A lot of people ask me if I do anything for exercise besides yoga, and if you read my recent blog post Find Your Fitness Jam, you'd know the answer is a big, fat "nope".

I pretty much hate to work out, at least anything that involves running, jumping, and reps, which is why I'm so glad I discovered yoga.

But most people are skeptical that yoga is a sufficient workout. Instead of just flashing you my guns, I'll attempt to explain why I think yoga has worked for me.

1) The type of yoga I teach and practice involves a lot of supporting your own body weight. Even for light folks, that's a lot of pounds! How many times per class do I say, "Step back into plank"? A lot.

2) We also hold poses for a while. Ain't no quad burn quite like chair pose.

3) We breathe. Deeply. The simple act of deep breathing can work your core.

4) Every yoga practice works your entire body. Every day is leg day. And abs. And upper body.

5) Lastly, and I think most importantly, we move slowly. I like to say in class, "Slow and steady wins the non-existent race," because of course there is no race in a yoga practice. But it's HARD to move slowly, y'all! I have had many people tell me my level 1 classes are harder than my level 2 classes because they are slower. (And we might just hold poses a bit longer while I give the extra instruction. Oopsie.)

When you combine all these things, a yoga practice can be very physical, very powerful, and very effective. I've included a snippet here of my typical practice/class. Imagine doing this kind of movement for a solid hour, and feel the burn!