Question:

I am a 30-year-old male and try to keep relatively fit by playing soccer each week and walking to work each day. I also do weights a couple of times a week at home. Recently I have been thinking of doing yoga, but I am worried that I won't be flexible enough and make a fool of myself.

Answer:

Funny, this is a question I always get asked and the truth is that you would never make a fool of yourself. Flexibility is one component of yoga asana (postures) but it is about one eighth of the total hatha yoga system, which is mostly what we see in the West, so there is a lot more to it.

Flexibility is worked on with practice and will come over time. To be honest, it is the one area most people lack in their training regimes. Yoga asana will not only help your soccer and work out recovery but could also improve stride length, mental focus and overall well-being.

Yoga practice has a physical and spiritual side to it, they are both interlinked under most of the systems we see in the Western world. As a 30-something male it becomes very apparent that we're not bulletproof anymore and if we want to keep doing the sports we love and remain happy in a stressful world we need to take care of our bodies.

Yoga and mindfulness become essential to modern living rather than a choice in the end. Putting it off any longer just increases the chance of injury, being over stressed and/or having to stop doing the things we love.

So you might be a little tight in some areas but we all start somewhere and everyone in the class will understand where you're at because they started somewhere too.

Forget about how you look to others, it is one of the first things you'll learn from your yoga practice. Focus on how it feels, listening to your body and give it what it needs to healthy and vibrant even if it means eating the humble pie every now and then.

You have a great journey ahead of you, mate, look forward to it!

Duncan Peak — yoga expert
www.powerliving.com.au