Soosanasana and Bobbishtanga...I am a yoga failure

B

briee

Cathlete
Okay you two, I got the Brian Kest tape you recommended about a month ago and with LOTS going on here I haven't had a chance to post my results. Unfortunately being that I have blocked the majority of the horrendous experience from my memory, I have very little to say except.....

I found that I was humbly wrong in assuming I could jump right into workout "3 on the tape, I quickly switched to #2 after...oh maybe 10 seconds into #3, and then I had to back up to workout #1, for yikes "beginner's" and frankly I could have used a pre beginners class preceeding the beginner's class.

I had high hopes of being a budding flexible yogini - I thought I was flexible.....I'm not flexible - okay at least not like them. I thought I was kind of graceful - I'm NOT the least bit GRACEFUL.

It was an exercise in futility and I am a complete yoga failure and I have to learn to live with this and accept it. I had a hard time in the following days....but I'm okay with it now.

Lastly, I am in awe of you two - I have this picture of you both as graceful swan-like creatures. AND I.....I am what you would call for lack of a better description......a BANGER. I can bang out pushups and pullups and throw around weights, but the P90X Yoga DVD is the best I think I'll ever do guys. I am sorry - I tried. And don't be telling me I should try it a few times - I don't think my ego or my body could handle another session of this ;( ;( ;(

Banger Briee (I shall never be worthy of the name Briannasannaashtanga)

Anyone want a free Brian Kest Yoga DVD - the price is right????
 
I would think those poses are a process not perfection from the beginning. When I see yoga people (I don't know if that's P.C.), I don't picture someone who got to their level from a month or two of practice. I'm thinking more like years. Am I wrong?

Marla
 
Hey Briee!

Debba-gini here! You are too funny! I wish I COULD bang out push-ups & pull-ups. Can't even do ONE pull-up unassited. Grrrr! Hey girl...just stick to your P90X if that is your likes. Have a wonderful Christmas to you and your brood.
Your-Friend-In-Fitness, DebbieH http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/wavey.gif[/img] If You Get The Choice To Sit It Out Or Dance...I Hope You DANCE!!!
 
Banger Briee,

Sorry to hear that you had such a 'bad' exprience with Bryan.

Since I am not one of the 'two' who recommended you try him, I figure I can be the one to tell you that you really should give it another try:) Maybe you were just trying too hard and/or trying to go too far into a pose too soon.

Its funny, I use to teach yoga and a couple of guys who worked with my husband were asking me about it. They were interested but thought that it would be 'much to easy of a workout for them'. I said "oh, really??". Anyway, they signed up for a session where I taught and then never stopped talking about how 'hard' it was:)
 
Briee -

I'm so glad to read your post. I bought this DVD a few weeks ago and was totally shocked at how stiff I am. I always prided myself on my flexibility After doing the beginners, I was so shocked and my lack of flexibility. However, I'm going to keep at it. I really need to stretch to a greater degree than in Cathe's workouts, so I did buy a true beginner's DVD and do both this DVD and the Bryan Kest DVD. Don't know if I'll ever reach the degree of flexibility on the Power Yoga DVD, but I'll continue to work at it because I have tennis elbow, my achilles tendon is sore, and now my knees feel the beginning of something which could turn into an injury if I'm not careful.

Thanks for your post! I feel much better!

Margaret
 
Briannasannaashtangawannabee,

LOL! So which Brian Kest DVD did you buy? I have the Power Yoga series in VHS. I thought the series was georgeous. All those people look so beautiful I just feel priviledged to work out along with them. I did the best I could but never thought I was quite as graceful/powerful as them. Nonetheless I loved working out with them.

