How to Modify Yoga Poses for Bigger Bodies
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- Опубликовано: 23 авг 2024
- Zelinda teaches how to make 3 common yoga poses - downward dog to lunge, child's pose, and seated forward fold - work for people with bigger bodies.
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Glad I found your channel. It's disheartening to try and do these poses when every video you see has people who are much smaller than me. Thank you,thank you,thank you 😊
Now for a video on getting into a pigeon pose.
Hello! You're most welcome! Here are my thoughts about getting into various yoga poses. When we go to a typical yoga class, or practice with a typical video, it's typically designed for young, thin, flexible, fit, non-disabled people. Not all of us are young, thin, flexible, fit, and non-disabled, so it's necessary to adjust the typical practice to suit our individual needs. Sometimes that means we can modify a given posture, but sometimes it means the posture is just not correct for our body and we need to find something different that will work better. In this case, we should think about the desired effect of the posture. In pigeon, the main goal is usually to work on hip flexibility. If you want to work on hip flexibility, you might find that a wide legged forward fold (seated or standing) might work better for you. Another pose called baddha konasana (butterfly?) might also be a good substitute. You could also do Figure 4 pose (lying on your back or seated on a chair). I hope this idea helps! :)
Thank you so much for posting this video! I've been struggling with transitioning from downward dog to lunge for so long. Can't wait to give your tips a try!
Wonderful. I wish I had learned the downward dog modification years ago. Thank you!
I absolutely love your videos! You are an incredible instructor! I think if anybody started Yoga with you they would continue to receive the wonderful benefits Yoga can bring. Unfortunately, I am sure many people feel it is too difficult to continue and give up. Thank you so much!
Thank you. Your calm and nonjudgmental approach, with lots of good detail is so helpful. Bigger bodies are sometimes put off because they can't do what the teacher says, and then they might not feel 'good' about it and give up. Your modifications can help students (and bigger body teachers like me!). I appreciate your posting.
Hi Deborah, thank you for the kind feedback. You're exactly right - we feel the same way. It's important for people to have a good first experience with yoga or else they think "this is not for me!" and they never try again. You might also want to check out our podcast: facebook.com/everybodyyogapodcast/ We offer videos and instruction for customizing the practice to fit the practitioner. :)
So helpful - lunge pose is where I struggle the most. I appreciate your guidance.
Thank you! Been doing yoga (mostly online, at home) for a few years now, and had never worked out how to do the 'step up into your lunge' without my belly getting in the way! This will make my practice much easier.
this is so great to see. i've been practicing yoga on and off over my life, and since i was a preteen i've had a belly and thick thighs, which has made several poses (especially the first two you talk about here) frustratingly difficult, physically and emotionally. so great to see this straightforward guide.
thank you for posting this video and sharing the yoga practice tips for bigger bodies. being the only bigger body in my yoga class, I sometimes struggle to do some poses because my belly gets in the way. Now I feel more comfortable to do some poses after seeing this video. Thank you!!!
Great! Glad we could help! :)
You are a great and wonderful teacher. I am so happy to have found you. Thank you ♡
I’ve just started watching your videos and am enjoying very much. I like that you’re calm, without doing the “yoga voice”, and you don’t play music. I’ve already started adding the poses in your video to my daily routine.
Hello Odette! I'm glad you're enjoying my videos. I know it's not a popular choice, but I prefer practicing and teaching without music. I feel that music can a distraction to the mindfulness of the practice. It sounds like we might be on the same page on that. :) Have you already found my October Practice Calendar? You can access it here: www.rryogaroom.com/youtube-practice-calendar Please let me know if you have any questions along the way!
This was extremely helpful 👏 🙂 👌 👍 ☺ thank you so much!!
Thank you so so much for this video. It’s immensely helpful!
Hi Lisa, you're most welcome! Did you know that I have a several videos about yoga for bigger bodies? You can find them here: ruclips.net/p/PLFr6eAcUWqfDoysc6gtxbFGUKRnq64DZA
This is so helpful. I'm not a big body woman, but my hamstrings are extremely short and tight. These modifications are helping me enjoy yoga so much more.
Hello Afi, I'm glad this video is helping you! In all of my videos I offer lots of options and modifications so that people with all kinds of bodies can practice and benefit from yoga. I hope you don't mind - I clicked over to your channel to learn a little more about you so that I'd know what kind of yoga videos to recommend for you. I love your music and your energy! :)
You might like this one since you play bass and I imagine you might experience some tension in your neck and shoulders: ruclips.net/video/2Cm0eRWigyg/видео.html
And you might enjoy this one on a busy day if you only have 10 minutes available but still want to do a robust practice that will help your whole body: ruclips.net/video/LGRPCdDu2RA/видео.html
Please reach out if you have any questions! :)
This video is so super helpful. Thank you!
