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Yoga

ThailandTomThailandTom Veteran
edited April 2012 in Diet & Habits
I tried making a thread about this a while back, but not much response. I am interetsed to know of how people here treat yoga if at all. What type of yoga, exercises and experiences. Something which made me laugh to myself today is that I was having a shower and for some reason decided to attempt the tree pose. Of course the floor is slippery due to soap etc, I attempted it on both legs and in fact could remain in it for the longest I have ever remained in it, that is mindfulness!

Comments

  • edited April 2012
    A part of me has wanted to get into yoga for a long time and I have tried a few times but, for one thing, it just feels a little silly for me with all the weird poses. That said I would still love to have the benefits that come from it. But between exercise, reading, meditation, work and a six year old daughter I think I have enough on my plate. If I lived in a monastery I would probably practice it.
  • Invincible_summerInvincible_summer Heavy Metal Dhamma We(s)t coast, Canada Veteran
    I do it occasionally, mainly just for stretching, and mainly the Sun Salutation sequence.

    http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_wkztk6BgdXA/TOmdKOOZjoI/AAAAAAAAABA/r4EMZTY5ggw/s1600/SunSalutationFinal.jpg


    I find around here, there are tons of yoga studios since it's the new trendy thing to do. Some charge and arm and a leg for what is basically doing normal hatha yoga in a heated room.

    And although I can sort of see the benefits to doing yoga for mindfulness and connecting mindfulness to movement, I tend to not get along with that New Age-y crowd that meditates on mantras like "I am" and "Success" and ego-stroking crap like that.
  • lol, ego stroking, I like it. Well no it is unskilful, but I like the term :p I do it purely for stretching and a bit of exercise as I am a lazy *cough* < insert bad word! But also it can help to connect the body to the mind, relax the mind before meditation or whenever, but also tone the body believe it or not.
  • I've been doing tsa lung, which is Tibetan Yoga of breath and movement.
    This yoga deals with chakras and channels (subtle) body and purification.

    But usually I do simple hatha yoga, which is the stereotypical yoga that everyone else does.

    In my honest opinion all the other yogas work up the body so that it can meditate and work with the subtle body.

    Kundalini yoga is the best form of yoga I've ever experienced and practiced. But its very intense. Hence my movement towards Tibetan Yoga, which also supplements my Dzogchen practice.

    Yoga in the hindu tradition is all about attaining the light body using the chakras. This isn't said upfront because it isn't that known. Most yoga that we see is for health and physical benefits. True yoga starts when we acknowledge how thoughts, emotions, habitual patterns, physical body, what we eat, breathing, and energetic systems interact with each other to create this experience of reality.
  • Thankyou @taiyaki I shall have to do some more research now about such schools of yoga, but I did ask in the first place :D
  • I love yoga and go to a studio a few times each week. I do hot/vinyassa classes.
  • personperson Don't believe everything you think The liminal space Veteran
    edited April 2012
    I have a physical job so I don't generally feel like doing any kind of exercise on my days off. On occasion I do get down time and will do some then to keep active.
  • DaltheJigsawDaltheJigsaw Mountain View Veteran
    edited April 2012
    The System of the universe, like Tao/Zen/Buddism and so on. I practice Kriya Yoga. I will also add that there is also Qi Gong, Tai Chi and many other forms.
  • I haven't done yoga in months, kinda lazy. But happy to know I can still touch my toes! I wouldn't do yoga in a bath tub...nice way to sprain something awful! Lol...

    Meh, maybe do yoga tomorrow. Or the next day.
  • shower alison, shower! And I performed the tree pose perfectly for the longest I have ever done so! O yea, big up TomTom!!! I am kinda lazy with it too, but that is me with a lot of the dharma, *sigh* Thanks @LeonBasin for the other forms you practice :)
  • (Searching thru 'yoga for dummies' looking for a picture of tree pose)

  • lol ok, i will get ya a video even better ;)
  • Invincible_summerInvincible_summer Heavy Metal Dhamma We(s)t coast, Canada Veteran
    edited April 2012


    Kundalini yoga is the best form of yoga I've ever experienced and practiced. But its very intense. Hence my movement towards Tibetan Yoga, which also supplements my Dzogchen practice.
    I've heard rumours that Kundalini Yoga can leave someone in some sort of bizarre mental state if practiced incorrectly? Can you comment on this, @taiyaki?


