BellaOnline Forums Health and Fitness Yoga Why do you practice yoga?

Hi Everyone!

I'm asking this question for a couple of reasons. First, I'd like the opportunity to get to know everyone a little better and second, I think it would be great to have a conversation about what it is that brought each of us to our practices. It's inspiring to hear others' stories!

So, why do you practice yoga? How were you first introduced? What is your favorite aspect of practicing yoga?

For me it is primarily stress relief. I work all day every day and my whole body gets tense from sitting in front of the computer typing all day long. It is hard for me to take a break from work - I feel like my todo list is always 100 pages long - but I know I *have* to or I will get sick and be unable to work. So I force myself to do yoga every few days, and it really does help me to be more efficient when I am working as a result. So it's "worth the investment".

I agree - stress relief. It also feels good.

I'm fairly new to yoga but I love it so much. To me, it connects the mind, body and spirit. It is a form of physical meditation.

There are so many ways of exercising the body and muscles but yoga offers so much more that mere stress relief or muscle toning, to me at least.

I'm interested in all types of yoga, especially kundalini yoga.

I like flow yoga and basic hatha - holding the poses and relaxing into them.

I do not do Yoga as often as I should but I walk four dogs everyday and trying to fit 'exercise' or even 'relaxation' into my day is difficult.

Like Lisa I sit at the computer for most of the day so I get lower back pain. I have a very old Lynn Marshall - Wake Up to Yoga book and she recommends The Fish and The Cat for back ache.

But when I am in real pain there is nothing like finding an empty space on the floor and just lying in the corpse position, I have been known to fall asleep during this exercise.

Peace and God Bless

My dad has arthritis in his hips and has had one hip replaced already. When I see him barely able to get around, I am determined to stick to my yoga classes to try and avoid the same fate as i get older.

I really want to maintain my flexibility as I age and doing yoga makes me feel so much better in mind, body and spirit.

I also have to admit that I enjoy messing around with inversions because they feel so good. I feel all bubbly and giggly - happy inside - when being upside down. They really do a nice job on my mental space.

I do yoga for flexibility.

I can really tell the difference in my joints when I do yoga on a regular basis. It also helps my breathing and stress levels but I love the way my body feels more balanced and loose after a good yoga workout.

I have been putting a lot of stress on my body just from everyday stuff and work so I need yoga to help me destress. Plus, I have lost a lot of my flexibility and I am just dying to get it back. I just started getting back into yoga and while it hasn't officially clicked with me, I think I am beginning to fall in love with it and am actually craving classes. I have ashtanga tonight and I'm excited! I try to do about 5 classes a week, but this week I will only make 3 because of the big snow storm in DC and not being able to practice.