Can someone explain to me how yoga is any different than chiropractic 'care'? There are the same appeals to supernatural and/or questionable at best explanations for the efficacy of different poses & exercises, and the only measurable benefits can be similarly achieved via any other aerobics class, weight lifting, etc (just as the only measurable benefit of chiropractic 'care' is the accompanying muscle massage). And now, of course, this has started to invade actual medicine, with people deciding to do yoga exercises (often at the behest of some guru) rather than physio and becoming permanently injured as a result.
So I think it's fair to say that yoga shares benefits with other forms of physical activity and exercise. As far as exercise goes, yoga is generally low stress on the body, and it also adds deep diaphragmatic breathing into the mix (which also helps with stress on the body). Depending on how you choose to practice, it can share benefits of other mindfulness practices (neuroplasticity, stress management, etc). I don't know that I would say certain poses give you any particular benefit over others aside from stretching and strengthening certain parts of your body. I've never heard claims, as an example, that yoga will cure cancer. It can, however, be a very useful tool for some people to clear and quiet their mind, and to make their body feel good while building strength and flexibility.
I understand your concerns that some instructors and practitioners may push claims about yoga beyond what is backed by current studies and science. I would say that those concerns are valid (and I share them with you), but not inherent to yoga itself.
I feel like part of doing yoga is becoming comfortable with being uncomfortable, and that there are benefits to be gained from not being methodical and precise with your yoga practice. I would argue that while there are certain physical alignment cues to keep in mind so you don't injure yourself (knees going in the same direction as your toes, keeping a straight and long spine-especially for twists, etc), each pose is going to look and feel different in each person's body. In a sense, there is no "right" way to do a pose. I know that's probably not the answer you're looking for.
That said, I can appreciate the frustration at not getting to practice the poses frequently enough to remember all the cues and positioning for each one. Maybe something like a DVD along with a mirror so you can check your alignment and positioning would be a good place to start back up with your practice. That way you get the same class each time, and you can verify you're doing the pose "right". I'd encourage eventually ditching the mirror and focusing on how the pose feels over how it looks, but obviously that would be after you became comfortable with the alignment.
Iyengar yoga focuses a lot on alignment, and I believe the classes are more structured as to the order in which you do poses, so you might look into something like that, too.
That's helpful, actually. As a beginner, is it safe to try to learn on my own, from DVDs? The classes I have access to tend to be at inconvenient times (generally on weekday afternoons when I'm working, or early in the morning when I'm not getting out of bed for anything less than a paycheck).
I really don't think it is safe for most people. I have a persistent problem in my knee as a result of an injury I sustained doing yoga wrong
edit: I would emphatically recommend shopping around different studios until you find a class and an instructor that suits you well and gets you the feedback you're looking for, except in my experience (Boulder, CO) such places are way more expensive
Unfortunately, not all instructors focus on coming in and out of the poses safely and in a way that supports the muscles and joints. The best advice for injury prevention is to listen to your body and have patience. Any instructor, on a DVD or in person, can't do that for you and they don't know your body's limits. If something is painful in a more than just stretching muscles kind of way, you should back off and give your body rest and support. Also, don't listen to your ego when it tells you that you just *have* to touch the floor, reach your toes, etc.
+1
Options
Powerpuppiesdrinking coffee in themountain cabinRegistered Userregular
Unfortunately, not all instructors focus on coming in and out of the poses safely and in a way that supports the muscles and joints. The best advice for injury prevention is to listen to your body and have patience. Any instructor, on a DVD or in person, can't do that for you and they don't know your body's limits. If something is painful in a more than just stretching muscles kind of way, you should back off and give your body rest and support. Also, don't listen to your ego when it tells you that you just *have* to touch the floor, reach your toes, etc.
maybe that's the best way but having somebody watch you and tell you "hey, don't do that, you might injure yourself" is a pretty good way! I was listening to my body but didn't know enough about the bolded to recognize it when it happened
Oh also I told a family member to buy me a pair of blocks for xmas because the ones at my gym seem kind of nasty to me these days...other people's sweat kinda of soaks into them sometimes...
I was about to finally start going to yoga, like this Sunday to a beginner class
There is a studio across the street from my apartment that is good and cheap
It's been there the entire 6 years I've been here so wtf is my problem I dunno
Buuuut I demolished my lower back in the gym last week and now can't gym and have to go to PT and I'm pissed at myself because I broke my body
And I'm probably being kicked out of my apartment
poo
+1
Options
TL DRNot at all confident in his reflexive opinions of thingsRegistered Userregular
Girlfriend and I have been going to the local heated studio as part of date night. It's ok. I'm actually liking that it's pretty much the same sequence every time, they have showers which is nice, and class is only 60 minutes instead of the 90 that I was used to. Slippery hands have been good for pointing out some things I have to work on, in Down Dog especially - ideally the hands and feet should be drawing inward, which involves some funky core engagement that I've never gotten around to learning because it's usually easy enough to just plant the hands and rely on friction to keep everything in place.
If I had to complain:
-part of the practice really should be learning to build the body's internal heat through movement and breath (Ujjayi)
-no community; enter the darkened silent room and trickle out one by one after
-super spendy
@Shazkar Shadowstorm show up early or even shoot them an email so you can explain your back issue. They'll be able to offer adjustments, ie "when I tell the class to do X or Y, you can do Z instead or just not go as deep into the pose".
Girlfriend and I have been going to the local heated studio as part of date night. It's ok. I'm actually liking that it's pretty much the same sequence every time, they have showers which is nice, and class is only 60 minutes instead of the 90 that I was used to. Slippery hands have been good for pointing out some things I have to work on, in Down Dog especially - ideally the hands and feet should be drawing inward, which involves some funky core engagement that I've never gotten around to learning because it's usually easy enough to just plant the hands and rely on friction to keep everything in place.
