Yoga has recently started to become a common daily practice for a lot of people as it has proved to be an immensely useful tool to destress and calm our minds. And so, as a result, more and more people are taking to yoga to improve their lifestyles. In this blog post, I will be outlining some common mistakes that beginners tend to make their first time doing yoga. Not everyone makes these mistakes, but if you do, here is your guide to fixing them!
Table of Contents
1.Expecting results too soon
Yoga is a process, it is a journey. So expecting overnight results would be wrong as well as unrealistic! Just learning the basics of yoga can take up to a month or even longer. So be patient and the results will surely come.
2. Not taking a break after each practice
What most beginners forget is to reflect after every asana and mentally and physically feel the changes that they have just experienced from performing the posture or meditation. Stopping after every practice and checking in with your inner self can help you pace yourself and recognize whether you felt the expected changes or not.
3.Rushing to finish
Most people these days have a very busy lifestyle and this can result in a small amount of free time in their schedule. As a result, some people try to squeeze in a yoga practice whenever they can and end up rushing to finish a certain number of poses and unfortunately this can decrease the benefits you could be getting from yoga. So do it slowly and with mindfulness. It doesn’t matter how many poses you are able to complete but it matters how in-depth you have performed those poeses.
4. Doing yoga without being aware of your body and breathing
Yoga without being aware of your breathing is just the same as exercise. It’s not effective if you don’t inhale and exhale when you are supposed to.
5. Bending the back in a wrong way
This is a common mistake many beginners make and as a result get back pain and other problems. They don’t bend from the root of their spine which results in arching of the back which may later lead to back pain. When bending, you must always try to keep the back straight and bed from the root of your spine.
6.Talking or being distracted as you perform the practice
Talking during practicing yoga takes away from the very essence of practicing it in the first place. So when you are practicing make sure that you are not distracted. Make sure your phone is on silent and there are no distracting noises. Then only will you be able to reap true benefits and see surprising results.
7.Practicing at wrong times
Just like everything else, practicing yoga has a proper time and place for when it should be done. Yoga should not be done just after eating when you have a full stomach. Yoga shouldn’t practice when you are sick (fever or infection), and when your body has just gone through a lot(surgery).
8.After performing yoga asanas, rushing to jump back into their busy schedules without cooling down
After performing yoga, a common mistake that most people make is jumping right back into their schedules without reflecting on their practice and cooling down. People should end the yoga practice bu performing relaxing asanas, pranayama, or meditation. Stay quiet for a few minutes to bring your breath back to normal.Thus, you would have completed the practice
9.Know the contraindications
You should be aware of your preconditions(Hig BP, back pain, knee pain, diabetes, seizures, etc…) so that you don’t end up performing postures that would worsen your conditions. here are some examples:
- People who have heart problems should avoid forward bending
- People with back pain sold avoid inverted postures.
- etc..
10. Not knowing their limits
Knowing when to stop is as important as knowing when to start. When we first start out, it can be tempting to try all sorts of new things but we must know how much our bodies can withstand and then gradually work up from there
