weight control

[Guest guest]

I envy you being able to get out into the

mountains two or three times a week. Enjoy!<br><br>I

honestly believe that if you persist with your astanga

practice, it is all your body needs. A superb level of

all-round fitness does seem to be one of the side effects

of long term, dedicated practice. <br><br>Other

forms of exercise, if you do them to a competitive

level of intensity, will have adverse effects on your

yoga. Pretty much all forms of hard aerobic exercise -

except maybe swimming - tend to stiffen the big muscles

in the legs and hips. Taking external competitive

goals seriously is also contrary to a yogic attitude of

mind.<br><br>However, I personally still do other physical activities

like mountain biking and snowboarding, at a very

casual level and because I enjoy doing them. I do them

because I enjoy the beauty of the woods and mountains,

they are exhilirating forms of movement, and I get to

hang out with my friends in far more pleasant and

healthy environments than bars and nightclubs. They

probably do tighten my body to some degree and make my

asana practice a little harder, but I think that is a

price worth paying. I don't do them with a competitive

attitude of mind or to a level of intensity that I feel

would be violent towards myself, but probably hard

enough to get some aerobic benefit. I'm having more fun

than I did with things like rock climbing and running,

which I did in my pre-yoga days with a goal-oriented,

competitve attitude. <br><br>Hip opening does come, slowly -

I have been practicing for four years and still

can't do marichy d but it will come one day. I think in

a way it's actually good to have a stubborn limit

like that - it teaches you not to get too attached to

superficial gratification from outward "progress", forces you

to turn inside. Not being able to finish first

series hasn't prevented yoga from changing my life.

[Guest guest]

I also like to think that astanga does it - it is

everything your body NATURALLY needs. <br><br>Then sometimes

I think that this is a far too easy way out, that I

am lazy since I dont SUFFER at aerobics etc anymore.

I almost feel guilty because I am not bound to

timetables, since I can practise when ever and where ever I

feel like. Do you practise and everything is suddenly

so easy and effortless...