Yoga Dvd Recommendations?

[shan1212]

My friend who also has POTS has recommended yoga to me. I have always been a home/solitary exerciser, plus my husband and I have enough difficulty finding time to do "our" things as it is with a toddler and a baby, so I'm hoping to find some yoga DVDs I can do at home. So my questions are:

Has anyone done yoga and found it to be helpful?

What DVDs or types of yoga are helpful for dysautonomia? (I believe there are different types of yoga, but I don't really know!)

[yogini]

YES, it's changed my life, improved my strength and my POTS. I like Hatha yoga as it's more gentle than vinyasa (what they have in most studios). Yoga shanti is a great DVD as it builds (and you can do segments of it). I also like the beginner OM yoga CD by Cyndi Lee - maybe she makes a DVD.

[shan1212]

Thank you so much!!! I know it will be a lot easier for me to fit in a DVD in the basement during naps or after dinner than to make it to a class. Plus since with dysautonomia I am often "bad" at new exercises at first, I like to build up to doing the moves in private.

[heathmcev]

How do you do with up & down/ bending poses? I loved yoga before my OH was really bad but feel like I'm going to pass out now when I try it. Any suggestions? Wish I could find a DVD of all sitting poses!! Lol.

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[Steph555]

You may want to try a pilates mat workout. Those tend to have no standing poses and will give you good leg strengthening exercises that are all done while sitting or laying on a mat. I do a mix of yoga and pilates and find it to be very helpful.

[yogini]

I definitely agree with building slowly, and that's what's great about using a DVD. You can even lie down in between! The bending up and down can be hard, but I have gotten used to it. The trick is to go slowly at first. Vinyasa classes tend to go up and down quickly, which is not POTS friendly. The classes i took had you roll up slowly. I can handle vinyasa now, but no way i could at first.

I started with a DVD called Am/pm Stretch for Health. It's a yoga stretch DVD. Most exercises are on the floor, and you can just skip the hard ones. I always feel great after stretching, because it requires little energy, is calming and gets your blood flowing.

[songcanary]

I agree 100% with everything Yogini said. Yoga has been a livesaver for me, too. I started out very gradually in a gentle class, and within a few months was trying the vinyasa & hatha classes. But I did lots of modifications and when I felt the least bit lightheaded I headed for child's pose. I could not count the number of times I had to do that, but it helped me progress. I only challenged myself a LITTLE at a time.

It is two years later and I take three classes per week, and one of them is ashtanga which I never thought I could do. At this point I intend to practice yoga for the rest of my life. It is wonderful and I only wish I had started it decades ago.