Okay. I'm working on my schedule for next semester and I realised I need a wellness class. But I'm a really big girl and while I love to work out, I am unable to do as much due to weight induced back problems and such. Yoga was suggested to me, but I'm not really sure. I don't know much about it. Are there any big, beautiful women here that could tell me about their experiences? Or anyone with yoga experience. Tell me about it. =)

My mom has had really great results with low impact exercises. She used to take an aquatic aerobics class and really enjoyed it, plus it was great for her joints. She has some weight related ailments (bad knees, heel spurs, a few others) and being in the water gave her enough resistance (I think they might have used some weights as well) to work her muscles, but had such a low impact that it was still comfortable for her. If you can find an eliptical machine (school gym, maybe?), that would be a really good choice, too. It gives your legs a great workout with very low impact on your heels and joints. Also, a couple girls I work with have the same body type as my mom and they take yoga classes from another girl at work who teaches part time at a studio, and they love it.

Hope that helps :)

I'm a BBW and I enjoy doing yoga. I've found classes that have people of varying sizes and degrees of flexibility, and havn't found anyone that judges yet. 

Yoga can and probaby will help with your back problems. I had many problems associated with scoliosus. I tried physical therapy and it didn't help at all, the pain wouldn't go away. I started doing yoga as a part of a work out program and it helped strengthen my back. After a few months of doing that, at a routine physical my Doctor said that the curve in my back was hardly there. Yoga may be a good first step in your fitness goal, it'll certainly help you become more flexible so trying new things further down the road won't be as hard. Pilates and high impact aerobics were impossible for me before trying yoga. I didn't join classes or anything, just bought a few DVDs and books and went at it. Good luck.

 Thanks muchly, all of you. What would you recoomend to do yoga in... clothing and shoe-wise?

 I went to the men's section in wal-mart and bought some of the basketball pants. Shirt wise is a little tougher if you are self-consious. Some of the positions in yoga your shirt may lift and show more than you want seen, lol. I found some snug fitting shirts and use those. Whatever you do decide to use, make sure it's a stretchy material. For shoes, I don't wear any.

nix the shoes AND socks for yoga. wear a properly fitting sports bra and a comfortably tight shirt. i bought a great yoga shirt at target in the sportswear section a few months ago. it's extra long, so you can pull it over your hips more, and it stays in place really well. as far as pants go, something with a lot of stretch in them is best. my friend goes to yoga a few times a week and has a wardrobe full of capri work-out pants. she lives in them all summer, too. i just wear a pair of long cotton pants for any kind of work-out, be it a yoga or pilates or weights type.

Yea, i LOVE those capri length stretch pants. i found a few pair at goodwill and other thrift stores.