Do I need to be flexible to do yoga?

No. Each class brings you a little deeper into your postures, but you can start from absolutely anywhere.

Try to avoid becoming attached to the idea of where you should be. Just allow, accept, and grow. You will get all that the poses, or asana, have to offer if you go to your personal edge and, most importantly, stay with your breath.

Should I eat before class?

I was once told, “Neither empty nor full.” Having a light meal at least an hour before is what works for me. You don’t want to be distracted by hunger, but it’s not good for your body, or practice, to have a huge meal right before class. I would say this is true or both yoga and Kai Chi Do.

Is meditation a part of yoga?

Yes, it is. We stretch so that when we sit to meditate we are not distracted by the places we feel stuck, as well as to circulate our subtle energies.

But remember, meditation is for everyone. It is non-denominational. It transcends religion, race and culture.

If you think its valuable to learn to sit quietly with yourself, without feeling overwhelmed by your own mind, than you appreciate the benefits of meditation.

What are the medical benefits of yoga?

Well, there’s so many that it would be hard to cover in a depth way here. Some include; improved cardiovascular function, weight management, stress reduction, increased flexibility, improved energy levels, reduction of anxiety, and improved coordination.

Meditation has been shown by countless scientific studies to positively impact our neurology because there is a change in our brainwaves during mediation. This is an example from one such study, “Once the team had sifted through the raw data, they were astonished, All the yogis had elevated gamma oscillations not just during meditation but even during the baseline measurements of their everyday neural activity. The team had stumbled onto the key to what makes meditation so special- a neural signature showing permanent transformation in the brain as a result of meditative states.”

Read more about the above referenced study here: https://braintap.com/study-of-meditation-and-brain-waves-in-buddhist-monks-confounds-wisconsin-researchers/

Can yoga and similar practices play a role in mental health care?

Practices like Yoga and Kai Chi Do are being utilized more and more in clinical, western applications. And it’s with good reason. Somatic practices like these give rise to a state of allowance, instead of resistance.