Yoga for 'plus' size? - 3 Fat Chicks on a Diet Weight Loss Community

Mini-Me · 05-01-2006, 12:52 PM

I just read THIS ARTICLE about plus size yoga classes. I'd love to find a class that featured people that 'looked like me'.

Has anyone found a class? did you notice a difference in the insturction?

ckatgo · 05-02-2006, 06:44 AM

modify, modify, modify...thats the name of the game in yoga. You can go to just about any class, except the more power yoga, ashtonga (sp?...its early..LOL) class, you may want to stay way from them, but use props, blocks, straps, and modify the poses, you will eventually get to the point you can so the full pose (over time)

Less of Lena · 05-02-2006, 09:15 AM

Last week I rented a Yoga Conditioning for Weight Loss DVD (never did yoga before, save one class, 7 years ago). I found it so intriguing, I ordered 2 more plus a Tai Chi one. According to Amazon, they should be here today or tomorrow.

One of the Yoga ones was Megan's, Just My Size Yoga. When it gets here, and after I get a few sessions in, I'll let you know how it went!

Less of Lena · 05-02-2006, 09:18 AM

Oh, thanks for the link! I searched for yoga sites all last week and never came across that one. That one is fantastic! I've bookmarked it!

northernbelle · 05-02-2006, 10:24 AM

I don't think it matters what size you are. Yoga can benefit anyone. I can't do the poses all the way, due to age-related stiffness and arthritis. So I do the poses as far as I can. Over the last two months, I have increased my range of motion and am progressing. It's fantastic!

NotTheCheat · 05-02-2006, 10:38 AM

Well, being the size I am, I do think it matters what size you are because certain things just don't go certain places when there is so much in the way.

That said, I have the Just My Size DVD with Megan Garcia and really enjoy it. I can't do the one near the end where you stand on your feet and hands in a V, but other than that I can do most of it. On occasion I also prop myself up on the stability ball for the part on hands and knees because depending on the day it can start to hurt my wrists. I would definitely give it a try.

Less of Lena · 05-02-2006, 11:02 AM

While I assume it's true that yoga can benefit everyone (I can't say from personal experience, since I haven't really done it), I do think size plays a part in it. Someone without boobs or a belly can manipulate herself into positions that her well-endowed sister can't, without modification. That's not to say the well-endowed woman isn't benefitting or shouldn't do yoga. It's just saying that I'm assuming a pose will look somewhat different when a size 24 does it as opposed to a size 4.

I'm looking forward to getting my DVDs so I can have first-hand experience!

kykaree · 05-02-2006, 12:19 PM

I attend a "normal" yoga class. I am still very much plus size. Any instructor worth their salt will modify poses and make you feel included, it's all within the yoga philosophy.

Having said that, I think plus size yoga is a fabulous idea. I have a fairly high tolerance for embarrassment, and it doesn't bother me that my bottom, in certain positions, can be seen from the space shuttle! But not everyone has my sense of "it just doesn't matter what I look like"

My teacher is 60+ is tiny, and very flexible, but she has 30 years experience, and still remembers very clearly what it was like to be a beginner and taps into that feeling to help us.

I would encourage anyone to attend a class, it's so much better than dvd's as just subtle errors can really affect your yoga practice.

heretolose · 05-10-2006, 06:23 PM

Yoga is great especially if you want to flatten your tummy fast. Anyone can do it as you can just focus on doing the pose to the best of your ability. In time that ability increases as flexibility increases.
In my classes I was always so focused on myself that I never really noticed it the other students were thin or not.

Jayde · 05-10-2006, 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kykaree

I would encourage anyone to attend a class, it's so much better than dvd's as just subtle errors can really affect your yoga practice.

I totally agree. I've been attending a class once a week for the past 2 months. It has made a huge difference to be able to get personal help on how to modify or correct a pose. It also helps when your instructor notices that you are improving in certain poses.

BTW I attend a regular class and do what I can. Everyone is supportive. Some poses I am better than slimmer classmates and some I'm not. I am not competing with them but improving myself and enjoying myself.

Less of Lena · 05-10-2006, 07:58 PM

I can certainly understand the benefits of attending a live-body yoga class. I'd love to have a flesh-and-blood person watching my form and offering corrections, suggestions and modifications. For me, it's not really an issue of embarrassment or feeling that anyone else is looking at me.

For me, it's a matter of 2 major factors. The first is time and convenience. I don't want to spend time (no, not even 10 minutes) driving to or from class. I don't want to be beholden to someone else's schedule. I want to practice whenever the mood hits me. I don't want to feel guilty because I 'missed' a class. And I don't want to have to rush home to take a shower.

That leads to major factor 2: Showers. I've discovered that one of the things that has always turned me off from exercise of any sort is the sweat factor. I HATE getting/being sweaty. I want the sweat off me as fast as possible, meaning as SOON as the workout is done. And I want the shower to be clean, not already wet and steamy and definitely not full of someone else's hair. Gross. When I work out at home, I can vouch for the state of the shower

. And I get a whole bathroom, all to myself!

I also like that, at home, I can stop the dvd and go to that bathroom if need be (dad-blasted water drinking!). I can replay the parts I didn't understand, or do a stop/still to really study a pose. I can control the temperature. I can control the lighting. I can have my ceiling fan on for circulation.

So, given all that, it comes down to a tradeoff. I can sign up for a class with a live instructor (and end up not going), or try my best to do my best at home. For me, I think home is the better option. Now, if I could get an instructor to be at my beck and call and come to my house whenever the mood hits me...

Jayde · 05-10-2006, 10:18 PM

Lena, I'm picky about the shower too that's one reason among manywhy I enjoy exercising at home. The yoga class is offered at my worksite as soon as the school day is over. We organized it ourselves and found an instructor willing to come to us. Right after class, I drive straight home, get in a little cardio and then shower. This is the first exercise class I've attended as an adult and I am loving it. I also have DVD's that I use at home. I agree that the DVD's are also very convenient.

72butterfly · 05-11-2006, 05:54 PM

I tried Yoga a few years back and did not enjoy it and I really think it had to do with the instructor. I tried it again during Yoga Day USA a few months ago because they had a class titled "Yoga for the not so Slender Bender". I loved it. The instructor had adaptations for every move. I signed up for a class with that yoga studio, Yoga-Level 1, and started on April 18th. This instructor is great also. She always has great suggestions and is helpful. I now have a new perspective on yoga and know I will continue to do it beyond this class.