Introducing TRYoga Insights, a brief blog to aid your personal yoga practice. The beauty of yoga over other exercise systems is that it is essentially based on a philosophy of practice that emphasizes quality and experience over quantity and doing. I think it would be useful for the classes if I tried to discuss the philosophy of practice and give you food for thought on a weekly basis.

September 26, 2011

I was recently interviewed by a health club about the benefits of yoga. Here were my responses.

How did yoga originate?

Yoga originated in India and has been in development for thousands of years. Yoga as an exercise system is called "hatha" yoga which means "vigorous" or "intense". Scholars think it was originally intended for warrior training, sexual prowess and fertility. However, it is primarily used for quieting the mind to aid concentration and meditation states. The athletic, gymnastic, balancing, dance-like poses have just been added in the last one hundred years.

Health Benefits of yoga: The health benefits are extraordinary. The ones that have been studied the most are helping any kind of muscle or joint problem, back and neck pain, faster recovery from injury and surgery and improved balance (fewer falls). But since it is a form of exercise, all the benefits of exercise pertain: improved strength, flexibility, agility, weight management, and aerobic capacity. It is especially effective for depression, anxiety and stress reduction. Psychologists are finding that it is superior to cognitive therapy for post-traumatic stress syndrome. Yoga impacts and helps improve every body system: brain function, nerves, circulation, lymphatics, digestion, elimination, hormones and bone density.

Benefits for bone deterioration: 1) Yoga is a weight bearing exercise system. Like gymnastics, yoga includes balance poses for both the arms and legs. The one legged balance poses held for 1-2 minutes have been compared by researchers to the equivalent of walking for 1-2 hours. 

2) The postural effect of bone weakening is offset by yoga's emphasis on back strength. Cobra, updog, fish and other backbends lengthen and tone back muscles which keep the vertebra stacked and aligned for a vibrant posture. We are seeing straight spines and upright posture in 80 and 90 year olds who continue to practice yoga in their senior years

 

July 27, 2011

"Mental Limitations” pp.56-57

Yoga requires mental practice as much as it involves physical discipline.” Our thoughts about our bodies, positive and negative, affect how we practice. On the negative side, beliefs such as “I have upper body weakness”, or “I have terrible balance” or “I have tight hamstrings” can hold us back. They might be true to some degree but in reality it is relative and we mustn’t focus on and repeat these thoughts over and over. And be sure to update your beliefs on the days when you surprise yourself and prove them untrue. On the other hand, a prideful self-image engenders competitive streaks that can be injurious if you push too hard to match stronger students or try to return too quickly to a time in the past when you were in better shape. Remember “start where you are”.

Be zen in your approach, which means, be where you are in the moment. Part of the training is to get out of your head, out of your limiting beliefs and self-image (ego). The secret of yoga as a thought quieting activity lies in preoccupying the mind with the details of the practice. Focus on alignment, breathing, and experiencing your body move in and out of stillness. Concentrate on what you are doing; don’t give your thoughts a chance to yak. This is meditation in motion. By the time you get to final relaxation, your mind doesn’t even want to think. And that’s really what you want. “Stop thinking and end your problems” –Tao te ching.

June 4, 2011

Just a reminder I am blogging the chapters of Ganga White’s book, Yoga Beyond Belief. “Insights to Awaken and Deepen Your Practice."

”Inner- and Outer- Directed Practices” pp.55-56

Ganga defines outer-directed practices as structured, pre-established sequences (a routine) and inner-directed practice as intuitive, created-in-the-moment flow of poses (free-style). The advantages of routine practices are the construction of balanced, thought out, complete workouts that have known objectives and results. Examples would be Ganga’s signature “Flow Series”, Bikram’s 26 poses, or any of the traditional sun salutations. Beginning yoga practitioners need outer-directed practices.  On the other hand, free-style practices are spontaneous, explorative and focus on self-awareness. You follow the flow from pose to pose by listening to energy feedback from your body. Inner-directed yoga usually requires working knowledge of the poses and an open mind.

