Knees and videos!

[Guest guest]

I found this site a month or two ago and have

gradually read through all messages. Here are a few

reactions and questions.<br><br>1. Someone complained about

people not logging on - surely you only need to log on

if you want to post a message?<br><br>2. I enjoy

practising with audiocassettes but have never tried video.

Don't you find you keep having to shift round to watch

the screen? Isn't this offputting? Any

comments?<br><br>3. Many sports - e.g. squash, running - can hurt the

knees, and from a few comments I've read here, and my

own experience, yoga can too. (Although in my own

case, to be fair, I was trying to force them into lotus

long before I was ready.)<br>Are the knees an early

warning system, a design fault, or intended to reflect

previous bad habits? Or are they just the first thing to

go as you get older? A long time ago in a yoga

class, a teacher said that they are "the body's

dustbin". I wish I'd asked her for an explanation.<br>So -

are protesting knees part of the yoga process or a

sign to take it easy?<br><br>All comments

welcome.<br><br>Dave

[Guest guest]

Yoga definitely has improved and strengthened my

knees and pains associated with it....it is the running

that makes them worse. My originally was inquiring if

any other fellow club member could comment on their

experiences and movements that would further improve my

situation. <br><br>As far as videos...do videos really help

those training alone? What do you recommend?

[Guest guest]

I was the someone who noted that many people were

stopping by the club every day to see what was posted, yet

few were adding to the posts. I was only trying to

encourage everyone to join in! Since then, posting activity

has increased at least 100%.<br><br>I know what you

mean about practicing with videocassettes. I found

myself blacking out the video portion of Richard

Freeman's tape once I'd seen it several dozen times; the

image was a bit of a distraction to my attempts at

drishti.<br><br>(Which reminds me: has anyone worked with David

Swenson's audio tapes? What did you think of

them?)<br><br>Knees: Yoga's been very good to my knees, excepting my

big mistake of a few years back in trying to force

myself into lotus. I developed intense pain on the

medial knee that led me to give up yoga. I'm back to

yoga now, but am only working with half-lotus and hip

openning asanas. I'll never attempt lotus again until my

hips are sufficiently open to do it.

[Guest guest]

Richard Freeman's video was very useful to me. It

has a wealth of info, and much can be learned about

the practice through slow-mo viewing of the tape.

It's certainly a useful tool for someone new to

Astanga yoga, though I wouldn't say it's nearly as good

as working with real live people.

[Guest guest]

Ashtanga is great for the knees, after years of

chronic pain from running my knees are now pain free.

Having a qualified teacher is the best and safest way to

learn Ashtanga. A good teacher will be able to tell you

what postures your body is ready to practice, and give

you modifications for the ones you are not yet ready

to do. <br><br>Videos can help you learn subtle

things about the postures, and give you a good sense of

the rhythm and flow of a series. I couldn't imagine

practicing along with a video. The David Swenson videos are

good, so are the Patabbi Jois videos. I haven't seen

any of the others.