    @Thailand Tom, @Lady_Alison - tree pose is great! Very simple to do, but pretty effective in getting your balance and everything co-ordinated. It's my favorite after the downward dog (I just love how it stretches my legs in that painful-yet-relaxing way... I swear I'm not a masochist lol)
  • The tree pose requires a lot of balance and concentration, hence mindfulness. Then try doing it in the shower :p


  • Kundalini yoga is the best form of yoga I've ever experienced and practiced. But its very intense. Hence my movement towards Tibetan Yoga, which also supplements my Dzogchen practice.
    I've heard rumours that Kundalini Yoga can leave someone in some sort of bizarre mental state if practiced incorrectly? Can you comment on this, @taiyaki?


    @Thailand Tom, @Lady_Alison - tree pose is great! Very simple to do, but pretty effective in getting your balance and everything co-ordinated. It's my favorite after the downward dog (I just love how it stretches my legs in that painful-yet-relaxing way... I swear I'm not a masochist lol)
    Energy is the under current of thoughts and emotions. So its the gateway to the unconscious.

    With a healthy mindset one can heal old undigested emotions and thoughts.

    In my honest opinion one needs a good amount of mindfulness and non judgement.

    So yes messing with the energies can cause problems, thus it requires good conditions.

    But from another point of view, it is directly touching upon the things we avoid which brings about the most progress in accepting ourselves.

    So it all depends.
  • Love my yoga, and miss it mightily when I'm not able to do it.
  • Speaking about kundalini yoga, is it possible to accidently awaken it during yoga or traditional meditation?

    This is something I was told.
  • Awaken kundaini, I mean.
  • Love my yoga, and miss it mightily when I'm not able to do it.
    Yes, Mountains, I sympathise with you in that. When I was a young man, I started doing Hatha yoga for about at least an hour, every evening. Because, as a result, I felt so marvellous in body and mind, I used to say to myself, "I will never, never give up yoga". However, came a change of residence, and mountains of work to do at our new home (plus much smaller rooms), it was given up, after all.

    I remember that at one place of work (a factory), where I worked twelve-hour shifts, I used to go into the changing room (which, at that time of day, was always empty) and do some asanas there, during my half-hour break. Once, after completing an asana, I looked across the room. In the corner of this room was a dust-bin (or, as people in the USA say, a trash-can). During a split second, "I" perceived that the dust-bin was NOT a dust-bin (I can't explain what this means; this was a split-second of prajna, or something). This, I am sure, was a direct result of the yoga posture that I had been engaged in. It was a moment of "seeing". (What the dust-bin was, if it was not a dust-bin, I could not and cannot say — the thing was something beyond intellect.) Anyway, because of what happened that day, I am convinced that to do hatha yoga assists in the development of higher faculties.

    Shortly after this happened, I stopped doing yoga, and left it alone for many, many years (for the reason already stated). A year ago, in retirement I had became so very unfit, because of greatly reduced activity, that I feared that I would end up using a walking frame. It was difficult for me to walk fifty yards without feeling that I needed to hold on to some support or other. In desperation, I went to my doctor. He made an appointment for me to go to a physiotherapy clinic, saying that they would provide me with some exercises, to help my back. However, the date of the clinic was about four weeks away, and, as I have stated, I was desperate for help. I remembered that on my bookshelf were one or two books on yoga, from my younger days. I thought "If it is exercise and not medicines that I need, then why wait?" So, with great caution, I practiced just two simple asanas. This took only about fifteen minutes, if that. These were the Alternate Leg-stretch and the Locust. The sense of healing that flowed through my body and legs, when relaxing after each asana, was astonishing. Later that evening, my wife was completely staggered when I asked if she would like to go for a short walk, as I was feeling much better. I wanted to test the effectiveness of the yoga, even after only one attempt. The walk was a complete success. I was upright all the way, not feeling the need for any support at all. The next few days were even more surprising, and, on going to keep my clinic appointment, I asked to be discharged (which they did).

    I keep up with the same two exercises every evening if I am able to, and my walking and standing is now much better (though not as dramatically improved as during the first ten days or so — I don't know why this is). At night, my sleep is greatly improved since taking up yoga again. If, for any reason (like my having a cold or something), these exercises are missed, my sleep is never as sound until the exercises are resumed.

