Yes, saying yoga didn't work with weekly classes is exactly like saying following South Beach on Saturdays didn't work Yoga is a daily practice.
With all due respect, I'm not sure this analogy works. With the South Beach Diet, you have The Word to consult, a near-biblical text, with all the phases laid out for you, and the forbidden foods listed, and menus all over the place, and devotees to help you interpret the Word. And it's clear that this is a 24-hour a day, seven-day-a-week practice.
With yoga, it's not so easy. This is why OP & others come to this board. Someone in this thread said you have to practice three days a week. Someone else said four. You say daily. Okay ... which is it? With other forms of exercise, someone will say you can do cardio daily, you should do ... oh, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, 60 minutes ... and they will tell you about strength training, alternating days.
But what does one do with yoga? For how long? If you practice daily, is it 15 minutes? 45 minutes? Which asanas? In what sequence? Which sect of yoga do you want to follow? ****, what temperature should the room be? Cool, lukewarm, hot?
My issue is that saying "yoga" is as general as saying "dieting," rather than "South Beach Diet" specifically. The instructions aren't clear. There's no mathematics, like heart rate, or calories in, calories out. And yet the promised benefits seem absolutely limitless.
One thing I can say for yoga: It is not a joyless endeavor. It's far from boring, like some daily cardio drills on machines. But the claims for it can seem a little outsized, particularly when it's hard to find anyone being specific about how you realize those benefits.
Like dieting, it all seems to have splintered into sectarianism.
I think that it terms of gaining the benefits, it is helpful to view yoga as one form of exercise that improves flexibility and balance. If you want to improve your performance in ANY activity, you need to do it more than once a week.
The exact asanas, form of yoga, and length of practice time are all personal choices, of course, because it depends on what you want to get out of Yoga. If you are looking for a nice wake-up, 3 or 4 Sun Salutations every morning may do the trick. If you love the meditative aspects, you may prefer to do a short routine during stressful times. If you want to calm down before bed, then a short nightly routine would work. If your goal is weight loss, or improved flexibility/balance, like ANY weight loss/stretching/flexibility training program, you won't improve if you don't regularly practice. Lots of stretching programs recommend that you stretch DAILY; others suggest at least 3 times a week. But NONE of them suggest that you will see improvement in your flexibility if you stretch once a week for 10 minutes.
Just the same as if you run once a week for 10 minutes. Don't expect your 5k time to improve!
And if you want to lose weight, but eat in accordance with South Beach principles one day a week, you won't get the results you want.
I just came back from a 2.5 hour yoga work shop on back bends. My hour long home practices had sort of, but barely, prepared me for this. I thought I might throw up at one point so I just came out of the pose, and the instructor was really great about modifying and making sure we honored our bodies. But I learned so many new skills to bring to my practice, and was so grateful for the opportunity to learn from an amazing teacher.
I will say that what I learn from yoga (and what running and rock climbing and other things that test your endurance probably teach you, too) is that your mind will try to convince you of all sorts of things about your body (or about life) that aren't necessarily true. And you learn that if you breathe a little (or a lot) and relax into something instead of trying to force yourself there, it's much easier. Same with life and losing weight and loving and all kinds of stuff.
It's funny that there are so many strong feelings against yoga, that it "doesn't work" as though its some kind of majik pill. It's like anything, it works if you work it. And it feels so friggin' good (to me. your results may vary. yoga is not intended to treat or cure any disease, illness or other issues. check with your doctor before embarking on your yoga journey to nirvana.)
**My disclaimer: I am a dance instructor, but I teach classes at BOTH a yoga studio, and a regular athletic club/gym.**
The first thing I want to say, is that if someone is going to take yoga, I recommend that they take yoga with an actual yoga instructor...someone who lives the yogi lifestyle, and not from a personal trainer who took a weekend course in yoga, and teaches it inbetween their kickboxing and Zumba classes.
Secondly...I think that if you are going to get the benefits from yoga, that you have to be going into the class for the right reasons...and be open to the experience. If you are wanting to take yoga for a specific benefit...(flexibility, stress relief, digestive issues, etc.) then you need to do some research on yoga classes/styles or speak to the instructor...and choose a class or dvd that is going after the specific need/want that you have. If you are taking a power yoga class, meant to strengthen and tone your muscles...but you are wanting to improve your flexibility or relieve stress...then you aren't taking the right class for your particular goals. There are so many styles of yoga, and so many combinations of movements that can be put together...that you have to know your goals...and then do the yoga workout that is geared towards those particular goals.
Thirdly...attitude is a HUGE factor. If you are BORED in a yoga class...it means that you are only half there, and you aren't doing YOUR part in the class. You can't be half there and get the results you want. When I take a yoga class of any style, I cannot be thinking about my to do list, or what I need to pick up at the store. You have to have your body, mind, and spirit all there at the same time. During a downward dog, you should be running an inventory of your body, and listening to your instructor-making sure that your hands, legs, back, head...EVERYTHING is in proper alignment. The small adjustments they are telling you to do have a PURPOSE. If you are just going to absentmindedly bend over onto your hands and feet and think about stopping off at the car wash after class...then you are not doing it correctly.
You have to pay attention to your breath. You have to clear your mind of your regular thoughts, and only have your practice there at that particular time. There is so much more to it than just "rolling around on the floor and striking poses". If you go into the class thinking that is all you are doing, and with an attitude of negativity...then the mind is getting in the way of you progressing in yoga.
When I first started yoga, I had troubles with keeping my mind from wandering. After a while, with commitment and regular practice, I was actually able to "let go" during the Corpse Pose one day at the end of a session. Literally-I came to a few minutes later...and it was like I had lost 5-10 minutes of my life! I finally achieved reaching that state that yogis often talk about! It was an amazing feeling...and I felt so stress free, so enlightened afterwards.
during class last night the teacher was saying "if you don't like a pose, or you're bored by it, or you find yourself avoiding it - there's probably something there for you." Which is why I went to the backbend class in the first place, I realized I'd been avoiding them in my practice.
With yoga, it's not so easy. This is why OP & others come to this board. Someone in this thread said you have to practice three days a week. Someone else said four. You say daily. Okay ... which is it? With other forms of exercise, someone will say you can do cardio daily, you should do ... oh, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, 60 minutes ... and they will tell you about strength training, alternating days.
But what does one do with yoga? For how long? If you practice daily, is it 15 minutes? 45 minutes? Which asanas? In what sequence? Which sect of yoga do you want to follow? ****, what temperature should the room be? Cool, lukewarm, hot?
FWIW, all your questions about yoga DO apply to cardio and weight training. You will find every bit as much disagreement about cardio and weight training. Every bit. If not, you are sure in a different world than me!
Honestly I do not think you will find any established yoga school recommending less that 3-4 days, and really, any yoga based in the real millenia-old tradition of yoga (and not in American commercialized yoga) will say daily, with perhaps a day off a week.
Can't tell you how long, which asanas, in which sequence any more than I can tell a walker/runner whether to train for a marathon, just walk 3 miles a day, train to race 5Ks, etc, etc.
But no one well-trained and experienced in yoga will make any claims about yoga practiced once or twice weekly, and perhaps inconsistently at that, beyond limited and short-term effects. Now, people jumping on a trend - who knows what the heck they will claim.
Now, I have no problem with yoga not suiting someone. Or someone not getting out of it what I do. But your frame of reference is not yoga, it's dabbling. That's not a criticism, it's just what it is. Dabbling is fine if that's what suits you. No yoga at all is fine if it suits someone.
I finally achieved reaching that state that yogis often talk about! It was an amazing feeling...and I felt so stress free, so enlightened afterwards.
