Yoga Poses for Larger and More Mature Women

If You’re Over 45 Years If you’re over forty-five years and more, it would seem that we lost our way somewhere along the road to here. Maybe we’ve all started on a yoga journey at some time; and sooner than later, we’ve given up the ghost and tried something else instead. Yoga Poses for Larger and More Mature Women improve balance and mobility and fitness, fluidity of movement, stronger bones, healthier in general, improved memory, lots of confidence and self esteem, weight loss and peace and tranquiity within. Yoga Poses for Larger and more Mature Women Yoga poses for larger and more mature women are essential for their health and wellbeing. These ladies should try these Yoga poses repeatedly until they get it right. It is only then, that they can start to enjoy the multiple benefits of Yoga in their lives. 5 Yoga Poses for Larger Women The Downward Dog Pose This is where you stand, feet on the floor slightly apart, face down, bending forward, hands-on floor, making an arch with your body. This pose stretches the hand, hamstring, shoulders, calf, arches of the foot. It strengthens the arm and the leg. The Child Yoga Pose Kneel on the floor with knees apart and toes touching. Bring your arms and hands stretched out along the floor, thumbs touching. Face should be down on the floor. The Easy Yoga Pose Sit on the floor cross-legged with knees resting on feet. Your back must be straight and your shoulders in alignment with the backs of hands resting on knees. The first finger and thumb should be touching. The Chair Pose Stand with your feet on the floor placed closely together, bend your knees which are close together as if you were going to sit. Then straighten your spine and keep your arms and hands close together place face upward and arms and hands above and slightly behind you. This makes an S shape with your body. The Tree Yoga Pose Stand straight on one leg with foot placed straight down on the inside of the thigh. Extend the knee outwards. Keep the spine straight. Place arms, elbows, and hands in a praying position extending elbows and pressing hands together, fingers upwards as if in prayer. Back straight and head facing forward. Larger Women Hold Back Younger, slimmer women are more inclined to join a yoga class. The more mature, larger women hold back because they are self-conscious about their extra centimetres and feel that the people at the course will check them out and think how many pounds they need to lose. How can one tell them that isn’t real? How can one persuade them to believe that Yoga is the ideal thing to help them stop being self-conscious and probably cause them to continue with a class that will reduce the unnecessary stress in their lives? There are people who don’t believe this and feel the need to bully or make fun of overweight and more mature people. Easy targets! But the bullies are the odd ones, the outsiders, the misfits – and not the other way around. Insulted We heard of an incident that happened years ago whereby two women attended physical fitness classes together, one was young and slim and the other was heavily overweight and in her fifties. The fitness instructor was a handsome young man who attracted young ladies like moths to the flame! He was charming to the young, thin women and almost insulting to the older overweight women. Everyone noticed that he was only courteous to the young slim ladies and quite horrid to the plumper older ones. The two friend left his class because of that. Yet, here’s the twist….. The reason they left was because the young slim woman insisted thta he behve courteously to her friend or they would leave. Her friend was so used to people being rude and offensive to her that she shrugged ift off and didn’t make a scene. So the young thin friend took her older overweight friend and persuaded her to leave. The young woman was outraged that her friend was treated so badly. The older woman said she’d been insulted all her life because she was overweight. She had lost her self esteem and confidence because of it. She also lost the will to sign up for any other yoga classes – and that is sad. Overweight Women Often Have A Poor Opinion of Themselves. When women are especially overweight, they usually have a poor opinion of themselves. They never realize that some people go out of their way to be in that lady’s company because she cares, and she laughs, and she’s genuine. Many ‘larger women’ with the ‘fuller figures’ feel that certain parts of life’s happier experiences are not for them. They think they don’t come up to standard and will, therefore, never be contented. It’s incredible because they are hurting themselves – nobody else. Everyone else loves them, but they fail or refuse to see it. Yoga is exceptionally appealing, and with all the daily stress added to our lives, perhaps Yoga is the very thing we need to reduce that stress and calm us down. Overweight Ladies In the oversized, plump, overweight category, larger ladies will automatically lose weight by going to Yoga. They suffer from low self-esteem. It's tue, they will lose weight from Yoga, but, they will also lose weight by joining a fitness group. However, this is not solely to lose weight. This is to find self-validation, serenity, grace, tranquillity, peace, and a good sense of self, self-control, and self-esteem. It’s about being at one with yourself and giving yourself permission to be happy and find the joy – spread the love. Yoga is a Wonderful Experience Yoga is a beautiful experience of correcting your balance – both emotionally, physically, and mentally, and feeling less stressed, less put upon, and less used. No matter what you eat or drink, what type of sport you play, or the type of exercise you do; Yoga is an essential form of stretching and balancing ourselves and our bodies. This is what we need – it’s a necessary form of existing peacefully and adjusting our whole bodies and attitudes – mind, body and soul! A series of stretches during which you adapt your body, soul and mind in meditation to merge and flow together in harmony as one is an excellent remedy for whatever ails any of us. The emphasis here is not so much to be at one with the Universe as people are so fond of saying, but if you could begin to be at one with yourself, that would be a considerable improvement and a great beginning! You Can Usually Spot the ‘Yoganites’ You can usually spot the people that are yoga fanatics. They are more graceful, peaceful, calmer within themselves, and seemingly more youthful than their actual ages. They are quiet, but when they speak, people listen to them because they have that kind of self-assured glow about them, and better yet, they have something to say thats’ worth hearing. It’s Time For Me Writing this, one feels perhaps it’s time for a second encounter with Yoga. Maybe it will be the perfect experience for the body, mind