If I had to complain:
-part of the practice really should be learning to build the body's internal heat through movement and breath (Ujjayi)
-no community; enter the darkened silent room and trickle out one by one after
-super spendy
@Shazkar Shadowstorm show up early or even shoot them an email so you can explain your back issue. They'll be able to offer adjustments, ie "when I tell the class to do X or Y, you can do Z instead or just not go as deep into the pose".
yeah, i'll do that someday, after i am not in a state where i am most definitely injured
going at this point is more likely to make it worse than anything
poo
0
Options
ChanusHarbinger of the Spicy Rooster ApocalypseThe Flames of a Thousand Collapsed StarsRegistered Userregular
ooh this is relevant to my recent interests :P
i have just been doing the babbest level yoga session from nerd fitness so far. i'm definitely seeing improvement even having only done it three days now. i still have no real idea what i'm doing and am just doing my best to match my form to what they're doing on the video. i could probably benefit from an actual class or something with someone to point out what i'm doing wrong, but that involves things like money and going places.
enjoying yog so far for sure though
Allegedly a voice of reason.
+2
Options
TL DRNot at all confident in his reflexive opinions of thingsRegistered Userregular
i have just been doing the babbest level yoga session from nerd fitness so far. i'm definitely seeing improvement even having only done it three days now. i still have no real idea what i'm doing and am just doing my best to match my form to what they're doing on the video. i could probably benefit from an actual class or something with someone to point out what i'm doing wrong, but that involves things like money and going places.
enjoying yog so far for sure though
Beginner's mind! :bro:
+1
Options
TL DRNot at all confident in his reflexive opinions of thingsRegistered Userregular
Good morning, yogis. How is everyone's practice? I've hit the end of a long stretch of road trips, and am back to going to class at least once a week, which is good because I've never been able to maintain a practice at home.
Also! A friend is opening a studio and has offered to bring me in to DJ some classes! This has long been a dream of mine, and I'm already collecting tunes to fit the various energy levels and vibes required. It's an entirely new challenge, selecting music with an eye toward being engaging without allowing it to be distracting or have obtrusive lyrics.
When I first posted a while back I was doing yoga through DVD's at home. It was the DDP Yoga, which I still recommend to people if they're looking for a good home alternative.
That said, I ended up transitioning to doing yoga at my climbing gym and love it. I normally do 3 classes a week :Climber Power Flow, which is a faster paced vinaysa class; Hips and Shoulders opening class; and a Ashtanga. Ashtanga is def my favorite of all three of them.
Though man, I think there's some poses I'll never be able to master. My hamstrings are just constantly too tight for me to get full flexibility.
Good morning, yogis. How is everyone's practice? I've hit the end of a long stretch of road trips, and am back to going to class at least once a week, which is good because I've never been able to maintain a practice at home.
Also! A friend is opening a studio and has offered to bring me in to DJ some classes! This has long been a dream of mine, and I'm already collecting tunes to fit the various energy levels and vibes required. It's an entirely new challenge, selecting music with an eye toward being engaging without allowing it to be distracting or have obtrusive lyrics.
My practice has been going pretty well but all the balance stuff continues to be a problem.
I am basically a water buffalo so no surprise there.
+1
Options
TL DRNot at all confident in his reflexive opinions of thingsRegistered Userregular
Mastering a pose is largely irrelevant; the important part is the practice. Plenty of already-bendy people can just hop into a pretzel shape, but may entirely miss the benefits of the 'working toward' part of yoga both in terms of gaining flexibility and strength in specific parts of the body as well as honing the mind to be able to retain ease and focus under concerted effort.
Also, the hamstrings which are tight af in me recognize themselves in you.
My practice is starting to pick up again. During this past spring, I had been working on getting into unsupported handstand. However, back in June, I fell off my bike while commuting in to work and sprained my right wrist very, very badly, which obviously put a damper on plans of mastering handstand. I spent this summer doing lots of very gentle yoga while I worked on healing, and I've finally reached a point where my wrist can handle arm balances again (with plenty of warm-up for my wrist and shoulder). I'm still teaching 4x/week, and I'm trying to work in 2-3 solo sessions at home, so that I can start working on more challenging poses (and for my mental/emotional well-being).
Mastering a pose is largely irrelevant; the important part is the practice. Plenty of already-bendy people can just hop into a pretzel shape, but may entirely miss the benefits of the 'working toward' part of yoga both in terms of gaining flexibility and strength in specific parts of the body as well as honing the mind to be able to retain ease and focus under concerted effort.
Also, the hamstrings which are tight af in me recognize themselves in you.
This. 100%. I am one of those already very bendy people, and it took much longer for me to find my edge and find the places where I needed to focus my efforts. It was very easy to be dismissive of certain aspects of the practice when I started, because I could already touch my toes without a struggle.
+1
Options
TL DRNot at all confident in his reflexive opinions of thingsRegistered Userregular
Hi-5 for working through an injury. I have a lower back issue from poor weightlifting form that still flares up from time to time, as well as sore tendons in my wrists from having recently taken up climbing.
0
Options
firewaterwordSatchitanandaPais Vasco to San FranciscoRegistered Userregular
Oh my gosh I somehow forgot we had this thread! Now I can stop clogging up the chat thread I guess.
I've kind of gone off the deep end recently and become a little bit addicted to my practice. I'm heading out to try a new studio this morning, after finally getting comfortable and confident enough to do, as one of my teachers called it, "yoga blind dates." It's gone from fearful to exciting! Anyway looking forward to reading this thread when I get back.
I have fallen awfully off the wagon since the month leading up my wedding where I was really busy, then the next month I had two work trips, then I was volunteering for the election. Ugh.
Going to try to do better before the end of the year.
firewaterwordSatchitanandaPais Vasco to San FranciscoRegistered Userregular
OK just got back from practice at a new studio - feeling pretty dang good! So, some yoga stuff - wall of text style, so I'll spoiler it - to share:
I started dipping my toes into yoga almost ten years ago at the behest of my stepmother. She started doing it post pregnancy, and has kept it up, more or less, ever since. I can hardly even call what I was doing a practice back then, since it consisted of going with her to a small studio once or twice a year while visiting her and family in upstate NY. I'd huff and puff and contort myself and blah. I did this for a few years and then stopped completely, primarily due to anxiety and body image issues. Whoops, I sure fucked up there turns out.
