Your Yoga Practice

• Check with your doctor before beginning a yoga or any other exercises routine, especially if you are pregnant, have had recent surgery, or suffer from any chronic medical conditions.
  
  
• If your schedule allows, it may be helpful to practice at the same time and place everyday to be able to accurately gauge your progress.
  
  
• For women, many yoga books and teachers state to avoid inverted poses during menstruation. This advice is not accepted by all yoga practitioners, however, as some think it is basically an old yoga "wives tale". Click this link from the Yoga Journal for more on the pros and cons of this issue.
  
  
• While there are many different kinds of gear you can buy for yoga, the only piece of equipment that is universally recommended is a nonslip mat, also called a sticky mat. The non stick feature helps keep your feet in proper position for the standing poses. A mat that also has thick cushioning is good for comfort during the poses where you need to lie down, especially if the place where you practice has a hard floor.
  
  
• If you are practicing first thing in the morning, remember you muscles are going to be tighter than they are later on in the day, so go easy at first. Work your way into the more strenuous poses. Muscles tend to be stiffer in the morning. If you practice one day in the morning and the next in the evening, trying to gauge your progress may be like comparing apples and oranges, since your flexibility starting points will have varied.