I encountered yoga as an exercise in the 1970s. I was seven or eight and the television show “Yoga with Kareen” was occasionally playing on the screen. I remember doing a shoulder stand and bicycling my legs. I remember being curious about the leotard.

I don’t know that I’d call myself a fanatic, and I definitely wouldn’t call myself an expert, but I’ve maintained some form of yoga practice for more than four decades now, and I love much about my time on the mat.

There are philosophical practices associated with yoga that one can pursue, but they’ve never interested me. I’m strictly about meditative stretching.

There are measurable health benefits associated with the practice of yoga. In addition to improving mobility and flexibility, regular practice can lower the blood pressure, reduce the risk of heart disease, and help people out with their digestive processes – vital for many of us in this day of processed food consumption.

And since it’s extremely cost-effective – you require no special clothing or equipment – it’s an ideal way to improve your health and activity level.

I like that yoga slows my thinking down. I have a busy brain, and it has always been thus, but yoga focuses on slow and sustained breathing. Slow the breath, slow the thoughts. It’s a simple solution, but it works for me.

As everyone who has taken a yoga class can attest, the Shavasana rest at the end is bliss. We all want more time with empty minds, it seems.

I don’t like hot yoga – it feels too much like torture: 100F/37C is the temperature that sees me seeking air conditioning, not exercise. I also steer clear of Bikram due to its association with cultishness. I’m susceptible to cults, so I stay distant. I can absolutely be sold.

I played around with Kundalini yoga for a couple of years in my thirties. It focuses on core and fast breathing in addition to poses and is supposed to be especially spiritual. I didn’t find that to be the case, and I came to dislike the feelings of near hyper-ventilation. It can also include chanting and singing, and that never felt authentic to me. I’m not that girl.

Most associate yoga with slow movements and posing, and this is found in the Hatha and Iyengar schools with their focus on precision and holding poses, and in Vinyasa yoga which connects poses in movement flows coordinated with the breath (sometimes referred to as the prana or life force).

A combination of Hatha, Iyengar, and Vinyasa most accurately reflects my particular practice, though I’ll throw in a Yin yoga session a couple of times a month to mix things up.

In Yin yoga, one holds the poses for an extended period – two to five minutes for each pose is not unusual. Poses that are easy to hold and that encourage flexibility and range of motion are selected, though I do like a prolonged tree pose. Keep a support nearby, however, in case you stumble. Which is fine – trees sway.

Holding balance poses is good for muscle and ligament strength, and the required focus calms me even as the wobbling frustrates – yoga is also good for learning to let go of the ego.

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Do you practice yoga?
Do you enjoy it?
What’s your favourite pose?

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