Smash cut to, I don't know, like '14? On a whim, while visiting, I went back to what was the studio then, and sort of kind of caught a whiff of how good this stuff was. I went regularly, twice a week, for about 6 weeks, before I had to leave. Shortly thereafter, the studio moved to a new location; the three women that own the studio purchased an old minigolf course that had been on the market for years, and renovated the main building. The old one, a flat in a really run down civic building, was a complete dive compared to the new place, and something about the new space really lit a fire within me.
Though I didn't really know it at the time, the type of yoga I was practicing was known as Anusara (or, now more formally, the Anusara School of Hatha Yoga). Some of you may see that name, meaning "flowing with grace," and instantly know all the baggage that goes with it, but long story short: it's derived from Iyengar yoga, created by an American in '97 who had studied with B. K. S. Iyengar and others in the late 80s. It grew to become fairly massive - I think at the peak there were somewhere around 1,500 affiliated teachers and tens of thousands of students - and was bringing in millions of dollars a year in revenue. A back of the napkin description of the style itself could be (somewhat uncharitably) heavily alignment based yoga with a huge dose of feel good talk thrown in for good measure.
Then, in February of 2012, it imploded practically overnight.
It was revealed that John Friend, the founder, was engaged in some pretty sketchy activity in his personal and business life. You can do an easy google if you want the dirt, but he was basically sleeping with married students, getting pot delivered to employees, screwing around with company pension money, and (the topper for some) engaged in what was described as a Wiccan sex cult. Dude's "empire" crumbled almost instantly. A mass exodus of teachers from Anusara followed, bringing the number of active teachers down in the hundreds. Friend was more or less excommunicated (for lack of a better word), shunned by the community at large, and barred from teaching.
Crazy stuff. In 2013, all of the intellectual property was transferred to a group of former teachers for a dollar, forming what's now ASHY (Anusara School of Hatha Yoga). Despite the massive black eye caused by Friend's activities, this group managed to salvage the underlying method, and turn it into something that, in my opinion, is wildly positive, transformative, and deeply affecting. Anyway all that aside.
For nearly the last two years, I've been going pretty hard while out in NY. Work keeps me out on the east coast for a good portion of the year, and when I have the chance, I head upstate to visit family and practice. Last winter, I found myself going 5 days a week for a solid month an a half, then again in Spring and Summer. It wasn't something I was aware of while it was happening, but I found myself drawn intensely to the spiritual side of the practice.
The moment for me was when my teacher out in NY did a 3 week series of practices centered around the concept of the three Malas (meaning "cloak" or "veil"). Coming from Tantric yoga scriptures, they describe three differentiating powers that keep us from connecting to "Oneness," if you will. You can look them up if you like, but the one that really hit home for me is known as Anava Mala: "Creating feelings of unworthiness, the source of incompleteness we experience. It gives rise to feelings of insecurity and sadness."
I think most people can identify with these feelings, even without any of the ancient spiritual stuff (Kashmir Shaivism) involved. For me, finding a name for this concept, one that has been around centuries and centuries no less, was absolutely revelatory. So it would follow that there would, presumably, be a way to remove the "cloak." For me, that way was asana.
Since then, I've become far more focused and mindful about exactly what I'm doing on the mat and why I'm doing it, and it has lead me to a much happier, waaaaay less anxious life. As some chatters know, I just got back from my first visit to the annual Anusara festival. It was four of the best days of my life, hands down. Not only did I get to take asana classes from some of the best teachers out there, I attended a number of lectures given by Bill Mahony, a professor of religion at Davidson College, on Vedanta. Specifically, the school of Vedanta known as Advaita Vedanta, a non-dualistic philosophy that postulates that the true Self (Atman) is the same as the highest "ultimate reality" (Brahman).
A lot of this stuff is laid out in the Upanishads. And man it's some pretty cool shit.
OK I'm going to stop for now because I've been writing too much for too long. I would love to talk about this stuff with anyone. I'm doing week long Anusara immersion course on early January, and am extremely excited to learn more! I don't know if teaching is on my path, but at the moment I can't get enough of the knowledge.
Thanks for reading!
TL;DR: fww tries yoga, doesn't like it. Tries it again, likes it. Learns him a bit of spiritual yoga stuff, loves it (and, by extension, himself). Now has to sometimes check himself before sounding like a crazy person.
OK just got back from practice at a new studio - feeling pretty dang good! So, some yoga stuff - wall of text style, so I'll spoiler it - to share:
I started dipping my toes into yoga almost ten years ago at the behest of my stepmother. She started doing it post pregnancy, and has kept it up, more or less, ever since. I can hardly even call what I was doing a practice back then, since it consisted of going with her to a small studio once or twice a year while visiting her and family in upstate NY. I'd huff and puff and contort myself and blah. I did this for a few years and then stopped completely, primarily due to anxiety and body image issues. Whoops, I sure fucked up there turns out.
Smash cut to, I don't know, like '14? On a whim, while visiting, I went back to what was the studio then, and sort of kind of caught a whiff of how good this stuff was. I went regularly, twice a week, for about 6 weeks, before I had to leave. Shortly thereafter, the studio moved to a new location; the three women that own the studio purchased an old minigolf course that had been on the market for years, and renovated the main building. The old one, a flat in a really run down civic building, was a complete dive compared to the new place, and something about the new space really lit a fire within me.