Ganga suggests both directions are essential to a complete practice. If you always use routines then practice could get monotonous and boring. Or if you always tend to free-style you may end up over emphasizing some areas and underemphasizing others. In our classes I incorporate inner-directed practice by 1) adjusting the intensity level to the energy of the class that day and 2) by choosing several poses within the arranged sequence to allow you to explore and free-style. This is key to understanding energy flow and listening to your own body. As beginners we need to be told what to do and how to do it. But as we advance we learn to track the energy into deeper awareness of the body and mind.

May 10, 2011

“Tension is your friend” pp. 54-55

Ganga talks about muscles as springs and the activities we engage in cause differing tensions in muscles as they adapt to positions, movement and non-movement. “When we sit for a long time, the body adjusts its tensions accordingly. When we stand up and walk after sitting for a long time, we feel stiff. What we’re feeling is residual stiffness from the previous activity dissipating as the body resets its tensions for the new activity.” “Simply put, with regular yoga practice, the body can more easily restore equilibrium after stiffening from hard work, strenuous physical activity, or even from periods of inactivity.”

Yoga helps reset tensions back to neutral. We need some tension in the muscles to hold ourselves up so we don’t collapse in a heap. The yin and yang are at play here in the balance of relaxation and tension. Whenever we hold a position for an extended length of time, the muscles, connective tissue and fascia will tighten to support the form we are in.  (Another yoga teacher said, “We are always training, even when we are not exercising”. It was to emphasize this point: our bodies will mold into the positions we hold).  “One purpose of yoga practice is to keep limits of strength, flexibility, tightness and softness malleable and transformable.”

March 23, 2011

“The Rhythms and Seasons of Practice” pp. 53-54

Ganga describes the energies of the seasons as a guide for yoga. “The changing cycle of seasons in nature can inspire and guide our practice.” Furthermore, we have the “seasons of our life” and “cycles and subcycles” from youth to old age. Tuning into our natural rhythm is the key to knowing when to activate or slow down our practice.  “Fixed formulas” and “remaining in extremes” conjures problems as they often go against the flow. Yoga systems that claim to be the only right way tend to be extreme and out of touch. The body’s intelligence moves toward balance; can you listen and adjust to it?

New research in exercise science suggests we should vary our routine anyway. We habituate to a ritual routine so the neuromuscular system is no longer challenged. The new concept introduces an explorative quality to our practice versus the rut of the same ol’ same ol’. Furthermore, medical research finds the brain is stimulated by variation and change, keeping us flexible and adaptable to differing conditions. Similarly, one of the Tibetan tai chi principles is called “play with chaos”.  Going with the biorhythms of the body and cycles of seasonal energies is part of the deeper mind-body harmony (yoga) we seek. 

February 17, 2011

"Heating and Cooling” pp.50-52  

While training in India, Ganga’s class began deep stretching without warming up. Then they would rest until cool in between poses. He noticed his body having difficulty with this approach and he now knows this was not the best way. “Warm muscles stretch farther and easier with increased circulation, greater strength, and less risk of injury.” He suggests using sun salutations and standing poses to warm up with. As the workout progresses, the heat of practice becomes cleansing to the body. “When we get hot during practice, the increased circulation filters more blood through our organs and the increased heat also allows detoxifying through sweating.” However, he cautions, “too much heat in practice is draining and can leave one looking gaunt and depleted”.  (Bikram / hot yoga practitioners often have this look ).

   Medically, it is known that bones and cartilage are the least vascularized tissues of the body. The warm up gives your body time to get blood flow to your joints and muscles, to get them hydrated and warm. And then the workout phase gets the body hot so the cells churn and breathe and the lymphatics move; what is called “detoxing”. The cool down allows for balancing muscles that may have gotten over worked and lets the circulation and breathing return to normal. This is sometimes referred to as counter poses and restorative poses. These are quieting postures that calm the mind and smooth the prana through the tissues. The final relaxation, savasana, is the ultimate cool down and mind-body-energy harmonizer.

January 21, 2011

“Strength and Flexibility” pp.48-50

Ganga begins this section by reviewing how when people think of yoga, they usually think of stretching and the “pretzel” contortions.  Even among yoga teachers, flexibility is mostly emphasized over strength. Let’s remember that “hatha yoga” means “vigorous yoga”.  “The syllable Ha in Hatha means sun, which implies masculine energy and symbolizes heating, expansion and strength; tha means moon, which refers to feminine energy and symbolizes cooling, contraction and flexibility.” So we need to balance our practice with both strength and flexibility poses.