Marla
 
Briannasannaashtanga, you are worthy! We all are! Or if I am, ANYONE is! And it's such a beautiful name, pity if you hate yoga, but wherever did you get the idea I am graceful? That is so funny! I have fallen out of poses and crashed in the middle of eerily quiet and meditative classes. Only because I was strong and I can pretzel my long legs was I able to fake the yogini thing. I hear if there's a phenomna where one practitioner falls and causes a domino effect I think would be really awesome to see and to cause a domino effect is a dream I have and I am the person most likely to bring it about too. Balance is particularly challenging for the over-pronated. I am a Banger too. I bang my elbows; I bang my knees. Grace is an illusion and people assume I'm graceful because I am addicted to yoga and interestingly my neighbor said I was gracefaul and I chuckled and denied it and when her son asked for a glass of water, I opened the freezer and proceeded to knock about four things onto the floor. She laughed and asked if someone was in there throwing things at me. I answered that by tripping over the dishwasher door I'd left open. Did I mention I bang my shins? Just know this, there are no failures in yoga! It could be like running though. You either are a runner or you aren't and you wonder why the heck anyone would want to run when there are perfectly terrific other ways to get places like walking, biking, scootering, sakteboarding, driving or even sitting down and not going anywhere. So if yoga isn't your bag, that's groovy but I must recommend taking at least one class. But you have to introduce yourself as Briannasannaashtanga.
Bobbi http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/chicken.gif "Chick's rule!"

Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

- Mary Oliver
 
I think Bryan is a tough place to start. Unless you have tried yoga styles other than Power Yoga and been equally disappointed, I'd recommend something slower. videofitness.com has a user-compiled list that I am too ignorant to be able to post a link to for you, but you can search there easily. (It's in the forum, I think.)

I'll still chime in on asking you to try him again, though. Muscle memory alone will make the second time around less punishing, but the main thing for your mind to remember is that how flexible you are has little or no bearing on the benefits you derive from yoga. As long as you are working at your edge in the poses and in control of your breath you are doing it right. The physical improvements will come. You will twist further, bend lower, reach higher in time, and meanwhile you will learn things about your body that will complement every other aspect of your fitness routine. That's my yoga sermon.

I have to admit your post gave me a great laugh because I identified so strongly with your experience!:D Keep us posted.

--Ann
 
I don't get it, Briee. You can do Yoga X, but you feel like a failure doing Bryan Kest? I think Yoga X is just as challenging as BK, maybe more so because of the length. Plus, Tony does about 8,000 more sun salutations, as well as a lot more balancing postures such as half moon. Are there poses in BK that aren't in Yoga X that you're having trouble with? Which ones?

If you're comparing yourself to the uber-flexible participants in the BK videos, no wonder you feel like a failure. I look NOTHING like them and was very intimidated by them when I first tried the series. You can tell by looking at them that most are professional dancers. The participants in Yoga X as well as in Eoin Finn's videos (and lots of other yoga DVDs) are more "realistic."

One of the hardest things about yoga is learning to not compare yourself to others. It's not a competition, and one of the main goals is accepting yourself where you are and reaping the benefits of your incremental improvements. Comparing yourself to the super-yoginis in BK or to your imaginary conception of Bobbishtanga or me will just discourage you and then you'll stop doing it and that's bad because you've already said how great it makes your back feel.

I'm still a push-up weenie and if I compared myself to Dreya or that German girl or you, I'd have given up long ago. But I know if I keep plugging away, I'll make improvements consistent with MY body type and genetics and that's the best I can do. (Doing yoga has helped me realize that.)

SO, don't give up! Try it a few more times, don't force the postures and BREATHE. As Bryan says (yells, really -- why does he yell so much?) throughout the workouts, "it's not about how it looks, it's about how it feels."
 
Howdie Briee, from a fellow "Banger" and verified Bryan Kest (he is sooo annoying..but hot) failure.

I don't even do Yoga X. I did most of it once and found it pretty difficult, but not failure level. I remember the first half not being too hard flexibility wise, but I think the second half was. Since I have been lifting less and less however, I can tell my flexibility has really gone down the toilet. I think that bothers me more than my muscles shrinking so much.

Well, the give-everything-a-chance part of me says try again, but I really think some of us just don't jive with the spiritual stuff. I am much more likely just to structure my workouts with an extra 15 min at the end for thorough athletic stretches. I don't now due to time constraints and.....other things.:) I do like P90X on a Sat night after a bath, but it is a HUGE time investment. I wish it came segmented like Cathe's tapes do. I wish P90X made a total body tape too.

