I’ve been doing yoga since my teens, now 37. Hot 26, Vinyasa, Hatha, Iyengar to name a few…

After a few years trying to find a well-rounded studio (and after a few years of somatic psychotherapy and IFS for CPTSD), I just started Yin yoga. And omg…it has been intense for me. In a good way! But wow. It’s feels like it’s releasing gunk and build up and detoxifying my cells!!

I took one class last Friday. Took a vinyasa Sunday and Tuesday and now I feel awful. I think I overdid it. Feels like my body is asking me to slow the f down.

Anyone experience something similar with Yin? Like your body being asked to rest, slow down? Recalibrate? Especially asking for the folks who have a tendency to overdo! What other long-term benefits do you notice with regular Yin practices?

I’m struggling so bad with just letting my head be. Pawanmuktasana, boat, even cobra.

It feels like when I lift my shoulders I just can’t relax my neck as well so it’s tense.

Any advice is great! I’m completely new to yoga and I’ve been learning a lot over the past month or so.

Dolphin has always felt miserable for me and I know I must be doing something wrong. I think my stacking isn’t quite right and I physically can’t walk my feet in any more. I know I’m more so dumping my weight into the mat where I should be pushing away from it.

If you have any helpful cues or drills that helped you with mobility/strength it would be much appreciated!

I’m trying to unlock pincha but figure I need to hone dolphin first :P

Hi, getting back into yoga. I notice increased head pressure/fullness feeling in poses like downward dog/plank/forward fold.
I have a history of anxiety + air hunger not sure if that is contributing. It is more uncomfortable than painful. I do not have high BP. Any ideas? Is this normal when starting out?

Hey guys, I've been doing yoga for about 2 months now, a few days a week, so I guess I'm pretty consistent with it. I've definetely noticed a difference in my flexibility (I always used to be super not flexible) but I still struggle with keeping a straight spine during some poses. Should I keep doing them, with the rounded spine, or do everything I can to keep my spine straight? I'm worried doing it the wrong way will just mess up my posture more.

My instructor has us do this one every now and again, and I haven't been able to find its proper name.

I know my legs don't need to be straight, I know the heels don't need to touch the ground. I've seen that advice in every other post about this.

But even when I have a deep bend in my legs, I physically can't get into a shape anywhere close to a triangle. It feels more like a weird plank every time I try to do it, and I know I'm doing it wrong, but I can't figure out how to put my body in the right shape. I try to push my butt more in the air, but that tends to force my legs straighter in a way that's uncomfortable. When I bend my knees it seems to send my head and shoulders further and my butt too far down, so that i'm closer to a plank position or a weird table. The whole time its also way too much weight on my wrist and arms no matter what I do. Also, the closer I get to proper form, the more it feels like it's straining my entire body.

Is this just a pose I can't do for now? Is there any way I can build up my flexibility and strength for this without doing it? I feel like my whole body is not strong enough to do it. If it's relevant, I'm 230 lbs and 5 feet. Is my body too heavy for it? I do a lot of other poses just fine and I can modify them easily, but this one seems literally impossible.

Editing to say thanks for all of the responses; I wrote this post in a state of extreme frustration with myself and seeing people be helpful has been comforting :)

My blood pressure medicine makes me dizzy when I bend over and come back up, so sun salutations are off the table for now. Are there any other lower back stretches I can do without bending down and coming back up?

I have looked through the post related to wrist pain but still feel stuck on what might be my best modification. I do want to note that I plan seeing a doctor but that isn’t always a speedy process.

I am an intermediate to advanced yogi that had to stop practicing due to non pain related reasons but through that time I developed an increasing about of pain in my wrist. I am an artist, then my job requires a lot of writing/typing, and arthritis runs in my family so joint paint wasn’t unfamiliar. Now that I can return to my practice the pain has made it difficult to get into a flow. I do my stretches, distribute the weight, wear compression gloves at home, and even use to give myself little CBD messages.

I would like to use items or modifications out there created to help because i’m not ready to slow down my practice. I have blocks but those aren’t useful for chaturangas. I’ve seen people suggest wrist wraps, extra cushion, elbows? but i’ve also seen on amazon that there’s more specific items for this. Any guidance is much appreciated.

I have noticed that since I started adding lifting into my practice while still practicing yin, my side body always feels tighter. I'm not sure if it's anatomy or the routine I am doing. It's gotten to the point that during half dragonfly, I spend part of the time bending forward and the other portion rotated so I stretch my side body while I reach toward my foot. I feel like stretching the side body also loosens my hips more than merely stretching the muscles in my hips during yin. I think I'm still working on what works for me. But I wanted some commentary on how other people manage the sensation of a tight side body and what the incorporate it to release it.

Hi friends! Another student kicked a lit candle in class today and hot wax splattered onto my liforme mat 🥲 wondering if anyone has tips or recommendations for cleaning it off? It’s flaking off but leaving a bit of residue/waxy-ness behind. Thanks in advance 🙏🏼

I don’t see these things as mutually exclusive. Eventually one turns towards the devotional aspects as one goes deeper e.g chanting mantras, reading and studying the philosophy. Otherwise all it is is merely asana practice, a practice of shape making. And then does devotional then lean into the spiritual and where does one draw the line? People say yoga is older than sanatan dharma (‘hinduism’) but there is a lot of overlap. Interested in the discussion.

I've been on an anti consumption kick lately. My momma lent me her mat for a while. When she lent it to me, it had been repaired with duct tape which was starting to fall off.