    All of the above is quite long-winded, I know, and I apologise for this. However, I feel that if the benefits of yoga were more widely published, there would not be as much physical (and possibly mental) suffering as there is. I also believe that yoga provides a good basis for mental development through meditation.

    If anyone feels like having a go at yoga, do make sure to learn what to do and not to do, and always use a pad, a mat, or something, lest injuries occur. It ought not to be rushed into, or done without knowing the risks of ignorance.
  • Awaken kundaini, I mean.
    Not sure if there are accidents. But its happened before. Theres a book called kundalini awakening which talks about various individuals and their run in with kundalini energy.
  • Can bad things come from kundalini? I have heard it is possible..?
  • Yes bad things can happen from kundalini.
    As well as good things.

    Bad things occur because one may not have the knowledge of what kundalini is and may project all sorts of negativity on the phenomena.

    Good things occur because one may have knowledge of what kundalini is and may project all sorts of positive on the phenomena.

  • So kundalini is something not to be taken lightly then I assume, something one should do under supervision maybe? Sounds a little strange to me, I have not yet researched it but it sounds like some mystical magic energy, or a way to use a certain type of energy
  • Yoga and Meditation are perfect compliments to one another. Yoga will help you ease into meditation and meditation will strengthen your yoga practice.

    Some say that yoga is not about flexibility, it is about coming to know your true human nature and heightening our ability to love and cooperate wtih others.
  • There is a tendency to separate that which is not separate. Mind and body.

    Yoga practice focuses our attention inward to see and develop harmony and balance.

  • misecmisc1misecmisc1 I am a Hindu India Veteran
    edited April 2012
    So kundalini is something not to be taken lightly then I assume, something one should do under supervision maybe? Sounds a little strange to me, I have not yet researched it but it sounds like some mystical magic energy, or a way to use a certain type of energy
    i have not practiced Kundalini awakening yoga techniques. what i have read is Kundalini awakening is no game - it is the awakening of 7 chakras or energy centers in the body. the 6th chakra is the third eye - its awakening itself will throw much light. the 7th chakra is the crown chakra - when kundalini energy flows through this 7th chakra through Sushuma nadi, then wisdom or insight arises, something like the unfolding of a thousand petalled lotus flower with each petal having some insight and in the end, it leads to the Consciousness getting merged into Universal Consciousness.

    all these are based on my theoretical reading about Kundalini awakening and i have not experienced anything in Kundalini awakening till now.

    @taiyaki - if any of the above things is incorrect, then please rectify it.
  • I've practiced Kundalini yoga for the past ten or so years. After dappling in other schools of yoga for many years before that, I found that Kundalini was the one best suited for me.

    I think it lends itself readily to Buddhist practice and meditation, too, and I find that both enhance the other.
  • AmeliaAmelia Veteran
    I am interetsed to know of how people here treat yoga if at all.
    Yoga was my foundation for spiritual practice. Now, I mainly do hatha, but in the past I was interested in Bhakti, Kriya, and Kundalini.
    But between exercise, reading, meditation, work and a six year old daughter I think I have enough on my plate. If I lived in a monastery I would probably practice it.
    It doesn't have to be a daily commitment. It just needs about ten or fifteen minutes of your exercise routine, really. Learning the sun-salutation is the best basics you can master.
    I do it occasionally, mainly just for stretching, and mainly the Sun Salutation sequence.

    http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_wkztk6BgdXA/TOmdKOOZjoI/AAAAAAAAABA/r4EMZTY5ggw/s1600/SunSalutationFinal.jpg
    I think I had a kundalini awakening a couple of times, although it might have been kensho. Both times, I was on public transportation-- the first time on a train, the second on a bus. I don't know if there is anything to that. I was very into reading about spirituality and self-help at the time, and I was staring at the passing scenery telling myself to drop all that mumbo jumbo and just pay attention to where my imagination was going in that moment, without any force. I remember feeling suddenly very giddy, like I knew myself fully in an instant, and everything was kind of funny. I very physically wanted to laugh out loud at all of us, crowded on this bus/ train, ignoring each other.
  • Thanks for your input people, from what I have read here and through conducting some research, a little step forward with kundalini yoga may be a good option. It does seem quite intense though from an outward perspective, however that will not put me off from having a good stab at it :)
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