Fitness File for Fitness-phobes
A Social (and very Physical) Experiment
This week, presenting you…
Dynamic Yoga
Not for the faint hearted!
Now I must admit, I’m no newcomer when it comes to yoga. In second year, I tried my best to attend classes when I could, desperate to work on my flexibility and to find a space to relax away from studying. I remember enjoying those yoga classes, coming out feeling calm and collected. The yoga style was fluid but not strenuous, as although we were encouraged to find balance in a few difficult positions, we were not pushed out of our comfort zone. Back then, it seemed to be manageable. Now in my fourth year, this time was very different…I was hopeless! Either I have lost all my strength or I had enrolled into a different style of yoga…I present to you: Dynamic Yoga.
On a Monday afternoon, I expected this class to be the same as the one from my second year. Little did I know or realise that there are many styles of yoga practiced at The Edge gym. From Vinyasa to Hatha, Iyengar to Nidra, Beginners to Improvers, Dynamic to just plain ‘Yoga’, there will be a style to suit your needs and abilities. With this one, I think I might have overestimated myself! Either my muscles have seized up or it was just really hard!
Position to position, the pace is quite intense, moving fairly rapidly from one to the other. This can make the movements fairly difficult to follow at first, but I imagine the old saying holds true here – practice makes perfect or, better put, ‘the more you go, the easier it gets’. Music is played in the background which itself reflects the energy of this style, giving you a tempo to work with and a feel for the practice. For this class, as yoga music goes, I would say there is less of a soundtrack similar to wave music and more of an upbeat tempo and authentic feel. As the name suggests, this yoga is certainly dynamic!
For me, the inflexible one in the corner, I can admit I struggled. I couldn’t keep up and some positions were close to impossible for me! I’ve never been flexible, but for those of you who are and fancy a style of yoga that is invigorating and energetic, this is definitely for you. If you would like to push yourself with a yoga that will test your balancing skills and strength, this is also great for you. For me, however, as a girl who favours ‘child pose’ over any other, and for those of you who would align themselves with my wants and abilities, I might go for the slower and more relaxing kind to zone out and enjoy.
Dynamic yoga – named dynamic yoga for a reason!
My rating: ⭐️⭐️
Duration: 1 hour
Intensity: 5 for beginners (intense pace, but I guess it becomes more fluid with practice!)
Sweat: 2
Difficulty: 5 (the non-flexible may have some problems!)
Aftermath: 4
Result: 2 (they say with yoga that it’s regular practice that gives you the results)
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