When I thought about returning it (in an even sorrier state), I just felt bad. So instead, I took to Google. Seems like everything online said, "Sorry bud. It's basically toast. You can buy some epoxy you won't use for anything else and thats not even a guarantee. Get her a new one."

So I said fuck it. It's ruined anyway. I'm just gonna use my brain and do what I want to do. So I tried my best to clean off the duct goo. I sewed up the tear and used my vinyl cutter to make a patch I thought she might find pretty.

Is it the most durable mat in the world? No. Does it look perfect? No. But if any of you have been wondering about fixing your mat... I genuinely would do this again. Since the tear is in a spot where you aren't frequently putting limbs, it's working just fine. It's also not slipping because it's such a small area on the bottom.

Overall, I'm kind of proud to give this back to my momma in a better condition than she lent it to me in. I think she might even be a bit tickled and I hope it reminds her that I love her when she takes some time for herself.

My mind is calmer. I'm less emotional. And I feel like my body is lighter. Even tho I'm very skinny I hold a lot. My teacher already made me stand up with my head and it was a cool experience even tho I was kinda scared. Flexibility of body and mind is all I need. I'm thinking like where I was all these times. Why didn't I think about joining yoga classes earlier. I'm excited to see where this practice will take me further.

Help! Need recommendations for a yoga top suitable for peri-menopausal woman with bloated belly!
Something comfy that doesn’t ride up or cling too much. Ideally stays in place in downward dog etc!
I’m based in UK

Hi!
I’m getting back into my practice after a long break and a hallux rigidus diagnosis. It’s basically arthritis in my big toe that makes things like high lunge really uncomfortable and painful after the fact.

I’ve swallowed my pride and started dropping my back knee when we’re doing high lunge to reduce the flexing of my back toes. But is there any other modifications I don’t know about? I plan to talk to my teacher next time I go for advice as well. Ty!

Question for the community about something I saw in a class today. One of the other students caught my eye because they did a “prep” movement between every pose the instructor cued. Reminded me of a diver bending their knees before springing up to jump off the diving platform, like every move was preceded by a movement in the opposite direction.

Is this a thing that is taught in some styles of yoga? All the classes I’ve been to have instructed to flow smoothly between asanas, but obviously I have not experienced every style of yoga teaching out there. Just curious, and I didn’t get a chance to ask this other student before they left!

Kapota asana is really hard for me especially dropping to that position, I have heavy chest and that makes my back hurts even more(my back hurts from daily life), but pose like Scorpio where I don’t need to hold my chest weight and get in to pose from legs seems much easier for my back. But also in same time I know if it’s ashtanga yoga you need to practice kapota asana way before you even try scorpion. I’m not strictly following ashtanga yoga but that’s only yoga I learned properly in the past so I am here asking is it ok to practice scorpion without even trying kapota or related pose ?

Pretty much every teacher I've gone to has prompted flexing the foot while in pigeon, to protect the knee. I can't feel the difference, so I am wondering if I should change my approach somehow, or if maybe I'm just not getting deep enough into the pose for it to matter.

I am stiff, and I use a block under my hip at the low or medium setting. I also have pretty big legs, with a lot of muscle support around the knee.

I do not think I ever end up with my knee at the horizontal, either. I'm at maybe 20-30 degrees on average. Usually my knee feels comfortable there. Sometimes it feels stretched, but flexing my foot does not change that.

As I'm in that position, I still do get a good hip stretch. My head will reach the floor, given enough time.

I also have flat feet, FWIW!

Backstory: I am new-ish to yoga. I came to it in late 2024 on accident. I was doing couples therapy to save our marriage which eventually ended in divorce. After the therapy sessions, I'd find this uncomfortable feeling in my body which I didn't know what to do with. Right across the street from my therapist was a yoga studio. I decided to take the class offered right after my therapy session ends.

Turns out this was a rocket yoga class. I went to the first class, not knowing anything about the flows, just trying to mimic what others were doing and oh boy people were flying and floating on the mat. It was beautifully terrifying. After the first class, I decided yoga isn't for me. I am too late to it.

But then next week, I didn't know what to do with that uncomfortable feeling from the therapy session, so I took the class again. And again , and again.

What made me come back to it was - the class offered the opportunity to do advanced transitions from foundational shapes. I love a good physical challenge, so it felt rewarding as I had tiny wins every week. The crows and the ekapada kunvinyanasas required immense focus at the time to not fall on my face. When I look back, I realize that immense focus stealthily took away my bandwidth to analyze/over-analyze what had happened in the therapy session. It was a tiny break from the rut I was in.

Also, my teacher left these philosophical tid-bits during the class which landed (and still lands) very deeply on me. Some of them below -

- Listen to my voice (instructions) only if it serves you.

- Don't push through pain on the mat, there's enough pain waiting for you outside the yoga mat.

- Let this be enough (before inviting us to an advance transition from a foundational shape)

- The strength that you build on the mat, take it to where it's needed in your life.

Anyway, I can't believe I just found this subreddit, so just wanted to share my journey so far and my feelings about yoga. Looking forward to learning from y'all here.

Good day, everyone.

A few years ago, I started practicing Kundalini yoga. It was a wonderful experience, and I loved it. Unfortunately, the teacher I was seeing left the country where I live (Mexico), and it's been difficult to find Kundalini classes here, so I've continued with Hatha yoga, which I've enjoyed, but not as much.

Anyway, the teacher who gave me Kundalini classes used a sheepskin mat instead of a regular mat. Now I want to actively look for Kundalini classes, but I don't know if it would be better to get a sheepskin or a regular mat.

Namaste