Young padawans, I am here to debunk some of the very common misconceptions about yoga that I have heard over the years. I first started doing yoga junior year of high school, and the yogi Force has been strong with me ever since. While yoga itself may not be for everyone, these often-told myths stand to be eradicated. So, dear collegiettes, don your yoga pants (or Tei fighting armor) and let’s head onto the Dark Side to vanquish these buggers.
Myth #1: Yoga is easy. Fact: Yoga is an intense mental and physical workout, often stretching you into deep poses that require strength in muscles you didn’t even know you had. After doing yoga for so long, my thighs, biceps, core, calves, and delts are all rock-hard strong. Don’t assume that just because someone is carrying a cushy yoga mat that he or she is in for a soft workout. On the contrary, yoga workouts, especially Vinyasa flow or Power yoga, contain an all-body, actively engaged cardio/stretching/strength moves that torch up to a intense 445 calories per hour. Vader obviously wants to up his game by doing yoga. And while we may not have any Galactic Empires to sustain, we do have a physical physique that needs to be upkept.
Myth #2: Yoga is just for women. Fact: In reality, yoga was developed for men in India. Power yoga was designed with the ideal body archetype of a twenty-year-old male, but that doesn’t mean you collegiettes can’t reap the rewards as well. Duke’s yoga classes are popularized by women, but both genders are adequately engaged in this type of exercise. These Imperialists are heavy in training, and not a pink top or lip gloss in sight.
Myth #3: You have to be “flexible” to practice yoga. Fact: Yoga helps make you flexible. Unless you are a gymnast or dancer, pretty much everyone starts at the same level. A regular practice of yoga actually helps you become more flexible. Working to flexibility is a progression that becomes easier with time and practice. Just look at those droids. It C3PO can manage camel in his metallic outer layer, I think we collegiettes can too.
Myth #4: Yoga is just for the young and sprightly. Fact: Men and women of all ages practice yoga. I’ve taken a class before with three generations of women present: 6 year-old granddaughter, 37 year old mother, 64 year old grandmother. Yoga has become prevalent in senior centers, and, on the opposite end of the spectrum, kid yoga has become more prevalent as well in sports education facilities. Like our friends Yoda and Luke pictured above, yoga has the power to bridge all generational gaps.
Myth #5: Yoga is a religion or cult. Fact: Yoga contains no services, icons/figures to worship, or a formal statement of religious belief. It is merely a physical practice that has touches of spiritual awareness, such as a five-minute shivasina—or meditation—at the end of a workout. All that you must do in that meditation is clear your mind of negative thoughts and fill it with positive ones. I usually daydream about being in nature or vacationing in an exotic place like Tahini.
So why try yoga?
I cannot extoll the benefits of yoga enough. No amount of words can do this type of exercise justice. The short meditations do wonders for relaxing your body/mind; the blood circulating Sun Salutations rejuvenate your body; the poses help you develop strength, flexibility, and endurance; the twisting poses helps detoxify your digestive system, etc.
Long-term practice of yoga even slows down the body’s aging process, in both the external and internal physical sense. I practice with this one woman who has severe scoliosis and should have had to be confined in a wheelchair. She practices yoga three times a week and can function properly without a wheelchair. The miracles and benefits of yoga practicing are endless.
So, next time you are on your way to the gym, consider trying yoga. You won’t regret the choice.
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