Namaste,
I'm hoping to cover a few questions in this post, that I've been asked countless times, by people of all different age groups and abilities! I'm sure you've wondered about some of these yourself as well, and hopefully, my answers can set off a train of thought and motivate you to get on your mats sometime in the near future!
Do I need to be flexible to start Yoga?
The simple answer is no, you do not!
As with any other fitness regime, there is no pre-requisite to start it (pun intended for all VIT students who have done a round or more of Course Registration). Again, you would ask me, "How can you say you don't need to be flexible when every Asana I see requires flexibility?" So to answer this I ask you, think back to when you were just a kid, could you already walk the moment you stood up for the very first time? Of course not, right? If you could, then what's all the hype about? Remember back to the first time you were thrown into a pool as a kid, did you already know how to swim? I'm guessing not! A lot of mammals can do this, but we are not one among them. We wouldn't spend our time perfecting our individual fitness levels if we could all do them effortlessly, to begin with! The same thing with Yoga, you don't need to be Flexible, you learn to be! You might actually be more flexible than you expect, which I found to be the case when I first started, and even to this day, it holds true. You might be able to do more in Yoga postures than you thought. If you can do a plank, then you're doing Santolanasna! If your stretching to touch your toes, you're doing Padahastasna! See, there are two asanas you can already do that you didn't know was a part of Yoga!
Can I lose weight by doing Yoga?
I'm going to answer both sides to this coin here, yes, you can lose weight through Yoga, and you can gain weight through Yoga. This is another widely asked question and a misconception that Yoga doesn't enable you to lose weight, it only makes you flexible. If you're someone who thinks this, then you cannot be more wrong! As a follow-up question, you'd ask me "Okay, but how long will I take to lose weight if I start Yoga now?"
So, I'm going to answer your question with some questions of my own that will probably prove my point much better than I can explain. If you run, how long did it take you to run your first 5km, 10km, 21km when you started? If you're a swimmer, how long did it take you to do a 100m lap without stopping in between? If you're a gym buff, how long before you could deadlift 50-70kgs comfortably? It takes you the same amount of time, practice and effort to lose weight with Yoga. Yoga can be cardio, Yoga can be your warm-up, Yoga can be your cool-down, Yoga can be meditative. So, it obviously depends on how you practice and what type of postures and dynamic poses you do!
From my personal experience, I was about 6-8kgs underweight before I started Yoga, and I saw my weight consistently increase after the first year of consistent practice. So, if you're willing to wait for a year to see results with going to the gym, running, walking, swimming, tennis, badminton, golf and what-not, then I highly suggest you be as patient with Yoga, and you will see you reap more benefits than you sowed!
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