Question from Jessica Holden, Maidenhead:
Do I have to be flexible?
I have seen people doing Yoga exercises before and they seem very flexible. I am worried that I won’t be able to do the poses as I cannot bend my legs or back very well.
One of the many reasons that a lot of people shy away from yoga is that they believe they are simply not flexible enough. But flexibility is not a prerequisite of yoga. Yoga is all about strengthening and stretching your muscles and this will make you more flexible. There are many variations of poses which can be adapted to suit even the most inflexible so you should not let this be a reason not to join a yoga class if that is what you want to do. One of the main reasons that a lot of people join yoga is actually to increase their flexibility and there are many beginner classes where you may just find that everyone is in the same shape as you. You will be surprised at how your ability to bend and shape your body will change the more yoga poses you do and the more competent at yoga you become. Yoga is not intended to show off flexibility but is meant to increase your flexibility over time. There are also other health benefits to practicing yoga so you should not worry about bending your legs or back in a certain way and just enjoy learning the poses along with everyone else.