Though I didn't really know it at the time, the type of yoga I was practicing was known as Anusara (or, now more formally, the Anusara School of Hatha Yoga). Some of you may see that name, meaning "flowing with grace," and instantly know all the baggage that goes with it, but long story short: it's derived from Iyengar yoga, created by an American in '97 who had studied with B. K. S. Iyengar and others in the late 80s. It grew to become fairly massive - I think at the peak there were somewhere around 1,500 affiliated teachers and tens of thousands of students - and was bringing in millions of dollars a year in revenue. A back of the napkin description of the style itself could be (somewhat uncharitably) heavily alignment based yoga with a huge dose of feel good talk thrown in for good measure.
Then, in February of 2012, it imploded practically overnight.
It was revealed that John Friend, the founder, was engaged in some pretty sketchy activity in his personal and business life. You can do an easy google if you want the dirt, but he was basically sleeping with married students, getting pot delivered to employees, screwing around with company pension money, and (the topper for some) engaged in what was described as a Wiccan sex cult. Dude's "empire" crumbled almost instantly. A mass exodus of teachers from Anusara followed, bringing the number of active teachers down in the hundreds. Friend was more or less excommunicated (for lack of a better word), shunned by the community at large, and barred from teaching.
Crazy stuff. In 2013, all of the intellectual property was transferred to a group of former teachers for a dollar, forming what's now ASHY (Anusara School of Hatha Yoga). Despite the massive black eye caused by Friend's activities, this group managed to salvage the underlying method, and turn it into something that, in my opinion, is wildly positive, transformative, and deeply affecting. Anyway all that aside.
For nearly the last two years, I've been going pretty hard while out in NY. Work keeps me out on the east coast for a good portion of the year, and when I have the chance, I head upstate to visit family and practice. Last winter, I found myself going 5 days a week for a solid month an a half, then again in Spring and Summer. It wasn't something I was aware of while it was happening, but I found myself drawn intensely to the spiritual side of the practice.
The moment for me was when my teacher out in NY did a 3 week series of practices centered around the concept of the three Malas (meaning "cloak" or "veil"). Coming from Tantric yoga scriptures, they describe three differentiating powers that keep us from connecting to "Oneness," if you will. You can look them up if you like, but the one that really hit home for me is known as Anava Mala: "Creating feelings of unworthiness, the source of incompleteness we experience. It gives rise to feelings of insecurity and sadness."
I think most people can identify with these feelings, even without any of the ancient spiritual stuff (Kashmir Shaivism) involved. For me, finding a name for this concept, one that has been around centuries and centuries no less, was absolutely revelatory. So it would follow that there would, presumably, be a way to remove the "cloak." For me, that way was asana.
Since then, I've become far more focused and mindful about exactly what I'm doing on the mat and why I'm doing it, and it has lead me to a much happier, waaaaay less anxious life. As some chatters know, I just got back from my first visit to the annual Anusara festival. It was four of the best days of my life, hands down. Not only did I get to take asana classes from some of the best teachers out there, I attended a number of lectures given by Bill Mahony, a professor of religion at Davidson College, on Vedanta. Specifically, the school of Vedanta known as Advaita Vedanta, a non-dualistic philosophy that postulates that the true Self (Atman) is the same as the highest "ultimate reality" (Brahman).
A lot of this stuff is laid out in the Upanishads. And man it's some pretty cool shit.
OK I'm going to stop for now because I've been writing too much for too long. I would love to talk about this stuff with anyone. I'm doing week long Anusara immersion course on early January, and am extremely excited to learn more! I don't know if teaching is on my path, but at the moment I can't get enough of the knowledge.
Thanks for reading!
TL;DR: fww tries yoga, doesn't like it. Tries it again, likes it. Learns him a bit of spiritual yoga stuff, loves it (and, by extension, himself). Now has to sometimes check himself before sounding like a crazy person.
I know the feels. I like to joke with friends that yoga invaded my life, regardless of any intentions I had, and it's definitely made me a happier human. I am thankful to have friends and family who enjoy having my "crazy person" self around.
I've personally been meaning to dig back into all my books and texts that I have to reinvigorate my own study of the philosophies of yoga. Once I rededicate myself to a regular home practice (week one down!), I'm hoping I can make the time to study it more. I agree, it is all some pretty cool shit.
+2
Options
TL DRNot at all confident in his reflexive opinions of thingsRegistered Userregular
jeez, a home practice sounds like it would be lovely
I find it to be the most difficult thing, second perhaps only to slow and mindful eating in that I find every excuse in the universe to go do something else instead.
0
Options
firewaterwordSatchitanandaPais Vasco to San FranciscoRegistered Userregular
I know the feels. I like to joke with friends that yoga invaded my life, regardless of any intentions I had, and it's definitely made me a happier human. I am thankful to have friends and family who enjoy having my "crazy person" self around.
I've personally been meaning to dig back into all my books and texts that I have to reinvigorate my own study of the philosophies of yoga. Once I rededicate myself to a regular home practice (week one down!), I'm hoping I can make the time to study it more. I agree, it is all some pretty cool shit.
Heh yeah I can identify with that invasion for sure. I remember the first time I was just decimated by a really intense hip opener class, sitting there like a big bundle of raw, exposed emotion, and feeling like what the fuck? I didn't ask for this to happen! I mean I've since learned to recognize and appreciate that kind of catharsis, but I'll never forget that feeling where my brain was trying desperately to make sense of what my heart was doing.
I know the feels. I like to joke with friends that yoga invaded my life, regardless of any intentions I had, and it's definitely made me a happier human. I am thankful to have friends and family who enjoy having my "crazy person" self around.
I've personally been meaning to dig back into all my books and texts that I have to reinvigorate my own study of the philosophies of yoga. Once I rededicate myself to a regular home practice (week one down!), I'm hoping I can make the time to study it more. I agree, it is all some pretty cool shit.
Heh yeah I can identify with that invasion for sure. I remember the first time I was just decimated by a really intense hip opener class, sitting there like a big bundle of raw, exposed emotion, and feeling like what the fuck? I didn't ask for this to happen! I mean I've since learned to recognize and appreciate that kind of catharsis, but I'll never forget that feeling where my brain was trying desperately to make sense of what my heart was doing.
