Everything You Wanted to Know About Yoga, but Were Afraid to Ask. Ask the Expert – Annie Clarke.

Yoga, to the uninitiated, can look a little intimidating. All that serenity. All those words you don’t understand. And yes, sometimes it is a case of less mindful, and more mind full. This week’s expert, Annie Clarke – yoga teacher, author and all round holistic wunderkind, might make it look easy but she also wants us to know that it is not as scary as it looks.

How Many Times a Week Should I Practice Yoga to Get Good Benefits?

There is no one size fits all answer to this. We’re all so different and our lifestyles vary so much that what works for one person might not be realistic for the next. You can get the benefits of yoga in just a few minutes, but I think consistency is important. It’s a practice, and the more we develop the practice, the more skilled we become at using the tools it gives us.

I am Not a Fan of Cardio. Is Yoga Enough to Maintain Fitness/Tone Up?

I guess this comes down to what you see yoga as. It’s not a practice of fitness, and so the toning/fitness elelment is just an added bonus for me. It can be an amazing way to strengthen and sculpt the body, but I work out for my body and do yoga for my mind!

Will Yoga help me lose weight? 

It might. And it’s ok if that’s the entry point to getting you to class to begin with. I started with Bikram because I decided that if I was going to do yoga, I might as well be losing weight at the same time. But over time I realised that wasn’t the point, and anything you sweat out is just water anyway. If you’re already really active, it’s probably not going to lose a ton of weight, but it will definitely help you find muscles you might not have used in a while.

I find people tend to be either Yoga people or Pilates people – do both types of exercise have similar benefits? 

I don’t see them in the same way. For me yoga is much more than a physical practice and so I would do both, or any other kind of exercise I fancied and see that as separate from yoga. I guess it’s the stretching element that is shared, and they both compliment each other, but for me they’re not the same.

Why are there so few men in my yoga class? How can I persuade my man to go? 

I’m actually noticing a big rise in men in my classes but it’s definitely not 50:50. It’s funny because yoga started off as a men’s practice but as it’s become commercialised it’s associated with women. I think it comes down to the environment and the teacher. If they can make someone feel comfortable then that’s really important. Men typically tend to be less flexible and more competitive (a generalisation of course) which makes a yoga class more daunting. Lots of my guy friends started by doing classes at home on YouTube, then when they felt a little more confident they started going to classes. It’s just about leaving your ego at the door, or trying to at least!

Is it really possible to think about Nothing? What is the best way to quiet the mind? 

Yes, but it’s not easy! And this is a big misconception that puts a lot of people off. It’s not about getting to this perfect state of quiet and staying there, but more about the fluctuations of the mind and being able to come back to a single point of focus without carrying ourselves away when thoughts come up.

Why do I sometimes feel like crying in my yoga class? 

We hold a lot of emotional tension and trauma within our bodies. So during yoga as we stretch the body, even through the physical aspect, we are creating opportunities to release this, as well as on a deeper energetic level. If it comes up, don’t fight it, it’s ready to go!

Yoga & Farting – please explain……

We’re working on relaxing the body. When muscles relax, it’s not uncommon, especially with twisting poses or anything that massages the abdomen!

And a few other questions …a little off topic……….

Have You Always Been So Healthy & Mindful. Is This a Lifestyle That Comes Naturally to you? Not always. But I got to the point where I had to do something to help myself feel good and since I learned how that feels, it’s hard now to stray away from that.

There seems to be a consensus that losing weight or having a ‘preferred body shape’ is only 10% exercise and 90% food – what are your thoughts on this? 

I think they go hand in hand. Taking weight out of the occasion, our mental and physical health are impacted by many things. We can just expect one thing to be the perfect fix if we aren’t looking after ourselves in other ways!

Any advice on how we can be less judgemental about ourselves? 

It’s a process. We give ourselves a hard time for being judgemental which just adds to it all. My yoga practice has been a gave changer for this. I still judge myself, but not half as much as I used to!

What do you wish you knew when you were younger that would have made your life easier now? 

That keeping your admin in order is really helpful. Like filing emails. Or recording expenses etc…

Best resources for living better and healthier lives? 

YOU. Cliche I know, but know body else knows what you need better than you do. The more we invest in connecting to ourselves, the more sensitive we become to ourselves and the better equipped we are to live our best life!

To instantly feel more wholesome check out Mind.Body.Bowl. & follow Annie @mind_body_bowl 

You can also buy her book – Mind, Body, Bowl – FULL of useful advice on living a life more in balance.