Explorations in Yoga
About a decade ago, I took a free class with a new friend who was a yin yoga teacher. She was shocked that I didn’t have a daily yoga practice and like a Rottweiler with a rope, she clamped on and just would not let go.
You know those moments where you wish you could go back and stand up for yourself? Yeah, that. Her aggressiveness about it really turned me off of yoga, to be honest.
A few years ago, my physical therapist started recommending certain yoga poses for my lower back, knee, and other injuries. I had come to super appreciate physical therapy and her tying it in with yoga really opened things up for me.
With her guidance, I was able to sort of ease into yoga and let my curiosity guide me, rather than someone else’s opinion of what I should be doing.
Starter Poses
Let’s say you’re an absolute beginner and you’re imagining all these beautiful, toned, super fit yoga pros twisting themselves into pretzels, doing handstands (like the one pictured) and other super advanced poses…and you’re thinking, “My God, that’s never going to be me”.
Fortunately, there are some really gentle yoga poses (for absolute beginners) that even someone with a slew of joint injuries, like myself, can manage. I will be sharing them, via a list of instruction videos, below.
I don’t know how the yogis do it, but I think that if you try these out, in the order listed, you’ll notice a relatively smooth transition from one pose to the next – at least within the different types. I usually hold them for sixty seconds, each.
I was leaving the standing poses for the end, until I realized how silly that was. I don’t know about you, but the last thing I want to do, after a half hour of being on the ground, is hoist my body up and then do a balancing act. Seriously. The last time I went through these poses, I was so zonked that I ended up passing out on the floor for a solid twenty minutes. I never even got to the standing poses, to be honest. So, I’ve placed them at the beginning and left the reclining ones for the end.
Please keep in mind that every body is different. What works for my body may or may not work for yours. You may need to take extra care if you’re hyperflexible, suffer from joint stiffness, or both.
Please check in with your physical therapist or doctor before trying any of the yoga poses that I am sharing in this post. Please be especially careful if you have joint injuries, particularly involving your back and neck.
Also, I’m not a yoga teacher or even an advanced practitioner. I’m a beginner and what I’m sharing is from my relatively new perspective. I’m not telling you what to do or how to do it. I’m just sharing some poses that have worked for me and that you might benefit from checking out.
Yoga & Deep Healing
It’s common knowledge that yoga comes with many benefits for the body and mind. But, what’s behind it all? Is it just hype? Magic bestowed upon yogis by the Hindu Gods?
Well, it turns out that there’s solid science to it. In doing some research, my interest was especially piqued when I read that yoga can change the brain in some amazing ways. And, not only can it help to relieve stress, during the practice, it can also help to increase future resilience to stress. How cool is that?!
I have a ton of trauma from withstanding many years of abuse, neglect, and domestic violence as a child, plus additional traumas, as an adult. I’ve done healing work, on all levels, but it’s clear that there’s still more to be done.
The idea that practicing yoga could help me heal on such a deep level is definitely motivating me to do it more often and to share about it.
Now, you can’t just do yoga once and expect to be healed. Like with anything that changes our brains, practice, consistency, and time are required.
The Twenty Gentle Yoga Poses
From what I can tell with my newbie perspective (and the research that I’ve done), yoga poses are organized into the following major groups:
- Standing Poses
- Kneeling Poses
- Prone Poses
- Seated Poses
- Reclining Poses
I’ve laid out my suggestions within these groups in mind, to make things flow as gracefully as possible. It wouldn’t do to have you getting up and down every other pose, now would it?!
Give Them a Chance
Like anything new, some of these poses are probably going to feel awkward and unstable, at first. One of the great things about yoga, though, is that uses muscles that we don’t normally employ in our everyday lives, like the small stabilizing muscles that are focused on with physical therapy. Working on those muscles can lead to greater stability and support.
So, unless a pose just feels completely wrong for your body – you couldn’t pay me to do a bridge pose, for example – you might benefit by allowing time for your body and brain get used to it.
Learning from the Pros
I’ve decided to share a YouTube video for each of the twenty yoga poses that I’m suggesting, to make things easier for myself and for you.
Some of these teachers seem to really know what they’re doing, which is why I chose their videos. For example, I really like the gal from Yoga Screen, because she explains how each of the positions can help you and I like her teaching style, in general. That being said, I cannot guarantee any of these teachers’ work or expertise. Please use your own good judgement, when following the instructions and trying out the poses that I am sharing, below.
I’ve really benefitted from doing these yoga poses and I hope you like them, too. Here they are:
