Revisit Your Thoughts On Yoga

Throw out the stereotypical impression you have about Yoga - it is much more than housewives chanting OM, deep breathing and excessive stretching. I am literally pouring sweat at the end of each class, and have noticed gains in strength and flexibility throughout my entire body. Yoga also unlocks freedom of mobility in joints and muscles leading to better posture and alignment, sitting at a desk all day is terrible for your body. Yoga massages internal organs, promotes blood flow to all areas of the body, protects your spine and generally improves your temperament. My recommendation is to give it a try - the first thing you'll need is to find a studio with good teachers and students.

Find Variety and Help in a Studio
I have been to a couple studios in New York - Bikram near Union (not worth the money), Yoga to the People (cheap and good for beginners), and Yoga Room in Astoria (expensive, but a good studio). On a recent trip to LA I visited Yoga Works, that place was on another level - the UCLA studio has great teachers and impressive students. It opened up my thoughts about what to expect from a studio. When learning anything new I think it's important to surround yourself with those that are better at it than you. I also think it's helpful to try as many styles as possible. So yesterday I joined Pure Yoga on the upper east - lets hope this new place will stand up to the test. Basically, I don't think it's possible to fully appreciate Yoga without a group of people around you challenging you and teaching you new things. Each studio is different and not everyone wants the same things from their studio- try out as many as possible.

Yoga Is For All Body Types
You don't have to be flexible to practice yoga, every pose has a modification or you can use a block to compensate for the distance you can't stretch. I use a block every practice - it's like any type of workout, good form and control allow each exercise to accomplish its intended goal. The helping/limiting muscles will strengthen and stretch in time.

Yoga builds strength and flexibility.
Flexibility is gained through the strengthening of muscles. Therefore if you have a goal of increased flexibility you will need to increase your strength as well. Yoga does them both and in a compact time frame. For me it is hard to get the same level of total body workout from the weight room that I achieve in Yoga. If I had the time I would do both regularly, because strength training with heavy resistance is something that Yoga cannot accomplish. But, for me (and the average person with limited time), it is much easier to work through a guided 1.5 hour yoga class than plan and motivate an hour long gym session.

Basically I'm saying remove the stereotype of a granola munching hippy-in-a-head-stand, and give yoga a try (In every studio I've been to there are more good looking women than bizzare health nuts... guy or girl straight or gay, you can't lose). Think about a brief trial membership somewhere or visit a donation based studio like Yoga To The People, they are cheap and commitment free. As long as it's not Hot Yoga (try that later), I bet you'll feel great after your first class. Make yourself try 3 classes in under a week and if it's not for you then you can tell me about how I might be turning into a kashi munching hippy myself.