Strength is the overlooked factor at preventing injuries due to overstretching, and stretching is the key to preventing injuries due to overworking. “Flexibility without strength leads to fragility. Strength without flexibility leads to rigidity”. We need both; which is why for strength we do all the warriors, chatarangas (planks), and core exercises. In actual practice strength and flexibility greatly complement each other: building muscle provides more stability for the stretch, while lengthening muscles (stretching) streamlines our build.

January 1, 2011

“Feedback: Learning to Listen”  Yoga Beyond Belief by Ganga White, pp.46-48

  From the prior sections on “start where you are”, “the long view” and “the asanas are tools not goals” much of the theme centers around “attunement” vs. “attainment”. Attunement could very well be defined as this section’s title, “feedback: learning to listen”. This is probably one of the most (if not the most) vital lessons of yoga. Learning to listen to the body changes our perceptual frame of reference from external to internal. Mirrors in the practice room accentuate the difference between external and internal perception. In listening, we level the ground between performance and appearance with feeling and experience. Ganga writes, “Though it may not speak in words, the body communicates loudly and clearly when we listen…our breathing affects the mind, our thoughts affect our immune system, what we eat affects our mood, physical activity affects emotions, and so on and on.” It is important to realize that our nervous system reaches into every organ and system in the body. We can learn to process and be aware of what is going on within our tissues and cells, and how they are responding to anything we are doing. So chill on the chatter and  shift your attention to listening mode.

 

December 8, 2010

“The Asanas Are Tools, Not Goals”, pp.43-45

In this lecture, Ganga makes a close up comparison of the doing and being of yoga. He admits we do need goals but also, we need “non-goal” awareness as well. The problem with goal attainment of asana is that you get a one-size-fits-all approach. What if your body is not ready to be bent into a lotus pretzel or balanced on its head just yet? Goals tend to foster aggressiveness which can lead to injury. The wiser approach is to not force yourself into a posture but use the form, the asana, as a tool to sculpt yourself and relax into the position that feels right that moment. This he calls “attunement”. If we will keep practicing over time, we will steadily improve and attain. By balancing the attunement –attainment polarity, we have a better set up to “enjoy the journey” along the way.       

 

November 22, 2010

The Long View pp.42-43 Yoga Beyond Belief

Over time we have all experienced what happens when we are too sedentary. We get stiff and weak. We gain weight. We have low energy and get negative attitudes. And then we join a class and get all excited and go overboard, so we push it and strain a joint or throw out our back, or pull a muscle etc. and then we have to stop. We go to the extremes. Ganga suggests we get some perspective, in fact, a “lifetime perspective”, and bring it to class. Building on his last suggestion to “start where you are”, he adds that just by practicing within your current abilities, not only will you maintain your health, you will also not wear yourself out. And you will be able to keep up your strength, flexibility and focus your entire life. Who doesn’t want that?

I hope you can see the “zen” attitude in this approach. The ego is in check…we are not trying to attain exotic postures and we are assuming responsibility for our health by continuing to practice. Ideally yoga practice is a state of being not an effort of doing. Medical research supports this view: moderate exercise is just as beneficial as intense exercise. And extreme exercise is actually injurious to the body and can even shorten your life span. If accomplishment is your primary source of motivation, what happens when you get injured or bored? The real skill is in learning to enjoy your practice as it is in the moment. Enjoyment is the key to long term motivation. That is why we joke about “hurts so good”. It is similar to the experience you have when receiving massage or bodywork.  You become a connoisseur of  the sensations created by yoga.