Well, pretty soon you won't have time for yoga anyway when the Hardcore comes out. I am anxiously awaiting those. In the meantime, I am looking into inline skating lessons (hey, you probably would really love that by the way...speed, speed, speed) and maybe a little karate/kickbox lessons/classes. I have decided my workouts need to become more social....and with people who truly appreciate fitness and the value of it. I got too many downers around me.

I wish you were all close to me in real life.....:(


Keep banging 'em out Briee. Hope to join you soon...
 
I really appreciate all of your sensitive responses to my very short-lived yoga-endeavor. Except for Sooooooooooooosan...you just HAD to ask for specifics didn't you...and I already told you that I blocked these from my memory, but just to give this a fair shot and answer your questions Sooooooooooooosan I did the beginner (energizer) tape today. Today being Christmas (since my dh didn't really get me anything my gift was 2 hours alone in the workout room to do the workout of my choice uninterupted) I went down and did IMAX and enjoyed it as usual. I was going to follow with a weight workout to beat all heavy weight workouts - but Brian Kest sat mockingly on the shelf....calling....."briannnnnnaaasaaaannnnaaaa just one more channnnncccccceeeeee ----- you owe it to sooooooooooooosanasanna who really should have more feeeeeeedbaaaaaack than that patheeeeetic sorry whining wimp that first possssssssteeeeed". He said all that in one breath - I could tell x( x( x( just how irritating is that!!!!

So actually, it did go better this time around. I should know by now that I always HATE the workout the first time I do it and yoga was just more of an INTENSE hate. Problem is I can't quite put my finger on the reason that I liked the P90X and could do that one pretty well, but not this one. I'm starting to think that the reasons lie in what I don't want (HATE) to admit. There is something mental about seeing all those people doing what they are doing so well and me being so darn bad at it. I'm a sucker for peer pressure. I think this is why I LOVE the P90X - everyones doing a different weight and as Tony says "variety is the spice of life do what works for you - can you go low- then go low - take breaks - heck I'm takin um and you can too - hit the pause button". I love that there are people that have just come through the pilot group and there are just enough like Dreya and that german chick to keep me challenged. But sheesh, Bryan Kests participants are incredible....you know come to think of it...he needs ME in one of his videos and I think a whole lot more people would feel TONS better about what they are doing - I know this for a fact.

As far as poses, he moves through them pretty quick and I have a tough time watching what he is doing and keeping up and wondering where my feet and hands are supposed to be. I think Tony is pretty specific and methodical (probably boring compared to Bryan I'm sure)
but I know where I'm supposed to be and he is pretty good about specifying which foot and hand is wherever,etc. I found that I needed to watch Bryan closely (and I can't see that TV while in some of those poses) because he would correct people or turn them "this way or that" and I would miss that if I wasn't watching closely. I will concede that I probably should do this a couple of times, but as a few mentioned above.....I don't think this is something that really turns me on. The most irritating part about doing this today is that after I was done I walked upstairs and had that "feeling" again.....that "man I feel fantastic - but I HATED doing it".

I'm thinking that I have to find a balance here. I NEED it for my back, but there has to be a way to "get this" without having to do something I hate. I'm hoping that Cathe's stretch tape is a fantastic answer to my love/hate yoga relationship. I may continue to do the P90X yoga tape and cut out the things that I think are stupid...like crane....what is the point, and I'll cut out the yoga belly seven since I get abwork with all the P90X Ab ripper I'm doing and if I cut out a few other things, maybe I'll get it down to an hour and be happy (actually I'd rather it be 45 min.) and then maybe, just maybe I'll do the Bryan Kest BEGINNER (man I hate being a beginner - I'm sorry - I KNOW this is an ego thing and it's evil!!!) Energizer workout once in a while and maybe I'll come to like it (tolerate it :) ). I do...I really do thank you for recommending this and as I look back to my post above I don't want you to think I'm sorry for buying it...there is a reason for everything. As I watched Buckingham's Yogini for Rodinis DVD I found myself in the same predicament. I put on squirrel ears just so I could "try" my best to look like them, but my body just wouldn't bend the same way and then I felt like I wasn't going to ever be able to be a Rodini Yogini and I was once again frustrated with being such a newby. Patience has never been my virtue.

