1. Practise regularly, even if you have time for only a few exercises on some days. Then, do only those that you know do you the most good. If you suffer from tension, do the Chest Expander; if your tummy is flabby, concentrate on the Pump, and so on. But make Yoga as much of your daily routine as eating and sleeping. The change in your health and outlook on life will make it worthwhile a hundred times over.
2. Never hurry. Go into the postures slowly, taking 10 - 15 seconds to get from the beginning to the holding position. This gives bonus benefits and makes each exercise more effective. It also helps to cut down on the number of times an exercise has to be done.
3. Hold each posture once you have gone as far into it as comfort permits. Muscles must receive sustained strain in order to stay in condition. As a beginner, hold each posture at its extremity for 5 seconds. Increase this time by 5 seconds a week as you improve. Through the holding position you are doing an exercise over and over as it were, and therefore an exercise need be done only three times, instead of twenty.
4. Come out of an exercise as slowlyas you went into it. You lose at least a third of the value if you permit yourself to collapse, and you might even risk injury.
5. Never force a position, never jerk or bounce in order to "go further". Co as far as you can, then hold it there. Pain is a danger-signal devised by the body to stop immediately or risk injury. If, as in calisthenics, you are moving so fast that your momentum does not permit you to stop short, you can easily move past the danger-signal and get hurt. This is what happens when you experience muscular soreness or muscle-strain.
6. Never compare yourself to anyone else. Yoga emphasizes "Personal Progress". By performing the exercise regularly you are bound to do better today than you did yesterday. In going to the limit of your capability you receive the same benefits as your teacher who can stretch much further but who is also more flexible. In Yoga there is visible progress. You will find that after a time you can get into poses you would never have dreamed possible.
7. Concentrate fiercely with each exercise you perform. It will follow naturally that you then do the exercise well. This is especially necessary in balancing exercises. Moving your head rapidly, or speaking or laughing embarrassedly when you do lose your balance will retard your progress and efficiency. Simply carry on where you left off without a feeling of disgust or embarrassment at yourself. Then your concentration will remain unbroken and you can achieve much. Visualizing encourages concentration which in turn promotes quality of action. For instance, pretend to be a fierce lion in the Lion or a pussy-cat just up from her nap in the Cat Stretch. It will make exercising more fun for you too.
8. Rest between exercises. The beauty of Yoga lies in its gentleness. You need never experience draining fatigue or painful, sore muscles. Catch your breath, let the muscles rebound from a delightful stretch and permit the body to assimilate what it has learned.
9. Breathe normally during the holding position of an exercise. There is a tendency for most people to hold their breath while they desperately and tensely hold on. This is absolutely wrong. Yoga stresses relaxation, even while exercising. If at all possible, you should go as far into a pose as comfort permits, then relax there and breathe normally. As a student advances in proficiency there is a prescribed way of breathing with each exercise. For the beginner, it suffices to become thoroughly familiar with the performing technique of the Yoga postures, before learning the breathing technique.