 

October 29, 2010

Chapter 4 “ Finding the ‘Ah Ha’ in Hatha
Presence: Start Where You Are  pp.39-41

  Ganga waxes philosophical on two questions about time. The first is how long must I practice to reap the benefits of yoga? (see last week’s blog about the multitude of benefits). And two, how long does it take to master yoga? The questions call out to our cultural relationship with time and goals. What is the goal we are really pursuing in yoga? A firm, fit, flexible body?   Ganga reminds, ”Yoga is not a goal”. “We can develop great strength or flexibility but miss the heart of the practice”…”Someone may be able to twist into a pretzel while balancing on one finger and still miss the heart and essence of yoga.”…

    At first we need goals and benefits to motivate us to come to class. Over time, however, the timeless benefits emerge. Timeless qualities being: you slow down, breathe deeper, and quiet your mind allowing you the experience of stillness and radiance of energy and the deeper self-awareness that goes with you beyond asana.  Ganga: “Advancing our practice implies refining our ability to see and listen to our body on deeper and subtler levels. Cultivating this internal perception is more important than merely attaining more exotic postures.” How long does that take? … As long as it takes…therefore, “start where you are”.

October 15, 2010

The Ten Body-Mind Systems (Yoga Beyond Belief pp.30-5)

  Asana practice is a highly specialized form of exercise. And because it is exercise it will yield all the benefits of exercise both physically and mentally. The multitude of benefits of exercise are well documented in medical research. All systems benefit: bones, joints, muscles, organs, digestion, elimination, circulation, breathing, nerve flow, hormone balance, immunity, energy production, mental focus, stress reduction and positive attitude etc. etc. Yoga asana practice is truly a holistic exercise system that affects all body-mind aspects in beneficial way.

   Yoga excels as an exercise system over other types of exercise because it leaves no stone unturned. Balance, strength, endurance, flexibility, concentration, relaxation, movement, stillness, twisting, inversions, breath control, internal exercise, thought control, visualization, meditation, being-in-the-moment and mental intention are all utilized under one umbrella. And there is even improvement given for the soul, to quote Ganga, “discipline and strength of character come from creating and maintaining a regular practice and all of these qualities are carried over into other areas of life”. Thus the common phrase: “yoga: for the body, mind and spirit”.

 

September 27, 2010

The Mystical Om

   Traditional yoga classes chant “om” at the beginning and end of the class. It is a very useful way to bring the class focus together. It is also a biofeedback system to reflect the change the practice has created. The om at the end of class is much stronger and coherent than at the beginning. It activates the breath and core which are the basis of asana. And it creates vibration which initiates prana flow. On a personal level it is a signal from the mind to the subconscious for a  deeper awareness of the body and the earth.

  Ganga talks about the om as being a “primordial sound that can be heard in the wind, the ocean or the din of crowds and traffic”. It  paradoxically refers to all things and to  nothing and yet springs from the source of everything. It is classified as a mantra which is a word or phrase that is chanted or repeated to facilitate meditation and the calming of erratic thoughts.

  On the vibrational plane, the sound om is pronounced: oh-ah-mm or  a-u-m as if hollowing the mouth into the m. If close attention is paid, the range of chakras can be felt to resonate, especially through the solar plexus, heart and crown centers. This initiates the subtle changes that lead to enhanced self-awareness. By chanting om, you activate yourself to a higher energy level which can be felt bodily as increased vigor and vitality, and also experienced mentally as greater focus and concentration. You could say, then, that “om” is the yoga of sound and voice.

August 18, 2010

Chapter 2 The Many Yogas and Chapter 3 Hatha Yoga

   These are important chapters for the curious yoga student who wants to understand the background for what they are studying.  Ashtanga, Iyengar, Vinyasa, Kripalu, Anusara, Kundalini, Bikram, and Power yoga are just a few of the styles and modern brands of physical yoga. Altogether they are a form of a larger subset of yoga called Hatha (ha tuh) yoga.

   From Hatha, “Ha” means Sun and “Tha” means Moon. This comprises the polar opposites of masculine and feminine, activity and stillness, exercise and relaxation, also known as yang and yin. Hatha can also be construed simply as “vigorous” or “intense”. I like the word “workout”. Hatha yoga is workout yoga. Where did Hatha yoga come from?