and soul this time - and probably also get one’s head re-aligned and thinking straight for a change. Go with others – if you choose to, but do it for yourself and your own benefit, so there are no connections with anyone else and no recriminations from them at a later stage. You don’t have to share your thoughts about it, or discuss it or praise it. Be happier in a self-contained way - alone. Yoga will teach you that. You will feel less burdened by anyone else, less obliged to them. You’ll lose the need to please everyone all the time at your own expense. You feel more confident and calmer, and your self-esteem will grow as your need for validation shrinks. One needs to choose what type of class to join. Frankly, a class to release stress is probably the most valuable in the beginning. We Need Re-Setting and Re-Balancing We understand that Yoga movements are the most natural movements that our body could ever perform smoothly and enjoy. Why then do most people find it so difficult at first. We’re advised that our bodies are ‘out of whack’ because, over the years, they’ve developed many bad habits. Yoga, therefore, is for correcting these terrible habits, and that’s why the stretches feel awkward and difficult at first. However, after you’ve been practising these moves for a while, it starts to get more comfortable. Although there was never any pain, the body relaxes more and more into these natural positions and welcomes the adjustments and balancing – as it should. The damage that we do to our bodies - Yoga puts right. Yoga Tones Your Body With Yoga, your body will become toned – like that of a top athlete. Its muscles will be stretched, and thus it will increase the blood flow. If you stick to it, you can end up looking radiant, toned and magnificent. A Rookie Mistake Do not keep weighing and measuring yourself. That’s a trap into which beginners walk. It’s a Rookie trap. So, don’t feel bad if you’re just beginning. But people who are new to it all keep measuring themselves and weighing themselves, and after a week or two, if they don’t see enough difference, they become disappointed and discouraged. They eventually move away from it – stop going, and what’s worse, many of them say it doesn’t work. To clarify, Yoga isn’t about losing weight – that’s a spin-off, a bonus. Yoga is much more about self-alignment on a spiritual basis. If you want a hard, relentless workout to get those muscles in tip-top shape while losing weight try Pilates. The Age of Sage When you do eventually enter into the ‘age of sage’, you will know it. People say they won’t go to the extent of improving their appearance once they reach this age! Yet, they will attend Yoga classes. Those two statements are contradictory. We go to Yoga to feel better, look better and be better. Many go to deal with stress and find peace. Some go so they'll be able to move more quickly – be more supple - in their senior years. We Could All Do Better Most people are reasonably comfortable just being themselves in their mature years. They know themselves by then. They have ‘twinges’ and ‘soreness’ in some areas. Many folks could use a night of better and more peaceful sleep and would appreciate a considerable drop in the levels of their everyday stress. Yoga can accomplish that for all of them. Just show them where to ‘sign up’, and their lives will change for the better in no time at all. Explanatory Images – Yoga Poses In this article, you will find things to give you ideas of the various positions you’ll be practising in your new Yoga classes. You might like to see some of these positions and start practising on your own for a while. There are no explanations for how to accomplish these poses, but you might have fun figuring them out by yourself. Life Changer We’ve heard from so many different sources that Yoga is quite the life changer. You roll up to your class, unroll your little mat, and from the moment your instructor enters the room, things start to change for the better for you. Graceful and Supple Generally speaking, if you feel more supple, you start moving with the grace of a ballet dancer. Eventually, that gives you confidence. If you’re more flexible and graceful, you’ll probably have lost weight, and you’ll be feeling good about yourself. From that point, everything starts to improve because success attracts success. Less Weight – More Confidence A loss of weight and a boost in self-confidence makes a massive difference to your attitude towards life, and people notice you for all the right things and none of the wrong things. It will probably also improve your sense of humor! People are Attracted to You It must make you feel calm and serene, looking poised and elegant. People will feel attracted to you because of these things, and that’s something of which you can feel incredibly proud. Self Confidence is Sexy The sight of someone going about their life with self-confidence is very sexy. When people know what they’re doing and do it confidently with laughter and calmness, other people notice and want to be like them. It doesn’t matter what size your body is, or how your hair or makeup looks – all that counts is that you are at peace with yourself and utterly confident in what you are doing, to the point where you can laugh and joke and accomplish your goal. Self-confidence is so attractive to other people that they’ll always give their attention to the one who seems to be most confident – looks apart. Our Partners Some people try to persuade their male partners to go with them, although….don’t bet on the success rate! That often ends up wth a couple or more women going together. Some people just feel the need to do things in a group and that fine for them. Others go alone and enjoy the experience quietly in a self contained way. Lose The Stress I hope after reading this that many of the larger ladies will sign on the bottom (pardon the pun) line for a Yoga class –if only to reduce stress. I also hope they will feel so much better that it will encourage others to sign on for more classes – and take their friends with them. Don’t Hesitate Stop being hesitant, stop thinking this isn’t for you and start saying yes to things you’d never have considered in the past. Look after Yourself This is all about you! Look after yourself, have an adventure, go beyond your usual boundaries, and find happiness as you explore the benefits of Yoga. Be you. The real you! Not the persona you present to the world, thinking they’ll like you better if you agree with them on everything. Laugh and have fun and disagree quietly occasionally because it’s OK to be you – your real self. People will respect you more and be happy that you appreciate them enough to tell them the truth. When you’re comfortable within your own skin, no-one notices or cares whether you’re a larger and more mature lady or a runway model – Yoga works wonders for both of you! Ann Roberts