Yay a video that I really enjoy! Finally😀
Nice detailed instructions.
This is so helpful. Thank you. Would definitely like to see more 🤗
Hello C'a Mines, I'm glad you enjoyed this one. You might like to check out my monthly practice calendar. You can find it here: www.rryogaroom.com/youtube-practice-calendar. All the videos are accessible for people with all kinds of bodies. Please let me know if you have any questions along the way! :)
Need more like this one... Very good instruction!
I had been facing these difficulties for long but today accidentally stumbled upon your channel and found the answer. :) keep up the good work and thanks for the important info.
❤❤❤❤thank you. This was super helpful.
I just came upon this. Thank you for these modifications!
Me encanta! Muchas gracias por tus videos, me hace sentir muy relajada y no juzgada por mi cuerpo grande. Amor desde México 🇲🇽 💗
Thank you so much!!
Thank you!!!
So nice morni yoga 👌🧘♀️🌷
Thank you
Thank you for this great video. How about doing one about the plough pose?
Hello Patricia, plough is a tricky posture to modify because it's not appropriate for many people. For safety, I would feel more comfortable offering specific modifications to a particular person. But generally, I think about the intended purpose of a posture and try to find a different posture that can safely provide the same or similar benefit without the risk of causing harm. :)
Your modifications are brilliant. I am having difficulty figuring out how to to modify two poses that were my favorites pre-plus size: Rabbit and Seated Spinal Twist. For Rabbit I have been putting my head on a block and using a strap to hold on to my heels. It worked for awhile but I can't get a good stretch anymore. But I am not ready to go full non-modified. For Seated Spinal twist, my breasts get in the way as well as my belly. I cannot seem to get my elbow to the outside of my knee. I have been aiming to get any part of my arm to the outside of my knee but it doesn't feel right.
Hi @Susan Fowler! Thanks for these great questions. Let make make a video to explain how to modify these two poses. A video will be much more effective than me writing a short novel here in the comments. :) I hope to get to it this week - please keep an eye out! - Zelinda
You are awesome! Thank you for doing this for larger bodies.
Is there a modification for the first pose of heel to heel cross position?
Thanks again
Hi Mary, are you asking about the last position I show, which is sitting cross legged? This one is challenging for many people. Here are some options you can try:
- sit with your legs extended
- sit on a cushion with your legs not on the cushion
- sit on a chair (sit toward the front edge, with your spine fully lengthened)
I think I'll do a video on this soon. It's a question that comes up often.
If you'd like to keep practicing with me, please check out my monthly practice calendar. You can find it here: www.rryogaroom.com/youtube-practice-calendar. I'm happy to answer any questions that come up along the way! :)
Thank you soo sooo sooooo much for all these videos for bigger bodies! I have a very apple shaped body and doing yoga is like doing yoga while very pregnant. You just can’t do certain things with a big round belly in the way. I really appreciate you addressing this! Another problem I have noticed when I try to do yoga is that poses such as a lunge type position where your back leg has the knee on the floor, my knee cap ends up getting irritated and I will experience pain after doing yoga. I don’t know what can be done to help that not happen. It just seems like my knee cap gets too much pressure pushing it up or down my leg and out of place.
Hi Emily,
Great question. I am a strong proponent of the yogic concept of Ahimsa. Ahimsa means non-harm, as in, the yoga practice should not cause any pain. If your knee is achy in a lunge position, one thing you can do is put padding under your knee. Another thing you can do is not do this type of lunge, at least for right now. Instead, think about what kind of benefit you're trying to gain from the lunge (typically it's stretching in the hips or legs) and think of a different pose that can achieve the same benefit (maybe wide legged forward fold and/or Warrior I?). It's always perfectly ok not to do what the teacher is teaching, especially if it's not right for your body. :)
Thank you for your video. I'm trying to get back to yoga after many years of not practice it on a daily bases. Can you show me more of your beginning yoga movement. I've lost a lot of movement on my right side and hips so I need to find a gentle way back to yoga.
Super
Hi! Girl with big body and knee problems here. 😊 How do I modify rock pose a.k.a sitting on my heels?
Thank you this was very helpful!
Hi do you have any videos for someone who is overweight and suffers with fibromyalgia im very new to yoga but struggling to find any that I can comfortably follow any advice appreciated 😊
I just found your channel and am excited to get started. I am not very flexible and have many challenges. The biggest Is arthritis in my hips which not only makes them right but also painful a lot. I have tried some yoga and find most poses difficult but modify as I can. Sitting cross legged is very difficult. Can you offer a modification?
