Category Archives: Fitness and Yoga

A few things you should expect from a Hatha Yoga class

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If you are looking to give yoga a try, a hatha yoga class is a good place to start.

Look for the hatha yoga classes on the timetable in fitness clubs like David Lloyd’s and Bannatyne’s. Or you might see adverts for hatha sessions in local community centres and church halls.

you should expect from a Hatha Yoga class

In the UK, hatha yoga is seen as a gentle form of practice, compared to the more demanding ashtanga or power yoga. In actual fact hatha yoga is the oldest type of yoga practiced by people all over the world. It is a common framework from which all the more modern interpretations have evolved.

So ashtanga yoga, which is a set series of poses performed in the same order ever time, owes as much of its roots to hatha, as power yoga (a faster series of moves which are more aerobically challenging), bikram yoga (practiced in a very hot room), and freestyle fitness yoga (taught without reference to any traditional pose names). All of them have been developed from the same starting point.

Nevertheless, hatha yoga is now often synonymous with a gentler form of practice suitable for beginners.  If you like it you can progress to a more challenging form later, but wherever you end up you will still see some common features.

Hatha yoga embraces “8 limbs”, or foundations. of which those relating to poses/exercises (asanas), breathing (pranayama), meditation and concentration are most prevalent. Sometimes the more spiritual elements are also represented but many people just seeking the physical side choose not to focus on these.

You can expect doing hatha yoga to improve your flexibility and joint range of motion, but this just one of the physical benefits. Others include:

  • Better cardiovascular efficiency
  • Better respiratory efficiency
  • Increase in breath-holding time
  • A calmer an more relaxed body
  • Better dexterity skills
  • Better posture
  • Better strength and resiliency
  • Higher energy levels

Overall it can just help improve your feeling of well being.

So what you should expect from a hatha yoga class?

Usually the class begins in a seated position with an introduction to deep breathing. Then  some seating poses, perhaps a few twists. Some classes will offer a “sun salutation” which is a sequence of exercises to warm up the body. There will be core strengthening work. You’ll try some forward and side bending poses and hip and chest opening moves. And my favourite, the standing strength exercises. You might break a sweat but this is not an aerobically challenging class.

Throughout the class you might hear names given to the exercises, “Warrior Two” for example (there are three kinds of warrior pose – and this is the second of three). Sometimes the teacher might use the ancient name for the pose (“Virabhadrasana 2“). It can be confusing but don’t let it put you off. Just concentrate on the position of your body rather than what the exercise is called.
you should expect from a Hatha Yoga class

At the end of the class you get the opportunity to lie still and return your attention to your deep breathing. This is a lovely, calming moment and allows you to reflect on what you have achieved.

So that’s what to expect from a hatha yoga class. Give it a try. It is great for your mind and for your body.

Over to you: Have you recently tried a hatha yoga class. What did you think? Have I described it well in general or did you feel differently? Are you thinking of giving it a go? Are there any other questions that you have? Please leave a comment below or send me a message.

If you want a more vigourous type of yoga, read my blog about power yoga and how challenging that can be.

What is the answer to, “How long will it take to get flexible by doing Yoga?”

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You don’t need to be flexible to do yoga. But by practising yoga you will become flexible. That’s a fact. I’ve written about it on this blog before. I am living proof that it works and I’ve seen the effect on the people who come to my classes. The big question people ask next is, “How long will it take to get flexible by doing yoga?”

Let me tell you about what happened to me and then I’ll answer that. Before I started going to yoga classes, a long time before I decided I wanted to teach it, I wasn’t flexible. Not at all. I was a typical male into running and weight training combined with little or no stretching. By muscles were short and tight. I couldn’t touch my toes when I bent over. In fact I couldn’t reach any lower than my knees.

How long will it take to get flexible by doing yoga

The first yoga class I did was a relatively easy hatha class. Basic poses and some deep breathing. I found some of them difficult because of my inflexibility. But the teacher as great. She told me not to over exert and to take it easy. I ached the following day, but stuck at it. After a few weeks I definitely felt more flexible. I still couldn’t touch my toes but I felt I could get lower. Even if it was only an inch.

I’ve now been participating and then teaching for nearly 10 years and do you know what? I can touch my toes now. With my legs dead straight with no bend at the knees. I’m not sure exactly when it happened. But one day in a forward fold I suddenly thought, “Hey. I can touch my toes.” I was so happy. It felt like a great achievement.

What I can’t do however, in downward facing dog, is press my heels flat  into the floor like some even more flexible people can. I probably never will be able to do this. I definitely won’t ever be able to wrap my feet behind my ears. Sometimes individuals are just not built that way.

But It doesn’t matter. You just go as far as is comfortable.

I wasn’t flexible before I started doing yoga but by doing yoga I have become much more flexible. So going back to the question, “How long will it take to get flexible by doing yoga?”

The answer is different times for different people. But that doesn’t matter either.

