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I must admit that after hurting my back yoga has helped.
I really did not think I would like it but after 5 months...I love it.
I have a yoga workout (about 20 minutes) before and after I cycle.
I will not lie to you and tell you I can do all the moves, but the ones I can do I do.

I love it, but I don't do it often enough. Last year I was going to an intense ashtanga studio once or twice a week. It was very "old school," the way I guess it's done in India: not a whole class following the teacher through the postures, but come in on your own schedule, roll out your mat, and begin going through the sequence of postures, beginning with a lot of sun salutations. The instructor would walk around and correct you if she could see your form wasn't right. It was a terrific way to start the day.

I disapprove of "gym yoga", where it's rushed. I much prefer the 1.5 hour sessions where you ease into stretches, hold them for longer, and have an actual meditative feel to it.

I was taking about 1 class a week for a few years, then stopped when that instructor dropped the class.
Got back into it this past January and do two classes a week if I finish my work day in time to get there.

I've been doing hot yoga and I love it. So relaxing when I'm done, but so intense when doing it. It's helped make my core tighter (not the same thing as getting abs) and it's helped me to be present at times.

I LOVE it! But I do Bikram's yoga and that's AWESOME!!!

tommo saidI disapprove of "gym yoga", where it's rushed. I much prefer the 1.5 hour sessions where you ease into stretches, hold them for longer, and have an actual meditative feel to it.

I completely agree, one should not rush the movements. But there are so many schools in yoga.

I've been doing yoga for years, maybe 4 years now.
I love it, before I did Yoga I couldn't even bend to touch my knees. Now I can go waaaaaaaaay past my feet. I can do things in bed that drive men crazy.

go yoga!

I tried it but wasnt impressed.

I love Yoga and teach a Hatha class 6 days a week. It can be very powerful in many different ways.

It is not the end all and be all of exercise but it can really change a workout program and help to make it more effective.

Caslon.....If you didn't like it, I hope to be able to show you some of it's benefits someday. It may not have been the right time for you or you just had a poor instructor.

Anyway, it's not something that you can just do a couple of times to get the most out of it. Like any good workout program it takes time to make changes.

I enjoy yoga as well. It helps me stay "centered" when my life goes crazy. I have been practicing for about 3 years or so. The only gym that does yoga where I am at has its class after I'm at work so I use Duncan Wong's "Yogic Arts" DVD's. It is a mix of martial arts and yoga, but I have noticed more results with these than going from a book.

I've practiced yoga for over a decade. Started in hatha, moved to ashtanga, do plenty of kundalini.

I used to do it far more than I do now. I have mixed things up in the past couple of years with more running, lots of body weight conditioning and plyometrics.

I started recently and have taken 4 classes so far (every sunday). I'd like to do more, but the timing is difficult. I, too, thought it would be easier than it is. I am amazed at the quick improvement in my sense of well being, my range of motion and my level of relaxation. At one point during the second class, as I was thinking "i'll never get this", I looked over in the mirror at my pose and thought "holy crap, how did I get into this position?" I realized that the instructor has slowly guided us through a series of preps to get us precisely where we were. Had I tried to get into that pose as a first move, surely, I'd have snapped something.

I can't wait until the levitation lessons begin.

I love YOGA! I practice yoga about 4 times per week. It is amazing how wonderful you feel after you practice! Flexibility training is so vital to help you prevent injuries too! I also feel that practicing does improve your energy flow and healing capabilities!

Yoga has been hugely helpful to me following a back injury a few years ago...I have about a 20 minute routine that I do most days, usually after cycling or working out in the gym, really helps keep things loose & comfortable. Back pain, which had been an issue periodically for most of my adult life, seems to be a thing of the past.

I started practicing Yoga in the 90s - the benefits are numerous. Yoga is much more of a work out than I once thought it would be. Some of my RJ friends and I belong to a nude Yoga group here - in a private place with a pool, so we can cool off before and afterward.

Absolutely love it. I wish I had started it 20 yrs. ago instead of just last year. I now go 3-4 days a week to a heated studio here in Austin...

Just started as a prelude to Strong/Lean program on here. I now take it twice a week and love how it has tightened areas of my body I had forgotten about.

I'm going to be honest with all of you, I used to think yoga was a joke. I always saw people performing certain yoga stances and thinking, "hah, I could do that!" NO, I finally tried it and it is noo joke and I'm actually kind of addicted to it. Definitely felt a difference after a couple of days in my abs and lower back. Of course I was only doing the basic yoga moves. Still, some hard shit! RESPECT to the yoga people.

i've gone to a couple of yoga classes now, and I"m enjoying it so far. I need to focus more on the meditation aspect though. I just can shut myself down.

I used to be hard core.. iyengar, astanga etc... I'm into pilates now, but with a "yoga mind".

Yes, Both love it, AND see the benefits directly., though, like nearly everything else that's good for me, I don't do enough of it.
*Note to self for 2009: care for thine own frikkin ass whilst it's still on this earth.

I've done the Bikram Yoga and loved it. It is a real challenge to get through it which I like, but you also get a good workout and feel great afterwards. I have also done the more traditional yoga and did not like the instructor so dropped it. But think it was more an issue with me than her, I just could not get into it. I really want to get the medatative side of it going, but struggle to relax enough to do it.

I really like yoga, but it's very difficult at first, so I would start with a shorter session than a half hour. I've done both power yoga and the slower version when you hold the positions longer. I like them both, but the slower version is much more difficult. Also, yoga is more difficult when you're overweight.

i love hatha yoga, and tantra yoga