Hello Deatrice! Welcome to our channel. :)
Sitting on a chair is a great alternative to sitting cross-legged on the floor. The concept of ahimsa (non-harm) is a big focus in my teaching - I believe that yoga should never be painful or uncomfortable. Do the parts of the practice that work well for you. Skip anything that doesn't work well. With the right type of consistent practice, yoga can help reduce inflammation and pain. If you find the videos are not working out as well as you'd like, please consider if yoga therapy might be a good option to help you get going with yoga. You can read about my online yoga therapy sessions here: www.rryogaroom.com/online-yoga-therapy.
Thanks so much!
please do a beginners yoga session for bigger bodies. PLEASE! I want to do yoga so bad. but my body is very similar to yours so all the beginner videos are for skinny or reallllly big people!!
Hi Patty, what a great idea! We'll get working on that soon. You might also want to check out our podcast. Here's our podcast Facebook page: facebook.com/everybodyyogapodcast/ We do a lot of short videos and graphics to teach how to make the yoga practice work for all kinds of bodies. :)
Hi Patty, we made a new video called Gentle Yoga for Bigger Bodies that I thought you might like: ruclips.net/video/zUnjJdJitPw/видео.html
Thank you very much! Xx
You are most welcome! :)
Do you have any tips for ways to modify crow pose for bigger bodies?
Very helpful:) thank you!
You're welcome! :)
New sub, love ur channel!
thank you.😀
You're welcome!
How do I flatten my belly for a complete beginner. Don’t have much time but something I can do easily everyday would be appreciated
Hello Bhavna, you might like my playlist of short videos, which you can find here: ruclips.net/p/PLFr6eAcUWqfA4nkXmCKFf-X2e0eDHF4KY All the videos are less than 20 minutes long and some are as short as 10 minutes. Do a little bit of yoga every day and you'll start to experience some benefits and some shifts in your habits and routines. Please let me know if you have any questions along the way. :)
Thanks for this video I’ve been looking around the past week after being at children’s yoga teacher training. We had to do a shoulder stand my boobs just practically suffocated me. Do you have any tips? I have done wider legs in child’s pose otherwise it’s so uncomfortable for me.
genius!
I am over 70 and have a large body, and I have difficulty sitting in a comfortable cross-legged position. Even sitting on a bolster is difficult. Do you have any suggestions for me?
Hello Joan, please see this video I made about sitting - ruclips.net/video/8UraCynkYAU/видео.html. I hope it helps. Let me know if you still have questions after. :)
What poses are best to stretch hips and buttocks area being a big girl I can’t seem to find anything to alleviate the pain that I’m having from the muscles being so tight... Any help greatly appreciated thanks!!!!
This is exactly what I needed. You are awesome. I don’t know quite what it’s called but my teacher had us on our back hugging our knees into our chest and I can’t hardly do that with my belly. Any recommendations?
Yes, that pose is called apanāsana, and it is usually not a comfortable or useful posture for people with bigger bodies. There are several options you can try instead. You might try bringing your knees up toward your shoulders rather than your chest. You can also try bringing just one knee at a time up toward your shoulder. It would look like this: On an exhale bring left knee toward left shoulder, on the inhale lower left foot to the floor, next exhale right knee toward right shoulder, on the inhale lower right foot to the floor, and repeat. This is great for relaxing the muscles around your hips and low back. Hope this helps! :)
Indian style... ..how to modify the sitting in Indian style while doing yoga
neck strengthening pose
My right ankle is fused in 3 places so I cannot tuck my fee under me...any suggestions on alternative ideas?
Hi Carla! Thank you for asking. Sometimes we can find a good modification to make a pose work, and sometimes the better choice is to just find a different posture that can provide the same benefit as the original posture. With your ankle fusion you have a couple of options for postures that require the feet to be tucked under the body.
1. Try rolling up a towel and tucking it under your ankles for child's pose. The rolled up towel will provide support so that your ankles don't need to extend so much. If this works for you, great! If not...
2. Change the posture so that it works better for you. Rather than doing child's pose, do an "upside down" version of the posture: lay on your back, bend your knees, and bring them up toward your chest. This puts your body in the same shape as the original posture and allows you to gently stretch out your back, but it does not put any pressure on your ankles.
I hope this is helpful. Please let me know if you have any other questions.
Zelinda
@@yogawithzelinda I'm not able to do child's pose either because of my knees. Your option #2 sounds like the way to go for me :).
I love your cute face ❤ god say
Thank you for making yoga possible for bigger ladies. Your teachings are very precise and easy to follow unlike any others I’ve seen.