Spirit of yoga

Yoga's becoming more important to me lately. I started with the Firm Power Yoga, which is a mere series of ashtanga/power yoga poses treated as athletic stretches. The yoga names are not even mentioned.

From there I moved on to Budokon Beginning Practice, which is a brief series of sun salutations with a couple of warrior poses, then some punches and kicks and a 'standing meditation' (which he talks through).

Then I got Rodney Yee's Total Body Power Yoga. It, too, is ashtanga but a more soothing and peaceful presentation. Next came Rodney Yee's Yoga Burn. This one started something in me. In this workout, you do vinyasas very slowly, three times each. I found myself more able to concentrate on the breath and become more meditative during this workout.

Seeking to increase my flexibility, I bought Ravi & Ana's Ultimate Stretch Workout. I just bought it because of the name and boy was I surprised when this workout involved chants, mantras and even singing! Kundalini yoga is very unlike power yoga, but I found I enjoyed it, so I bought Kundalini for Beginners and Beyond. DH and I did that workout with our mats side by side on Sunday afternoon. That was lovely.

So, I've been reading a book by Kathy Phillips called The Spirit of Yoga. It a beautiful book. I also checked out BKS Iyengar's classic The Illustrated Light on Yoga and will read it as soon as I've finished the Phillips book. Then I'm going to see if I can find Vanda Scaravelli's Awakening the Spine. There's a photo of Vanda Saravelli in Spirit of Yoga doing a standing back bend at age 83 and she looks absolutely fantastic. Her body looks like a wave of the ocean. Remarkable. (The link I provided is not the photo in the book, but that's an elderly Scaravelli in a backbend pose, so you get the idea. Imagine her standing up, bending back with her shoulder blades about a foot from the backs of her own knees. Lord!)

When I first started, I didn't like it at all. I tend to be fairly inflexible and I have tight hamstrings. All the poses were a strain and my problems with wanting to be a perfectionist/hating to feel like a failure would really kick in during my yoga attempts. I guess that's why I steadily kept buying more workouts and trying them. I'm still stiff as a board and find lots of poses a challenge, but I'm learning to deal with that. One good thing I'm seeing in yoga is that it certainly helps to teach patience and grounding in the moment. I am only beginning to break the surface on this personal revelation about yoga.

I'm still not ready for classes. I know some enthusiasts will say I need a teacher, but I am not ready. I will continue a careful solitary practice at home for now. It's enough, and I'm not going to hurt myself.

I intend to do some research into the best way to fit daily yoga practice into my cross training rotation. Any thoughts?

Yoga

I'm just now getting around to reading your posts for the week. In my classes, bridge pose is the alternative to backbend, so that's a perfect option. Doing camel is awesome. I can't do it. It's the one pose that really pisses me off. One of my teacher thinks it's because of my back injury causing limited flexibility in that area. I just wish I could enter a class and request, "No Camel, please." I get so frustrated that I become ungrounded.

As for forward bend, touching your nose to your knees is completely superflous. The way your body flows out of your hips "like a waterfall" is the key. Let gravity pull you down and forward. My teachers say you should feel almost like you're about to fall foreward.

As for tight hamstrings, I'm with you on that. I have found that loosening them back up after taking six months off has been a real challenge. You can't get them where you want them to be in one month, let alone one session. I've been doing a before bed hip and hamstring stretch routine just to try to get back where I was because I can't do a full yoga routine as much as I would like due to all the work at the gym. I think if you do yoga (or at least dedicaed stretching) less than three times a week, your hamstrings will always be tight. It's like you have to start over every time you hit the mat. That is a BIG goal of mine right now. I've gotten my muscle tone back, but not my flexibility.

I'm so happy to see that you're tackling yoga with serious intent. The rewards are huge. I practice at home to save time and/or money, but working with a teacher is SO much more beneficial. I get a workout when I'm at home, but I never really learn anything. I have no idea what you mean by not being "ready" for classes. There is no prerequirement for a yoga class in body, mind, or spirit. I guess willingness is the only thing required.

Well, I'm going to go back to your blog now and keep reading. I want to check out those links you posted!