These yoga poses: can you do any of these

[Crankin]

I guess I was happy doing the poses I did... I never really saw yoga as something that I wanted to get super advanced at. I mean, it did what I wanted it to do; calm me down, stretch, and add a different dimension to the other stuff I do. Of course, I am famous for not wanting to have to "train" or really work too much at improving any of the sports I do, but I really did improve at yoga just from going consistently. I still practice at home 1-2 times a week. Just easy stuff, though.
My teachers were all Kripalu trained and I thought they were great. They paid attention to alignment. I've only done a really easy beginner class at the gym I go to now. The teachers also seem good, but it's so crowded, I don't go much.
I am thinking about rejoining my old gym in the fall and yoga is one of the reasons. I went to a studio the summer after I left my old gym; I did a very intense yoga/meditation class for 8 weeks, which I loved, but then the place moved and it was too far away.

[shootingstar]

As a young teen, I could do the crow pose (lst photographed post in link) without knowing it had a name. You know as a kid, you just fool around with movements.

I will never want to do a headstand...having a head injury for me, just has made me not want to try stuff involving weight on my head. Just a few wks. ago when my brain was still
healing, I discovered I slept more fitfully/feeling refreshed by sleeping right side of head vs. left side where I was abit hurt, etc.

I had my lst physiotherapist appt. post accident this week. Her first movement tests to determine my wrist injury....were some yoga like simple hand movements. Seriously.

The simple yoga balance exercises I did a few years ago by balancing on 1 leg standing, will become useful for me later once my rehabilitation is more underway and probably long term.

[OakLeaf]

As far as the popularity of yoga among devotees of other sports, I think there are a lot of reasons. The physical/injury prevention/performance enhancing type reasons I mentioned are some of it. But then there's this also. Yoga I think is the antidote to the kind of people who run with headphones on, etc. One *does* have to be present in one's body to balance ... I don't think there's any way around that. Which is not to say that there are a lot of different reasons why some people's balance is naturally better than others'.

(I just gotta say ... I don't think too many people teach headstand with weight on the head any more. I know there's a style of headstand where you do weight the head and neck, but I've never been in a class where it's taught that way. That *is* pretty risky.)