of your spine at all times, especially when arching backwards. Do not allow your neck to drop back or down.

Use comfortable clothing.
Comfortable, breathable clothes are highly recommended for yoga. You probably want to wear a shirt that is a little bit form-fitting, since in many yoga poses your head comes below your hips and your shirt can slide down. Exercise pants or shorts will also do, although it's best not to have super slick Lycra-type pants since in some poses this may cause you to slip.

Forget about shoes
Yoga is

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