Frequently asked questions

This is a short list of questions that I have personally been asked. I will rewrite and update this post often as more questions come in. Please feel free to contact me with questions. You can like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, check out my blog, and email me @ stepontomymat@gmail.com.

• Do you have to be flexible?

This is easy to answer...not at all. Yoga will, over time, help increase your flexibility.

• Are yoga classes religious or spiritual?

Not the ones that I have been to. Yoga classes are more the physical side of it all. The spiritual stuff usually become a personal quest when you begin to see the changes that the physical practice brings. The physical intrigues you to investigate what the whole of yoga is.

• Does it really make you lose weight?

This, in my opinion, really depends on each individual person and their own practice. It does for some and doesn't for others.

• I am not in good shape, can I still do yoga?

Yoga is like working out, you have to do it in order to get better at it, to get in shape, or to lose weight.

• Isn't yoga just stretching?

Unlike stretching or fitness, yoga is more than just physical postures. Patanjali's eight-fold path illustrates how the physical practice is just one aspect of yoga. Even within the physical practice, yoga is unique because we connect the movement of the body and the fluctuations of the mind to the rhythm of our breath. Connecting the mind, body, and breath helps us to direct our attention inward. Through this process of inward attention, we learn to recognize our habitual thought patterns without labeling them, judging them, or trying to change them. We become more aware of our experiences from moment to moment. The awareness that we cultivate is what makes yoga a practice, rather than a task or a goal to be completed. Your body will most likely become much more flexible by doing yoga, and so will your mind. (From Yoga Journal, click here for the link to more FAQ.)