Benefit as a function of time

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birdyroger
Posts: 27
Joined: Thu Oct 04, 2018 7:12 am
Location: Colorado Springs

Benefit as a function of time

Post by birdyroger »

Dear Everyone,

Your personal opinions and observations matter to me. But please clarify if your opinions are based upon personal experience or what is supposed to be correct or however you came to your opinion.

Say I allocate 10 minutes per day to the Butterfly. Is 5 minutes in the morning and 5 minutes in the mid-afternoon better than just doing 10 minutes straight?

Is doing yin yoga in the mornings better than at night just before sleep time?

I understand that doing yoga at 4:00 A.M. is supposed to be the best time to do yoga. I may have experienced that as being awe-freaking-some. Has anyone else experienced a 4:00 A.M. session as being especially rewarding, more than usual?

If I do my yin yoga session all at once, it can take up to 2 hours and 40 minutes. Lately I have been breaking up my sessions throughout the day. Am I a yin yoga lunatic, or merely a yin yoga fanatic?
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YogiBalance
Posts: 25
Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2017 5:33 am

Post by YogiBalance »

The followings are from my personal experience (doing yin for the last about 3 years):

Staying longer is better (if and that is a big if, if you are doing the posture correct and you don't feel pain/electric feeling, etc.) because it allows the body to stretch more. Personally i would do butterfly for 5 min because i'd rather invest other time to work on other postures.

From my experience, i would wait like 2 hours after i wake up in the morning before doing yin yoga or other exercises. I think the body needs to wake up. It does not feel right when i attempt to do exercise right after i wake up.

Never tried or read such recommendation. Can you elaborate?

I feel that generally its better to do less postures but each for longer period of time, for example, child pose for 5 min instead of 3, because it allows the body to stretch deeper. I don't think there is something wrong in doing yin in different parts of the day. I do think that in order to have a truly strong body you got to give time for yang activities as well - like lifting weights. I do one day yin and the other day weight/bodyweight lifting and its SO much better than only doing yin. Don't do only yin yoga, you are missing out BIG TIME. You also got to sweat, to pump muscles, to feel that active blood flow, etc. Yin yoga will never give you that. Yin and yang is the complete thing. You need both. To feel balance.
birdyroger
Posts: 27
Joined: Thu Oct 04, 2018 7:12 am
Location: Colorado Springs

Post by birdyroger »

Thank you very much for your reply. This is exactly what I was hoping for.

"Never tried or read such recommendation. Can you elaborate?"

I presume by the above that you are talking about the 4:00 A.M. time for yoga. I have read it many places.

About the yin/yang bit, I am 50% with you, not that I am disagreeing with you. I agree 100% with you, but I don't think I do enough yang. I like your doing yin one day and yang the other. I just did 2 pull-ups (I'm 73 years old and lucky to do any pull-ups) along with a dozen assisted pull-ups and a bunch of bar dips. I may switch to doing alternate days like you are doing.
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Bernie
Posts: 1293
Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2006 2:25 am
Location: Vancouver

Post by Bernie »

When is the best time to do yoga? 4am?

Well, if you lived in India where it gets very hot during the day, it is a good idea do to your yoga in the cool of the morning. That is also a quiet time so very nice for meditation. However, there is no rule that yoga must be done then. This is both a culture effect of living in a hot climate, and a part of the discipline of getting up early. Many philosophies feel that early to bed and early to rise is a good thing for your health. But, again, it is not mandatory.

If doing yoga early works for you, go for it! In the end, all these questions come back to what is best for you, given your unique biology and biography. Anything else is just a suggestion. Don't be dogmatic.

Here is a page from YinSights online talking about when is the best time to do Yin Yoga. As you will see ... it depends upon you and your intention. There is no one right answer.

Cheers!
Bernie
birdyroger
Posts: 27
Joined: Thu Oct 04, 2018 7:12 am
Location: Colorado Springs

Yin and Yang

Post by birdyroger »

I forgot to mention that I do yang yoga poses also as part of my yin yoga session because my life itself is sort of placid (yin). I realize that compared with resistance exercise this is still very yin, but every little bit counts.

Today is my yang day, and I will do numerous body weight exercises to failure. I look forward to showing off to my daughter on Christmas me doing more than 2 pull-ups. That and dangling with my palms on the floor and my knees straight will be my Christmas present to her; I feel that this is much cheaper and much better than buying some object.
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Amelia
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Jun 28, 2018 4:15 pm

Post by Amelia »

From my personal experience, I think there is no best time for a workout or yoga practice, you could find the best time for yourself.

I have had some sleep problem for 3 years, so I practice yoga before I go to sleep. I can relax my body and sleep better. I prefer to do my session all at once, it's also the reason why I practice at night. I'm not an early bird, personal habit, it's not easy to change it. Even I don't do a workout - except running- in the morning.
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