Good yoga teaching will cost you less in the long run and will make you happier and able to cope better with the challenges of growing older.
Yoga includes physical practice, research and academic disciplines like psychology (including techniques like CBT, NLP) sociology, history, science, astronomy, music therapy, and also theology, mysticism, a system of values and traditions all evolving for at least 5000 years - earliest finds.
Let's us analyse the physical practice
Working on the breath and moving your body to its maximum range of motion, in a focused and controlled way, and the relaxation practice at the end of your yoga session, will help you bring your hormonal system into balance, will encourage your body to stay strong, supple and mobile, and will help you manage stress, prevent depression, and build social skills and a sense of achievement.
You further your understanding when you start studying yoga, either by taking a foundation course or a teacher training.
You will learn - in a simple way:
1. how the mind works allowing you to interpret and question your actions (and from others), take better decisions in your life, mange relationships better, and deal with situations which might cause you stress in a better way;
2. how your body works, fine tune the muscle brain connections, sharpen your brain functions, keep strong functional muscles for longer, even improve your physical appearance; You will learn how your annamaya kosha (food body) works allowing you to take better decision on diet, prevent even reverse modern diseases like high cholesterol and diabetes.
3. how everything in the universe is interconnected, building on your personal responsibility and way of viewing the world; the laws of physics, nature, other beings (animals and plants) and matter (water, minerals, other resources);
The idea that yoga is expensive!
You will not find a practice which touches so many things in one go at a more affordable price.
Maybe you will go to slim worlds, or buy those herbal life diet pills and expensive - and inefficient - shakes. You have to pay for your gym and do exercises which are ballistic, with loud rushed music which only cause repetitive strain and raises your heart beat - meaning your levels of adrenaline and cortisol - or stress! Then you will pay for your counselling or your psychiatrist, pills and therapies when relationships breakdown because people don't understand themselves and others - living in our little world -
Run is free! - well, not quite! Running, football and other high impact spots are fun! so people tell you! They are called high impact for a reason and are costing millions in surgery to the NHS. New knees, new hips, lower back problems, pain killers, etc. You will spend most of your life in pain and drain resources from our collective pot because you decided to run a marathon for charity and now you need charity, or because you didn't want to pay £75 for yoga classes. You will grow the idea of competiveness instead of cooperation.
Yoga is for old people. Untrue!
When you go to the physio or decide to take yoga most times is already late. You are stiff, saddened by your condition, hard on yourself because you will never good at it.
Just ignore all the voices in your head and join as soon as possible. Doesn't matter if you are good or not. Doesn't matter if you can. What matters is that you are trying to improve day-by-day. You will get stronger and you will cope better.
Remember a gym has 300 people signed up. They rely at you and all other 2950 people not showing up. We always make sure you come. You reserve your place, you make a commitment. You come and you win.
How much to do? - up to you!
I started my yoga physical practice once a month because it was nice and i felt relaxed! Then I started yoga twice a week because it was helping my posture. Then I went for regular daily practice because it was making me physically stronger and happier. Then I started twice a day because it was a passion and I decided to become a teacher - and a good informed yoga teacher. From there I did all my trainings and this passion is love for this simple philosophy and education system. So, all comes with and in time.
Finishing words
Yoga invites you to take responsibility for your life and offers you guidance. There is no one telling you this is the way. It tells you to sit down, study yourself and for yourself and find out how things affect your body, mind and spirit (personality).
The price of health and happiness is cheap in comparison with all other empty promises.
Yoga is a slow but stronger "pill". Make the right investment for your health and find a teacher who understands the whole of yoga, not just the physical practice.