Anonymous asked: Was starting off with yoga difficult for you? I am having a bit of trouble with it and I'm also wanting to loose weight. Have you had luck with loosing weight while doing yoga? Any tips you have for a beginner and how to properly breathe? (:

yes!!! i almost didn’t stick with it, but i was determined to get healthier and so i just stuck with it, and my love increased. don’t give up, it will become easier to flow. every time you practice, you are carving out that flow that might be difficult for you to keep up with now. practice makes improvement, remember that. i couldn’t even touch my toes, and look at me now. i NEVER thought i would be able to balance on my forearms and feel comfortable and find ease in such a pose. anyway, yes. yoga will make you loose weight if you are practicing vinyasa/power/bikram yoga. anything that gets you sweating. BUT you have to remember to eat healthy! lots of fruits and veggies. natural/organic products. eat clean! you will see results. you build muscle during yoga, and muscle burns fat. yoga will form your body to the shape your body in meant to be. as long as you fuel yourself with healthy choices, positive outlooks, and yoga practices - your body will reward you. that’s how i look at it.

for a beginner it’s important to just accept the fact that RIGHT NOW you may not be able to do crazy poses, inversions, arm balances, whatever. but, you WILL. as long as you practice them, you will learn how to do them. if you have classes in your area, check out a beginners one - the instructor can teach you the right alignment in most poses, which is important to avoid injury and gain all the benefits. also, if you fall - get back up and try again and practice. instead of cursing yourself when you fall, think that it’s okay that you fell, it’s even great because that means you tried! you tried something new, you challenged yourself. so keep it up! also, take the modifications. if you can’t do side plank without shaking and wobbling on your arm, place your bottom knee down. yes, it’s good to challenge yourself like i just said, but you also need to know when to modify a pose so you don’t hurt/force something in your body. so don’t be afraid or ashamed of doing that, you will improve quicker. if a sequence gets challenging, rest in child’s pose for a few breathes until you’re ready to take it on again. just listen to your body! it will tell you what you need to know. :)

now with breathing… long inhales through your nose, long exhales through your nose. try not to pump your breathe - unless you’re instructed too. that’s called breathe of fire - you sound a train and it gets your heart pumping faster. it’s good to do in tough poses, i think. otherwise, when your flowing through poses - focus on long deep breathes in through the nose, and out through the nose. yoga is a moving meditation, so take that into consideration.

i hope this helped, and i hope you stick with yoga. good luck! xo.