Ah....
I think I have been doing this wrong.
0
Options
firewaterwordSatchitanandaPais Vasco to San FranciscoRegistered Userregular
I know the feels. I like to joke with friends that yoga invaded my life, regardless of any intentions I had, and it's definitely made me a happier human. I am thankful to have friends and family who enjoy having my "crazy person" self around.
I've personally been meaning to dig back into all my books and texts that I have to reinvigorate my own study of the philosophies of yoga. Once I rededicate myself to a regular home practice (week one down!), I'm hoping I can make the time to study it more. I agree, it is all some pretty cool shit.
Heh yeah I can identify with that invasion for sure. I remember the first time I was just decimated by a really intense hip opener class, sitting there like a big bundle of raw, exposed emotion, and feeling like what the fuck? I didn't ask for this to happen! I mean I've since learned to recognize and appreciate that kind of catharsis, but I'll never forget that feeling where my brain was trying desperately to make sense of what my heart was doing.
Ah....
I think I have been doing this wrong.
I mean, depending on who you talk to, there isn't really a doing it wrong, provided you're not actually hurting yourself. It just depends on your goals I guess.
So two questions for the PA Kula. I've been keeping my yoga blind dates going, and have come to appreciate the various speeds of different teachers. I'm also coming to realize I love me some seriously slow paced yoga. For me, the exercise is a (wonderful!) secondary benefit; moving quickly through poses kind of throws my head game off a little bit. What do folks around here prefer? Have you ever met a teacher with a great teaching style that doesn't mesh with the pace you like?
Second, Ujjayi breathing during practice. Since learning the basics of the technique, I've tried to incorporate it into my practice. I've found that it is an easy and very helpful way of keeping me connected with my breath. That said, I'm conscious that it can be audible, and I try to keep it as quiet as possible. I certainly don't want to be "that guy who breathes real loud." Thoughts?
Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu
0
Options
TL DRNot at all confident in his reflexive opinions of thingsRegistered Userregular
I know the feels. I like to joke with friends that yoga invaded my life, regardless of any intentions I had, and it's definitely made me a happier human. I am thankful to have friends and family who enjoy having my "crazy person" self around.
I've personally been meaning to dig back into all my books and texts that I have to reinvigorate my own study of the philosophies of yoga. Once I rededicate myself to a regular home practice (week one down!), I'm hoping I can make the time to study it more. I agree, it is all some pretty cool shit.
Heh yeah I can identify with that invasion for sure. I remember the first time I was just decimated by a really intense hip opener class, sitting there like a big bundle of raw, exposed emotion, and feeling like what the fuck? I didn't ask for this to happen! I mean I've since learned to recognize and appreciate that kind of catharsis, but I'll never forget that feeling where my brain was trying desperately to make sense of what my heart was doing.
Ah....
I think I have been doing this wrong.
I mean, depending on who you talk to, there isn't really a doing it wrong, provided you're not actually hurting yourself. It just depends on your goals I guess.
So two questions for the PA Kula. I've been keeping my yoga blind dates going, and have come to appreciate the various speeds of different teachers. I'm also coming to realize I love me some seriously slow paced yoga. For me, the exercise is a (wonderful!) secondary benefit; moving quickly through poses kind of throws my head game off a little bit. What do folks around here prefer? Have you ever met a teacher with a great teaching style that doesn't mesh with the pace you like?
Second, Ujjayi breathing during practice. Since learning the basics of the technique, I've tried to incorporate it into my practice. I've found that it is an easy and very helpful way of keeping me connected with my breath. That said, I'm conscious that it can be audible, and I try to keep it as quiet as possible. I certainly don't want to be "that guy who breathes real loud." Thoughts?
Sounds like ego fucking with you. You could have a friend gauge your volume from a normal-yoga-class distance, or you could evaluate how important it is that you be perceived as 'normal' versus the importance of breathing as you would if you were only focused on your practice.
I know the feels. I like to joke with friends that yoga invaded my life, regardless of any intentions I had, and it's definitely made me a happier human. I am thankful to have friends and family who enjoy having my "crazy person" self around.
I've personally been meaning to dig back into all my books and texts that I have to reinvigorate my own study of the philosophies of yoga. Once I rededicate myself to a regular home practice (week one down!), I'm hoping I can make the time to study it more. I agree, it is all some pretty cool shit.
Heh yeah I can identify with that invasion for sure. I remember the first time I was just decimated by a really intense hip opener class, sitting there like a big bundle of raw, exposed emotion, and feeling like what the fuck? I didn't ask for this to happen! I mean I've since learned to recognize and appreciate that kind of catharsis, but I'll never forget that feeling where my brain was trying desperately to make sense of what my heart was doing.
Ah....
I think I have been doing this wrong.
I mean, depending on who you talk to, there isn't really a doing it wrong, provided you're not actually hurting yourself. It just depends on your goals I guess.
So two questions for the PA Kula. I've been keeping my yoga blind dates going, and have come to appreciate the various speeds of different teachers. I'm also coming to realize I love me some seriously slow paced yoga. For me, the exercise is a (wonderful!) secondary benefit; moving quickly through poses kind of throws my head game off a little bit. What do folks around here prefer? Have you ever met a teacher with a great teaching style that doesn't mesh with the pace you like?
Second, Ujjayi breathing during practice. Since learning the basics of the technique, I've tried to incorporate it into my practice. I've found that it is an easy and very helpful way of keeping me connected with my breath. That said, I'm conscious that it can be audible, and I try to keep it as quiet as possible. I certainly don't want to be "that guy who breathes real loud." Thoughts?
I like vinyasa classes because I like the aerobic part of it and the flowing with breath. Thus I'm really used to louder breathing and have no problems with it. It's supposed to be audible to some degree. I like when the teacher leads some out breaths together too - the room audibly breathes together and it feels good.
You'd have to be super loud to bother me.
0
Options
firewaterwordSatchitanandaPais Vasco to San FranciscoRegistered Userregular
Yeah I'm definitely still fairly self-conscious about my practice, but I'm working hard on that. I accidentally kicked the nice lady next to me while getting into wild thing/Camatkarasana over a year ago and still feel a little bit bad about it!
I totally agree with you on the teacher lead out breaths SiG. Lion/Simhasana is one of my favorite poses for just that reason. I know it probably looks real silly, but there's something awesome and fierce about a whole room of people doing it together.
To the Sanskrit question on the first page, I'm the sort that likes to hear instructions in both Sanskrit and English descriptive names. Ideally, for me, a teacher will give the Sanskrit name with a brief pause before giving the descriptive name. I like this as it gives my brain a few seconds to try to and link the Sanskrit name with the pose, and if I can't, no worries. I also think the language sounds beautiful, and using it in asana practice really adds an extra dimension to things for me.
I certainly can't fault anyone for not being interested in it though. That, and "down dog" is a hell of a lot faster to say than "Adho Mukha Svanasana," especially when you're transitioning through it a dozen times or more in a class. I do find it amusing when the English transliteration can be as baffling as the Sanskrit though - poses like half lord of the fishes/Ardha Matsyendrasana come to mind (I love that pose so much though omg).
Anyway, I'm keeping up a hot streak so far - today will be 11 days of practice in a row! I'm going to try to aim for 6 days a week (with a break on Sunday to let my shoulders chill out) through the next month or so. I want to get as much out of the January immersion as possible so I'm trying to do my homework, so to speak.
Anyways, I've been trying to find some good youtube yoga videos, but some beginner videos have like pigeon pose (def not a beginner pose) or other more complex manuvers. And I'm way too broke to go to a studio in my area. Any suggestions? I mostly need it for my posture
0
Options
firewaterwordSatchitanandaPais Vasco to San FranciscoRegistered Userregular
Anyways, I've been trying to find some good youtube yoga videos, but some beginner videos have like pigeon pose (def not a beginner pose) or other more complex manuvers. And I'm way too broke to go to a studio in my area. Any suggestions? I mostly need it for my posture
Just going to class now but I'll post one or two when I get home!
OK so here are two fairly short practice videos I like. Both are primarily for stress reduction and (I think) don't have anything too crazy in them. Obviously, please don't do anything that hurts or is uncomfortable for you. I've taken classes recently with both of these teachers, and really like their styles (they are both Anusara teachers). Both videos use a few props - not sure what you have around the house but you can probably improvise pretty easily.
First is Tiffany Wood's <20 minute tension relief practice:
Second is a 35 minute stress reduction class led by Siri Peterson Cavanna . I can't embed it, but you can watch it here if you would like. I particularly like this video since she finishes the practice with a very relaxing breathing exercise.
I hope these are useful! Also, as far as going to a studio, you may want to check around and see if any studios near you offer donation based or sliding scale classes for the community. Most studios I've been to usually offer one or two such classes a week, where no one is turned away. Some studios will also offer classes for trade - maybe you have a skill that they could use, maybe you stick around and sweep up or re-stack props, that kind of thing. Just something worth maybe thinking about.
Oh and one thing about pigeon! I have a hell of a time even getting into pigeon prep on my left side, since my left hip is ridiculously tight. I find upside down pigeon to be really useful, since it lets me work that left hip without a lot of pressure on it - it's the 1st variation on this list if you want to check it out.
firewaterword on
Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu
+1
Options
firewaterwordSatchitanandaPais Vasco to San FranciscoRegistered Userregular
So this morning my teacher had us do Ardha Chandrasana / Half Moon at the wall, and it was an enlightening experience. I've been working on getting my foot in Ardha Chandra Chapasana for ages (I can do it with someone supporting me from behind, but not alone), and doing it at the wall made me realize how lazy I've been with the regular pose. The wall kind of forced me to learn to stack my hips properly and keep my front foot straight (hard!).
Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu
+1
Options
TL DRNot at all confident in his reflexive opinions of thingsRegistered Userregular
I really hate (read: need to practice more) anything to do with lifting my legs behind or to the side. Splits, standing splits, anything relying on sacral engagement just eludes me at the moment.
oh my god yes. Half Moon is super hard for me. I don't have the balance to stack my hips properly. I usually need a block under my hand to help me not fall over.
Posts
So I think it's fair to say that yoga shares benefits with other forms of physical activity and exercise. As far as exercise goes, yoga is generally low stress on the body, and it also adds deep diaphragmatic breathing into the mix (which also helps with stress on the body). Depending on how you choose to practice, it can share benefits of other mindfulness practices (neuroplasticity, stress management, etc). I don't know that I would say certain poses give you any particular benefit over others aside from stretching and strengthening certain parts of your body. I've never heard claims, as an example, that yoga will cure cancer. It can, however, be a very useful tool for some people to clear and quiet their mind, and to make their body feel good while building strength and flexibility.
I understand your concerns that some instructors and practitioners may push claims about yoga beyond what is backed by current studies and science. I would say that those concerns are valid (and I share them with you), but not inherent to yoga itself.
Duly noted.
maybe that's the best way but having somebody watch you and tell you "hey, don't do that, you might injure yourself" is a pretty good way! I was listening to my body but didn't know enough about the bolded to recognize it when it happened
But I am about to go on vacation and I am going to try to find a couple classes while there! Maybe one on the beach!
Happy Holidays yogis!
I wanted to @chanus since he has been yogaing it up lately
I have been slacking a little bit. Still hate half moon uggggh.
How is everyone doing?
There is a studio across the street from my apartment that is good and cheap
It's been there the entire 6 years I've been here so wtf is my problem I dunno
Buuuut I demolished my lower back in the gym last week and now can't gym and have to go to PT and I'm pissed at myself because I broke my body
And I'm probably being kicked out of my apartment
If I had to complain:
-part of the practice really should be learning to build the body's internal heat through movement and breath (Ujjayi)
-no community; enter the darkened silent room and trickle out one by one after
-super spendy
@Shazkar Shadowstorm show up early or even shoot them an email so you can explain your back issue. They'll be able to offer adjustments, ie "when I tell the class to do X or Y, you can do Z instead or just not go as deep into the pose".
I always have a towel on the mat for heated class to avoid slipping in general. Since I'm usually raining sweat.
yeah, i'll do that someday, after i am not in a state where i am most definitely injured
going at this point is more likely to make it worse than anything
i have just been doing the babbest level yoga session from nerd fitness so far. i'm definitely seeing improvement even having only done it three days now. i still have no real idea what i'm doing and am just doing my best to match my form to what they're doing on the video. i could probably benefit from an actual class or something with someone to point out what i'm doing wrong, but that involves things like money and going places.
enjoying yog so far for sure though
Beginner's mind! :bro:
Also! A friend is opening a studio and has offered to bring me in to DJ some classes! This has long been a dream of mine, and I'm already collecting tunes to fit the various energy levels and vibes required. It's an entirely new challenge, selecting music with an eye toward being engaging without allowing it to be distracting or have obtrusive lyrics.
When I first posted a while back I was doing yoga through DVD's at home. It was the DDP Yoga, which I still recommend to people if they're looking for a good home alternative.
That said, I ended up transitioning to doing yoga at my climbing gym and love it. I normally do 3 classes a week :Climber Power Flow, which is a faster paced vinaysa class; Hips and Shoulders opening class; and a Ashtanga. Ashtanga is def my favorite of all three of them.
Though man, I think there's some poses I'll never be able to master. My hamstrings are just constantly too tight for me to get full flexibility.
My practice has been going pretty well but all the balance stuff continues to be a problem.
I am basically a water buffalo so no surprise there.
Also, the hamstrings which are tight af in me recognize themselves in you.
Creed Yoga.
Mainly so you can play "With Arms Wide Open" when you are flowing into tree and opening branches.
That's as much as I got thought out so far.
This. 100%. I am one of those already very bendy people, and it took much longer for me to find my edge and find the places where I needed to focus my efforts. It was very easy to be dismissive of certain aspects of the practice when I started, because I could already touch my toes without a struggle.
I've kind of gone off the deep end recently and become a little bit addicted to my practice. I'm heading out to try a new studio this morning, after finally getting comfortable and confident enough to do, as one of my teachers called it, "yoga blind dates." It's gone from fearful to exciting! Anyway looking forward to reading this thread when I get back.
Going to try to do better before the end of the year.
Smash cut to, I don't know, like '14? On a whim, while visiting, I went back to what was the studio then, and sort of kind of caught a whiff of how good this stuff was. I went regularly, twice a week, for about 6 weeks, before I had to leave. Shortly thereafter, the studio moved to a new location; the three women that own the studio purchased an old minigolf course that had been on the market for years, and renovated the main building. The old one, a flat in a really run down civic building, was a complete dive compared to the new place, and something about the new space really lit a fire within me.
Though I didn't really know it at the time, the type of yoga I was practicing was known as Anusara (or, now more formally, the Anusara School of Hatha Yoga). Some of you may see that name, meaning "flowing with grace," and instantly know all the baggage that goes with it, but long story short: it's derived from Iyengar yoga, created by an American in '97 who had studied with B. K. S. Iyengar and others in the late 80s. It grew to become fairly massive - I think at the peak there were somewhere around 1,500 affiliated teachers and tens of thousands of students - and was bringing in millions of dollars a year in revenue. A back of the napkin description of the style itself could be (somewhat uncharitably) heavily alignment based yoga with a huge dose of feel good talk thrown in for good measure.
Then, in February of 2012, it imploded practically overnight.
It was revealed that John Friend, the founder, was engaged in some pretty sketchy activity in his personal and business life. You can do an easy google if you want the dirt, but he was basically sleeping with married students, getting pot delivered to employees, screwing around with company pension money, and (the topper for some) engaged in what was described as a Wiccan sex cult. Dude's "empire" crumbled almost instantly. A mass exodus of teachers from Anusara followed, bringing the number of active teachers down in the hundreds. Friend was more or less excommunicated (for lack of a better word), shunned by the community at large, and barred from teaching.
Crazy stuff. In 2013, all of the intellectual property was transferred to a group of former teachers for a dollar, forming what's now ASHY (Anusara School of Hatha Yoga). Despite the massive black eye caused by Friend's activities, this group managed to salvage the underlying method, and turn it into something that, in my opinion, is wildly positive, transformative, and deeply affecting. Anyway all that aside.
For nearly the last two years, I've been going pretty hard while out in NY. Work keeps me out on the east coast for a good portion of the year, and when I have the chance, I head upstate to visit family and practice. Last winter, I found myself going 5 days a week for a solid month an a half, then again in Spring and Summer. It wasn't something I was aware of while it was happening, but I found myself drawn intensely to the spiritual side of the practice.
The moment for me was when my teacher out in NY did a 3 week series of practices centered around the concept of the three Malas (meaning "cloak" or "veil"). Coming from Tantric yoga scriptures, they describe three differentiating powers that keep us from connecting to "Oneness," if you will. You can look them up if you like, but the one that really hit home for me is known as Anava Mala: "Creating feelings of unworthiness, the source of incompleteness we experience. It gives rise to feelings of insecurity and sadness."
I think most people can identify with these feelings, even without any of the ancient spiritual stuff (Kashmir Shaivism) involved. For me, finding a name for this concept, one that has been around centuries and centuries no less, was absolutely revelatory. So it would follow that there would, presumably, be a way to remove the "cloak." For me, that way was asana.
Since then, I've become far more focused and mindful about exactly what I'm doing on the mat and why I'm doing it, and it has lead me to a much happier, waaaaay less anxious life. As some chatters know, I just got back from my first visit to the annual Anusara festival. It was four of the best days of my life, hands down. Not only did I get to take asana classes from some of the best teachers out there, I attended a number of lectures given by Bill Mahony, a professor of religion at Davidson College, on Vedanta. Specifically, the school of Vedanta known as Advaita Vedanta, a non-dualistic philosophy that postulates that the true Self (Atman) is the same as the highest "ultimate reality" (Brahman).