   Well, fittingly, it had two sources. It has a “yang” source called Raja yoga or “Royal” yoga and the “yin” source called Tantra yoga or “to stretch on the loom”. Raja’s roots stem from an ancient yogi named Patanjali, who wrote down its longstanding oral tradition into aphorisms called sutras. Two of his primary contributions to hatha are:1) practice for the purpose of quieting your busy mind and 2) a system of eight practices (ashtanga) as a way to spiritual enlightenment. This method emphasizes control, discipline and process and is often referred to as the science of yoga.

   On the other hand, Tantra yoga is based on sensuality and relationship. Being feminine in nature, it honors the body and the earth. This yoga produces the awakening of feeling and opening of the senses. Awareness, connection and refinement make the movements flowing and dance-like. It is the reason we say “namaste” and enjoy practicing together. Tantric philosophy also incorporates love and sexuality. This method could be described  as the art of yoga.

   Ashtanga yoga, in the lineage of Raja yoga, is a programmed sequence of poses that is performed the same way each class. The student’s job is to fit into the system. The style of yoga we practice is based on the  Ashtanga vinyasa or flow of poses but has been balanced in influence by Tantra. Thus we have a system of vinyasa or flow of poses, but we change and alter the asana choreography to fit the needs of the variety of students.

This kind of class has traditional structure but also has creativity and spontaneity to bring a sense of freedom and enjoyment to the workout.

I will be taking a vacation/ break Aug.23 –Sept.6

Classes will resume Tues. Sept. 7

As for the blog, when we return in September:

I have had several requests to blog about the mantra “Om” we chant at the beginning of class. So if you are following in Ganga’s book, Yoga Beyond Belief, jump out to Chapter 9 Meditation is Your Life pp.181-2.

August 5, 2010

Chapter 2   The Many Yogas

   The main thing to get out of this chapter is how expansive the meaning of yoga is. We, in the west, primarily use the word yoga to mean the exercise/stress reduction/ meditation system. However, yoga is a word like love that has many meanings and uses, large and small. Yoga in the big sense is actually a system of philosophy (not a religion) built on the original meaning “to bring together, unite, or harmonize our body, mind and spirit”. It literally means to yoke or harness. It is when our mind and body are in the use of our spirit for higher learning. It is when we feel connected to ourselves, everyone and ideally everything. It is a feeling of being grounded, balanced and uplifted all at the same time.  How many ways are there to bring about yoga? Multitudes. Thus all the names: hatha yoga, kundalini yoga, ashtanga yoga, iynegar yoga etc. etc. etc.

   The author, Ganga, breaks down the larger concept of yoga into 4 main branches: 1)Raja/hatha/tantra, 2)bhakti, 3)karma, and 4)jnana. These are Sanskrit words that mean physical yoga, devotional yoga, service yoga and knowledge yoga. These are the four conceptual ways that we humans connect to ourselves and the universe. 

   Again, when most people think of yoga they think of physical yoga and the exercise/ meditation concept of practice. But remember the expanded yoga concept is about the feeling connection to everything. Notice how you feel next time you volunteer or help your neighbor (service yoga). Notice how you feel when you study and learn about the mind, the universe and the human condition (knowledge yoga). And finally notice how you feel when you are singing devotionals and praying  (any religion)(devotional yoga).

   Yoga at its best is a biofeedback system that tells you how you are relating to yourself, others and the world at any given time. Are you connecting or not? Yoga anyone? Which yoga? It doesn’t matter. The one that works the best for you!

Next week: Raja/ hatha/ tantra: the many physical yoga

 

July 28, 2010

 We have been talking about having a creative yoga practice in the context of a traditional foundation. Creativity: "to bring into existence through imaginative skill".

  Ways to make your yoga practice more creative:

1. Start a short  practice at home. Example: A salutation. Triangle. Seated forward bend. Legs up the wall. Follow it up in a few days and change the poses.
2. Try a pose for two minutes or longer. Change your posture in subtle ways. Bend different or try a lighter or stronger approach.  Move around instead of being still. Be inquisitive, explore it. Use an intention of there is no right and no wrong.
3. Close your eyes and feel the posture more. When you awaken your internal sense of feeling you can “get into it more”.
4. Listen to jazz or music that moves you while you practice.
5. Breathe!!!

Next week we start Chapter 2 of Yoga Beyond Belief, " The Many Yogas"

 

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