Also...yoga is endurance oriented and I've said it before and I'll say it again...I haven't a slow twitch fiber in my body...I was made to lift heavy and in short bursts. I have an incredibly hard time with Cathe's endurance weight tapes, but I can outlift by her almost double the weight in her S&H series. So this also adds to my frustration. ALSO anyone else have a tough time keeping their mouth shut during yoga. I think I'll have to use duck tape next time.

Merry Christmas to you too Debbie H!! And Bobbi.....I have missed reading your post for the last month. You are just a blast and although I was doubting it with the yoga thing and all, I again after reading your post, feel that we might be long lost sisters. With all the kids in your family, they probably just misplaced me. And Janice.....well I don't even have to reply to you because you seem to KNOW what I'm thinking...boy I wish we were closer...I can envision a group of Saturday morning workout buddies feeding off the intensity and lifting incredible amounts of iron }( !!!! You can't leave the weights for long girl.

Briee
 
Pleeeease don't give up!!

Hey Briee,

When I started doing yoga I could move maybe 2 inches in each direction. The thing is I had a partially collapsed lung for many years that no doctor could figure out how to fix. It turned out my rib cage was rotated severely to one side and after a few months of yoga--you guessed it--my lung opened up completely. I couldn't believe it! Needless to say, I do some yoga everyday (it's been a few years now) and I look like the people on the tapes now. But I assure you, I started out where you are or even worse.

I know it can be humbling especially for us intensity junkies, but once you get into it, you can do 2 or 3 poses a day in a few minutes and it work wonders. It actually will enhance your strength and everything else. Rodney Yee's Yoga For Energy is a good one to try also.

Good luck :) :)
Laura
 
RE: Pleeeease don't give up!!

Laura....that was inspiring. Thanks for sharing....I LOVE stories like that and it's that kind of motivation I need to keep going:) :) :) .

Janice.....which powerstrike do you like that best? I'm going to get it...any ideas as to where to get the best price?? Thanks

Briee
 
You know what I like about you, Briee? Not only are you extremely funny, you're persistent and tenacious. That's why an ecto like you (although I doubt you REALLY are an ecto, Miss Pull-Up) can do all those push-ups and pull-ups and lift double what Cathe lifts. You stick to things. That's why you tried Bryan again. As far as yoga videos go, Bryan isn't for everyone and this series is not for beginners. His "beginner" tape, "Energize," is labelled "intermediate/advanced" in the Collage catalog and the other two in the series are labelled "advanced." I don't think he teaches the poses very well, but I love the pace and the sequencing. I would not recommend him to total yoga beginners, but I do recommend this series to fit Catheites who've had a little experience with yoga but would not be challenged by true beginner yoga DVDs. Like I said, I find Yoga X more challenging and that's why I was surprised you could do that but had trouble with Bryan. If I'm correct, it's not that you're not fit or flexible enough to do the poses (since you can do Yoga X), it's because a) you were comparing yourself to professional dancers and, b) you haven't had enough experience with yoga, so you need a better teacher. Once you're more familiar with the poses, you might like it better. I think it's great that you do Yoga X and I think Cathe's stretch workout will be wonderful for you. I like athletic stretching but much prefer yoga. I just don't get that head-to-toe tingly feeling from athletic stretches. Do you like Stretch X? I do that on my rest days sometimes and like it a lot. Rocky didn't like yoga at first, either, but lately he's been doing it 24/7 because of all the stress he's been having with Fiona and the kids.:)

Merry Christmas! :)
 
it might still grow on you

Don't give up on yoga until you've tried a few different instructors. Frankly, some of the more popular names don't cue well. Since it's difficult to watch the tv & stare at your knees at the same time, cueing is important.

The worked out that hooked me, was Suzanne Deason's misnamed "Yoga for Weight Loss". Four fit women with different body types, with modifications demonstrated.

Live classes also helped a lot, but again, trying to find that right instructor took time. One does have to check the ego at the door since some of my classmates have been practicing yoga for decades.