You will become more flexible than you currently are as soon as you start practising yoga. And you will become even more flexible, in whatever small or large degree, every time you practice again. The complete journey to flexibility might be a long one or a short one. That’s not what is important. The important thing is making the first step on the journey.

Over to you: Were you like me? Short tight muscles and no flexibility? How has yoga improved you? Are you looking to start taking yoga classes? Are there any other questions that you have? Please post a comment, or a question, or anything you like in the box below.

CXWorx core fitness class gaining ground in Edinburgh

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CXWorx is a slightly odd name for a fitness class. But don’t let that put you off because for a 30 minute class which focusses on core training exercises, CXWorx really does work. I can testify to the tightness in the tummy muscles it brings and the fires it ignites in the gluteals. Half an hour of torture, great music, weight plates and stretchy bands will leave you exhausted but elated.

CXWorx core fitness class

Les Mills the creators of Body Pump brought this revolutionary fitness class to the UK at the start of 2012. I wondered if it would be a little slow to take off. Not because of any flaws in the workout, CXWorx works as I said, but because some clubs appear reluctant to pay for another licence. Maybe they think their PTs can put something similar together.

Whilst take up as been slow down south, CXWorx is starting to gain a strong foothold in Edinburgh. Blazing the trail has been Edinburgh Leisure who have introduced many classes across the city. David Lloyd have followed and I hope others are interested. Les Mills have held 2 instructor training modules already and more are to follow.

One of my fitness instructor friends has already trained in CXWorx and Karl Fitzpatrick on his Group X site comments as follows:

“30 minutes passed. And job done. Ouch. But you love it. Get the lovely feeling of ache. Knowing you’ve earned it.”

And another is about to take the plunge and do the training – in his CXWorx Blog, Simon Philp reminds us about the benefits of the class:

“Formulated with a carefully structured, scientific approach and unforgiving intensity, Les Mills CXWORX tightens and tones, improves functional strength and assists injury prevention like nothing else.”

So should I consider doing the CXWorx training module?

After I qualified as a yoga teacher in 2010, and as I now teach Body Combat, Body Balance, Power Yoga and Hatha Yoga, I said no more. But there is something about CXWorx. It’s chipping away at my resolve. And as the class gains ground in Edinburgh so too does the feeling that my portfolio might not yet be complete.

Over to you: Have you trained on CXWorx? What did you think of the training module course?Are you a participant? What do you think about the CXWorx core fitness class? Have they made any noticeable difference to your core strength? Please post a comment below and let me know.

If you enjoyed this blog you might like to try this one as well:

“Is Yoga Safe?” – This dilemma puts off the uncertain and provides an excuse for the procrastinators

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I spend quite a bit time convincing people to try yoga. I want to convince those that think it is some wacky religion that, in fact, it is a great form of exercise. And if they want to take it further, a healthy way of life. For those, especially men, who think it is too easy, I tell them about power yoga. To people who think it might be too hard I talk to them about less arduous forms of hatha yoga.

is yoga safe?

The fact is that there is a form of yoga to suit everyone’s individual needs. But whichever you choose, your strength and flexibility will improve. You’ll find your posture gets better, and you will feel you have higher energy levels. If you explore the meditative aspects of yoga you might feel calmer and more relaxed.

Despite the obvious positive benefits people often ask, “Is yoga safe?”. In fact Google those three words and you will find it is a question asked frequently all over the world. I think this has been prompted by some alarmist articles published in the media over the last year claiming that people have been hurt doing yoga. There was a particularly doom and gloom piece in the New York Times which was quoted all across the globe in many more newspapers.

We really need to read such articles in context. Everything we do in life carries a risk. You don’t stop boiling a kettle because there is a possibility you might get scalded. You just keep your hands clear of the spout when the steam comes out. Crossing the road might not be the safest thing to do, but we look right, look left and look right again before we cross in order to be avoid being hit by a car.

Thousands of people are hurt or killed in car accidents each year but we don’t stop driving, we just buckle up and take care.

is yoga safe?

The newspaper article in question quotes a very small number of yoga injuries. Hundreds of people actually also get hurt running, weight training and cycling but the journalist did not offer this comparison. Yoga is no more or less unsafe than any other form of exercise as long as you take care as you would with anything else you do in your daily life.

Check with your Doctor first if you have any issues or injuries, or you are pregnant (and yes yoga is safe for pregnancies). And then as long as you have a good qualified teacher who can give you options to suit your own range of motion, and you don’t seek to exceed your abilities, or be pressured into exceeding them, then yoga is safe. This simple checklist is the yoga equivalent of buckling up.

Sadly articles like that one in the New York Times just give uncertain people another reason not to give yoga a try. And for those genuinely looking to procrastinate, they can provide the perfect excuse to stay on the sofa.

Over to you: If you are a participant how have you found your yoga classes? Were you put off by worries about safety? If you are a yoga teacher what do you do to over come these fears? Please leave a comment and let’s have a debate about it.

If you liked this blog here are some other yoga topics: