Yoganastics?

Yoga has always been an activity that my mother and I have enjoyed doing together. But gymnastics has always been a passion that I adored even more. Unfortunately though, there weren't any books available at the book store that truly instructed gymnastics for beginners, therefore I decided to stick with yoga and explore the true meaning of it. Obviously it has to be related to flexibility, so there shouldn't be much of a difference from gymnastics, but I was partially wrong. In Everyone Try Yoga: Finding Your Yoga Fit, Victoria Woodhall and Jonathan Sattin clearly state "Yoga isn't about flexibility alone, but also about strength, balance, and integration of the joints" (Woodhall and Sattin 40). So if yoga isn't entirely about flexibility, then what is it about?


Thirty pages later into the book, I found my answer. I was interested to read yoga can help with body confidence and grounding (Woodhall and Sattin 70). I decided to try out some of the yoga poses myself that were recommended for teens. These poses are specifically suppose to help release tension and increase body confidence (Woodhall and Sattin 70). Before I got excited and jumped right into the exercise I made sure to take certain precautions because I was still a beginner. Such as eating a while before I began, "Ideally eating nothing two hours beforehand, and then only something light, and come well hydrated" (Woodhall and Sattin 38). Another big tip is not to wear socks. Being a gymnast you would think I wouldn't wear socks to do yoga, but I usually did before I read this tip, even my mom was surprised when I told her. Preferably "...practice barefoot in order to prevent slipping and get the full use of our feet" (Woodhall and Sattin 39). Now let's see how the poses turned out!

Wheel



Scorpion

Shoulder Stand

Within a few days of conducting the same poses, I was pleased with the stunning results. I can definitely confirm that the yoga poses have left me feeling more relaxed and confident. Encouraging me to believe that yoga is an interesting sport that I am thinking to explore deeply in over the next few months. Yoga is similar to gymnastics in certain aspects which makes it a plus for me, it is also different. But overall, thanks to yoga I am feeling a whole lot different than I was before I started, even a feeling gymnastics couldn't give me.

Question:

Was there a point in your life where you had to change gears from what you originally intended? If so, what was it and explain?

Citation:

Woodhall, Victoria and Sattin, Jonathan. Everyone Try Yoga: Finding Your Yoga Fit. London: Kyle Books, 2013. Print.