Debra
 
RE: it might still grow on you

Last year, Alexis sent me Eoinn Finn's Yoga for Happiness and it's wonderful too. It's tough but modifiable and it doesn't have that sometimes too quick ashstanga flow going on and he has yogins of all abilities behind him. It's always nice to be able to watch the guy who could possibly be jealous of MY abilities (if that wasn't such an un-yoga attitude) while, perhaps, silently noting the pretzel girl with elastic for muscle is a bit bizarre if you think about it. Somewhere along the way, I quit worrying about getting my head to my knee or holding a pose what seemed ridiculously long and it started being about what made me happy and that sometimes means settling into child's pose while everyone else is hanging out in downdog. We are all equal in Svansana and that's the ultimate pose. I love it when I catch someone snoring in Corpse pose at the end of class. That's my goal, to be so relaxed and calm at the end of a class I crash. Haven't bee sleeping well lately and I went to take a snooze and my husband got onto the bed with a book while I was semi-asleep and I popped up and hopped out and he said, "Can't sleep?" and I snapped "Not with you rustling the pages," and that was the end of that. At the end of a yoga class, I'm no more graceful but much more serene and, at this point, that may be better than the increased flexiblility and minimalist but sweet torture of a gruelling class.

I am thinking, if you're my long lost sister, that you may have been switched at birth with my sister Gloria. Ever the cranky and morose sibling, I have always wondered how she ended up among the noisy, cheerful bunch. When we were kids, my parents loaded us up and took us to Gunn Lake. That was before the days when kids had to be restrained, and among the arms and legs and heads sticking out of the station wagon, she didn't make the count and we left her. I don't truly remember the incident but it seems as if I have the memory because the story was so often retold. I imagine noticing her absence and sitting, guilty and silent, fingers crossed, hoping to get home where my parents would look around at all those kids and shrug... But they noticed and went back and I had to endure years of torture at her hands. I can't imagine you ever looking at me and saying, with an evil leer, "I'm not Briee, I'm Son of Sam!". That was my first real experience with running now that I think of it. You wouldn't have read the last page of the book I had almost finished, or worse yet, thrown that book out the car window, would you?
Well, I have to go dig out the box to the remote control car Santa brought for Sam. Darn thing won't go forward and I have to send it back to the North Pole. Santa's elsves are doing some pretty shoddy workmanship these days, if you ask me. A strongly worded letter may be in order. Not necessarily about the car, but perhaps the 700 piece T Rex lego set he bestowed upon my son. It took me 6 hours to put that thing together. My husband must have called me compulsive obsessive 100 times. He was playing with it and dropped it and I heard my daughter say, "I'm telling!" He wanted me to glue it together and I could tell he didn't like it when I finally finished it gave it to Sam. He's going to put together one of the other two Sam got. One has 352 pieces and the other 420. I think Sam's gonna learn some new cuss words today!

Survived another Christmas. I think I need a yoga class!
Bobbi http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/chicken.gif "Chick's rule!"

Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

- Mary Oliver
 
RE: it might still grow on you

Yes, I gave Bobbi YfH because it was WAY above my ability at the time. Now I want it back. Just jokin' ya, Bobbi:7 ! Power Yoga isn't for me. Period.

I've discovered Kundalini Yoga and I love it. It's wonderful for people who think they (moi) are yoga flunkies. I bought the Stretch, Navel and Total Tune-up here: http://www.raviana.com/

It's doable for ALL levels and that's the truth. It has a medium woo-woo factor but it's so nicely done I rather enjoy it. Think about it as a place to start. Others that I have thoroughly enjoyed at different points are Deason's Yoga for Weight Loss, Kripalu Yoga - both Gentle and the other one, and I'm still in love with Ana Forrest's Strength and Spirit.

Check them out. I swear that even a person (like me) with the flexibility of a dead twig can enjoy these workouts! Alexis
 
RE: it might still grow on you

I know! What a fool! He is just toooooooo cute and hunky. But alas, drooling is just drooling. Besides, I got a free pair of shoes out of the deal, remember? Alexis
 
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