A lot of this stuff is laid out in the Upanishads. And man it's some pretty cool shit.
OK I'm going to stop for now because I've been writing too much for too long. I would love to talk about this stuff with anyone. I'm doing week long Anusara immersion course on early January, and am extremely excited to learn more! I don't know if teaching is on my path, but at the moment I can't get enough of the knowledge.
Thanks for reading!
TL;DR: fww tries yoga, doesn't like it. Tries it again, likes it. Learns him a bit of spiritual yoga stuff, loves it (and, by extension, himself). Now has to sometimes check himself before sounding like a crazy person.
I know the feels. I like to joke with friends that yoga invaded my life, regardless of any intentions I had, and it's definitely made me a happier human. I am thankful to have friends and family who enjoy having my "crazy person" self around.
I've personally been meaning to dig back into all my books and texts that I have to reinvigorate my own study of the philosophies of yoga. Once I rededicate myself to a regular home practice (week one down!), I'm hoping I can make the time to study it more. I agree, it is all some pretty cool shit.
I find it to be the most difficult thing, second perhaps only to slow and mindful eating in that I find every excuse in the universe to go do something else instead.
Heh yeah I can identify with that invasion for sure. I remember the first time I was just decimated by a really intense hip opener class, sitting there like a big bundle of raw, exposed emotion, and feeling like what the fuck? I didn't ask for this to happen! I mean I've since learned to recognize and appreciate that kind of catharsis, but I'll never forget that feeling where my brain was trying desperately to make sense of what my heart was doing.
Ah....
I think I have been doing this wrong.
I mean, depending on who you talk to, there isn't really a doing it wrong, provided you're not actually hurting yourself. It just depends on your goals I guess.
So two questions for the PA Kula. I've been keeping my yoga blind dates going, and have come to appreciate the various speeds of different teachers. I'm also coming to realize I love me some seriously slow paced yoga. For me, the exercise is a (wonderful!) secondary benefit; moving quickly through poses kind of throws my head game off a little bit. What do folks around here prefer? Have you ever met a teacher with a great teaching style that doesn't mesh with the pace you like?
Second, Ujjayi breathing during practice. Since learning the basics of the technique, I've tried to incorporate it into my practice. I've found that it is an easy and very helpful way of keeping me connected with my breath. That said, I'm conscious that it can be audible, and I try to keep it as quiet as possible. I certainly don't want to be "that guy who breathes real loud." Thoughts?
Sounds like ego fucking with you. You could have a friend gauge your volume from a normal-yoga-class distance, or you could evaluate how important it is that you be perceived as 'normal' versus the importance of breathing as you would if you were only focused on your practice.
I like vinyasa classes because I like the aerobic part of it and the flowing with breath. Thus I'm really used to louder breathing and have no problems with it. It's supposed to be audible to some degree. I like when the teacher leads some out breaths together too - the room audibly breathes together and it feels good.
You'd have to be super loud to bother me.
I totally agree with you on the teacher lead out breaths SiG. Lion/Simhasana is one of my favorite poses for just that reason. I know it probably looks real silly, but there's something awesome and fierce about a whole room of people doing it together.
To the Sanskrit question on the first page, I'm the sort that likes to hear instructions in both Sanskrit and English descriptive names. Ideally, for me, a teacher will give the Sanskrit name with a brief pause before giving the descriptive name. I like this as it gives my brain a few seconds to try to and link the Sanskrit name with the pose, and if I can't, no worries. I also think the language sounds beautiful, and using it in asana practice really adds an extra dimension to things for me.
I certainly can't fault anyone for not being interested in it though. That, and "down dog" is a hell of a lot faster to say than "Adho Mukha Svanasana," especially when you're transitioning through it a dozen times or more in a class. I do find it amusing when the English transliteration can be as baffling as the Sanskrit though - poses like half lord of the fishes/Ardha Matsyendrasana come to mind (I love that pose so much though omg).
Anyway, I'm keeping up a hot streak so far - today will be 11 days of practice in a row! I'm going to try to aim for 6 days a week (with a break on Sunday to let my shoulders chill out) through the next month or so. I want to get as much out of the January immersion as possible so I'm trying to do my homework, so to speak.
Anyways, I've been trying to find some good youtube yoga videos, but some beginner videos have like pigeon pose (def not a beginner pose) or other more complex manuvers. And I'm way too broke to go to a studio in my area. Any suggestions? I mostly need it for my posture
Just going to class now but I'll post one or two when I get home!
@Mim
OK so here are two fairly short practice videos I like. Both are primarily for stress reduction and (I think) don't have anything too crazy in them. Obviously, please don't do anything that hurts or is uncomfortable for you. I've taken classes recently with both of these teachers, and really like their styles (they are both Anusara teachers). Both videos use a few props - not sure what you have around the house but you can probably improvise pretty easily.
First is Tiffany Wood's <20 minute tension relief practice:
Second is a 35 minute stress reduction class led by Siri Peterson Cavanna . I can't embed it, but you can watch it here if you would like. I particularly like this video since she finishes the practice with a very relaxing breathing exercise.
I hope these are useful! Also, as far as going to a studio, you may want to check around and see if any studios near you offer donation based or sliding scale classes for the community. Most studios I've been to usually offer one or two such classes a week, where no one is turned away. Some studios will also offer classes for trade - maybe you have a skill that they could use, maybe you stick around and sweep up or re-stack props, that kind of thing. Just something worth maybe thinking about.
Oh and one thing about pigeon! I have a hell of a time even getting into pigeon prep on my left side, since my left hip is ridiculously tight. I find upside down pigeon to be really useful, since it lets me work that left hip without a lot of pressure on it - it's the 1st variation on this list if you want to check it out.