Yoga
I've been attending yoga classes for a little over a year. Anywhere from 1 to 3 classes a week. My intention when I started was to provide a venue to stretch my muscles more than I do before and after my runs (I always tell myself that I should spend more time stretching than I do. It is something I certainly need, but don't do). The only thing I knew about yoga was what popular culture says about it:
Instead of heading out for a run one Wednesday, I decided to attend a class at noon. There is a studio in downtown that has drop-in in classes every day of the week. Some during that day and others in the evening. The first class I attended went for 75 minutes, starting with everyone sitting and claming their minds, moving into a variety of poses, and ending with a relaxing pose.
At the time I was reading some Dan Millman (I'll write an entry on him sometime .... he has some thought provoking ideas and advice for living). One of the things he talks about is 'being in the moment'. Don't live in the past, don't obsess about the past .... it's past. There is nothing you can do about it. Do spend all of you time living for the future. It's not here yet. Besides, by the time is here, it will not be what you expect it to be. The only time you can affect is this moment in time. That is what I focuses on when I was calming my mind at the beginning of the sessions. Focusing on letting the thoughts of my morning, of what I planned for the afternoon, letting them all flow pass me and let my mind focus on the here and now.
Guess I went off on a tangent. This is suppose to be about yoga, not about what I was reading when I started taking yoga. But it does relate. It all seems to relate: yoga, focusing on the here and now, calming the mind, paying attention to you body. It all relates. That is what surprised me about yoga. How it fit into what I was exploring at the time. Some would call it New Age, some would call it 'evil' (I am thinking of the crayon toting evangelicals). I call it spiritual. The spiritual side of life, which just doesn't mean a Judeo-Christian type of spiritualism. It encompasses your attitude toward life, towards other people, towards yourself. It is a way of life, not just a set of beliefs. I cringe when I see (or hear about) people that believe they will have their afterlife reward just because they attend a gathering every week and say they believe something about a man who lived 2000 years ago. But if you look at the life they lead, it is about as ugly as you get (no, I am not talking about all Christians or even all evangelicals. Just the hypocrites that wear their religion on their sleeve). Damn, off on a tangent again. This is suppose to be about yoga. Focus, dude!
What am I trying to say about yoga? Maybe that is part of my problem, not having anything specific to actually say about it. It is a humbling thing to do. Even though I have been doing it for over a year, I have so much work to do (that, of course, is ignoring the fact that I don't do it every day). The class I took today had a leader that I have never had before (the husband of the woman that usually leads the class). Every instructor is different, they emphasize different poses and focus on different things . It was good to have someone new, although it was also tough. He put me in positions that I have not done before. He also pointed out things in my poses that have not been brought to my attention (I like getting help with the details. There are so many things to concentrate on in most poses, that even experienced people can use help with their poses. Especially from someone who is looking on and knows what to look for.).
The other part of yoga that is wonderful is the mental part. How you are able to forget about the world around you and focus on you, on the pose, on how you body is feeling with the pose (and trying to twist a couple more degrees or bend another inch, while keeping that inner knee pulling to the front). Being in the here and now is one of the things I've been working on for the past year or so. Yoga fits into that work quite well.
I would recommend yoga to anyone. No matter what shape they are in, no matter how lethargic they have been, yoga would be a good thing to do. As my sessions leaders remind us quite often, you don't compare yourself against the others in the class. You compare against yourself, against what you have done in the past. Consider why you are deeper into a pose, why you aren't as deep. Is it because you ran 20 miles the day before? Or you worked in the yard all afternoon? Or is it because you have a lot on your mind. You lover left you, you lost your job, you lost a loved one. It could be any number of things, it is up to you to use the opportunity to get to know yourself better.
- Originated in and strongly connected with India
- Breath and breath control is a part of it
- Experts can turn themselves into human pretzels
Instead of heading out for a run one Wednesday, I decided to attend a class at noon. There is a studio in downtown that has drop-in in classes every day of the week. Some during that day and others in the evening. The first class I attended went for 75 minutes, starting with everyone sitting and claming their minds, moving into a variety of poses, and ending with a relaxing pose.
At the time I was reading some Dan Millman (I'll write an entry on him sometime .... he has some thought provoking ideas and advice for living). One of the things he talks about is 'being in the moment'. Don't live in the past, don't obsess about the past .... it's past. There is nothing you can do about it. Do spend all of you time living for the future. It's not here yet. Besides, by the time is here, it will not be what you expect it to be. The only time you can affect is this moment in time. That is what I focuses on when I was calming my mind at the beginning of the sessions. Focusing on letting the thoughts of my morning, of what I planned for the afternoon, letting them all flow pass me and let my mind focus on the here and now.
Guess I went off on a tangent. This is suppose to be about yoga, not about what I was reading when I started taking yoga. But it does relate. It all seems to relate: yoga, focusing on the here and now, calming the mind, paying attention to you body. It all relates. That is what surprised me about yoga. How it fit into what I was exploring at the time. Some would call it New Age, some would call it 'evil' (I am thinking of the crayon toting evangelicals). I call it spiritual. The spiritual side of life, which just doesn't mean a Judeo-Christian type of spiritualism. It encompasses your attitude toward life, towards other people, towards yourself. It is a way of life, not just a set of beliefs. I cringe when I see (or hear about) people that believe they will have their afterlife reward just because they attend a gathering every week and say they believe something about a man who lived 2000 years ago. But if you look at the life they lead, it is about as ugly as you get (no, I am not talking about all Christians or even all evangelicals. Just the hypocrites that wear their religion on their sleeve). Damn, off on a tangent again. This is suppose to be about yoga. Focus, dude!
What am I trying to say about yoga? Maybe that is part of my problem, not having anything specific to actually say about it. It is a humbling thing to do. Even though I have been doing it for over a year, I have so much work to do (that, of course, is ignoring the fact that I don't do it every day). The class I took today had a leader that I have never had before (the husband of the woman that usually leads the class). Every instructor is different, they emphasize different poses and focus on different things . It was good to have someone new, although it was also tough. He put me in positions that I have not done before. He also pointed out things in my poses that have not been brought to my attention (I like getting help with the details. There are so many things to concentrate on in most poses, that even experienced people can use help with their poses. Especially from someone who is looking on and knows what to look for.).
The other part of yoga that is wonderful is the mental part. How you are able to forget about the world around you and focus on you, on the pose, on how you body is feeling with the pose (and trying to twist a couple more degrees or bend another inch, while keeping that inner knee pulling to the front). Being in the here and now is one of the things I've been working on for the past year or so. Yoga fits into that work quite well.
I would recommend yoga to anyone. No matter what shape they are in, no matter how lethargic they have been, yoga would be a good thing to do. As my sessions leaders remind us quite often, you don't compare yourself against the others in the class. You compare against yourself, against what you have done in the past. Consider why you are deeper into a pose, why you aren't as deep. Is it because you ran 20 miles the day before? Or you worked in the yard all afternoon? Or is it because you have a lot on your mind. You lover left you, you lost your job, you lost a loved one. It could be any number of things, it is up to you to use the opportunity to get to know yourself better.
posted by gym at 6:49 PM
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