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Yoga

Nah man nothing wrong with checking out the beautiful people in yoga - just making sure not to overdo it, and do it tastefully. It's only natural.

I wouldn't get into kundalini/kriya yoga just yet - I've only just started getting into it, and I've been doing astanga vinyasa for about 3 years now almost - I would suggest Concentrate on your asana and pranayama, while also working a bit with dhyana and mudra and obviously your bandha for a while.


I know what you mean about everything you said about it though - astanga really is great. Pity I haven't been finding enough time to do asana the last few months, but jnana is more important right now.

I get a 2 hour class for 10 quid which is about 15/16 bucks I think? Not looked at exchange rate recently...that's with 2 teachers who regularly go to India - male and female - nice balance - they are shining lights - they always make me beam with joy when I am around them.
 
Just to say thanks for the helpful thread! I've been meaning to get started with yoga and this has hopefully motivated me enough to get going to regular classes.

Interestingly (and thankfully) as I live in a place full of bohemian types and yoga studios, the prices here are a bit cheaper at about £6/7 for 1.5 hours.
 
re: monkeydna's question- i suggest you do a search for finding out your 'ayurvedic dosha', it will help work out what kind of yoga you want to work with. work out why you do, then search thesecretsofyoga.com and there you will find many kinds of yoga, different forms of hatha yoga with asana from 12 poses of sivananda to >150 of astanga/raja. now to get back to the specifics of what you were askin - it's not a good idea to 'feel your body' into poses unless you have a book of yoga asana, or at the very least a print-off from a sequence.

you can seriously injure yourself if you've not been taught to use your bandha properly. ultimately it is all part of the learning curve but your progression will be rapid if you get a good teacher after some research and trying some classes to show you what you do't want.

Oh and also spontaneous postures throughout the day ROCK! But I would suggest again getting a teacher, or a book to teach you what each asana does for your body/mind (energizing, releasing, constipation, calming etc the list goes on).

However that being said most back bends are energizing, and most forward bends are calming.


om namah sivaya
 
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When I was a teenager I had a really bad yoga experience. The teacher was basically unqualified... and possibly crazy. Despite telling her that I had scoliosis and that stretching was painful for me, she tried forcing me into postures that were beyond my limit by physically pushing on me, and my entire back got torn up. Since then I've never gone to yoga classes. I'm self-conscious about my body and exercise anyway. It's hard for me to even go weightlifting, or swimming in a public pool. Yoga classes which are so focused on being "proper" would give me anxiety.

I've heard so many good things about yoga but that early experience was honestly scarring. My back is fixed now thanks to years of therapy, and I do lots of exercise and stretching regularly. I've even learned some yoga poses from the internet and friends who have taken classes. Because I'm versed in physiology and I'm very self-aware, I can intuit my way through a lot of stretches. Sometimes I stretch in ways that would seem weird to onlookers, but they work perfectly for getting at those hard to reach areas.

I love the spiritual aspect of yoga and I've read many books (both ancient and modern) on it. The breathwork I find to be the most special.
 
^Speaking of pranayama - have any of you (apart from PiP - I'm sure YOU MUST'VE) learnt how to choose which nostril to breathe through (for either calming or energizing - L:R respectively), without touching your nose, but by simply sitting, or crouching or standing still and interlinking your fingers, and holding them in front of your chest and clenching a bit.

Experiment with this and tell me what you have found out ;) It's my new favourite thing I learnt a few weeks ago - it's VERY useful for helping to get to sleep or calm down/energize in confined space/environment....
 
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Foreigner said:
When I was a teenager I had a really bad yoga experience. The teacher was basically unqualified... and possibly crazy. Despite telling her that I had scoliosis and that stretching was painful for me, she tried forcing me into postures that were beyond my limit by physically pushing on me, and my entire back got torn up. Since then I've never gone to yoga classes. I'm self-conscious about my body and exercise anyway. It's hard for me to even go weightlifting, or swimming in a public pool. Yoga classes which are so focused on being "proper" would give me anxiety.

I've heard so many good things about yoga but that early experience was honestly scarring. My back is fixed now thanks to years of therapy, and I do lots of exercise and stretching regularly. I've even learned some yoga poses from the internet and friends who have taken classes. Because I'm versed in physiology and I'm very self-aware, I can intuit my way through a lot of stretches. Sometimes I stretch in ways that would seem weird to onlookers, but they work perfectly for getting at those hard to reach areas.

I love the spiritual aspect of yoga and I've read many books (both ancient and modern) on it. The breathwork I find to be the most special.
Click to expand...

Its very much trial and error in the early stages.
People say no asana should be painful, but I am not so sure.
Main thing is to find a really balanced routine.

Andrey Lappa has some online courses posted up at Pranamaya's website which are simply fantastic, you need 2 mats for them and aling them crossways.
His routines leave me feeling way more balanced than any ashtanga or vinyasa flow generic ones.
http://www.pranamaya.com/teachers/andrey-lappa

Micheal Gannon once told Guruji that he was in great pain after learning many new asana's , Guruji said that was perfectly normal
If you do ashtanga there are a lot of good resources online now, Peter Hurley is fantastic, you can learn so much from this clip
http://heavymettayoga.wordpress.com/2012/07/02/peter-hurleys-ashtanga-videos/


If you like more active kriya yoga which skips all sun salutes etc then Ashokananda has just released a very cool dvd
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRraq64ssJg


for me a typical week consist of 2 hatha classes at my local shala, and 3 Lappa routines on other days.
Sometimes I will throw in a yin yoga session once a week, or failing that a Yantra Yoga routine. And always take one day off a week.
 
'and lowers elevates blood pressure'
lol

still in love with my own personal 'yoga', ie yoga but not holding positions *nearly* as long as recommended. I'm just in it for stretching the muscles, and by 1min in a position they're as stretched as they're gonna be 99%.
 
Any tips for dealing with the sexual arousal that accompanies a budding yoga practice? I would really like to store my sexual energy for growth, but sometimes it is very difficult to resist temptation. Maybe there are certain poses or practices I can do to chillax the libido? Or maybe I ought to eat more of a certain kind of food? Eventually I'm also going to ask a teacher about this, but I'm not yet sure how to bring it up...

On a sidenote, I've noticed that not ejaculating for a while makes it much easier to hold the root lock, which, in my experience, is very important for focus, clarity, and alignment.

Thanks in advanced.
 
Recommendations for intermediate/advanced poses/routines?

I'm beyond ready (strength/balance/flexibility are not really being challenged much anymore i guess) for more poses than the basics I learned years ago. I'm looking for more challenging forms, any links to suggested 'libraries' with pics would be *extremely* appreciated!
 
I'm going to check out the links provided by The Liberal Media and B1t'0RoughJack (thank you! guys), but does anyone have a link to a youtube (or otherwise free) vid featuring very basic yoga poses you can do at home? I'm looking to adopt some very basic yoga poses into my day-to-day regimen, definitely after I complete my 60 day intensive workout, but possibly after if I can handle it/if it is suggested/if it is manageable.

Thoughts and contributions are quite appreciated.
 
Personally I would just trust what your body is telling you during practice, so I would recommend a book if you are determined not to go to classes, or possibly find with a search "yin (hatha)yoga session".

THis will open you up much more deeply, and it will be more forgiving as it is slower, and less intense...letting you progress as your body tells you what is and isn't working.

GOod luck
 
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