practice twice a day

[Guest guest]

I have heard that is not good to practice more than once a day. Have anybody

some information about?

[Guest guest]

Joan, I read an article by Tim Miller that said when he went to Mysore he did

first series and second series both twice a day.

[Guest guest]

jeeze.. haven't mastered once a day. I'll have what you're on please.

[Guest guest]

I also would like to get a serious reply to this one, instead of all the small

talk around here. Why not twice a day???????

[Guest guest]

as far as i was told, it's not good to heat up

the body with such a vigorous (internal) practice

like asthanga vinyasa twice a day. if you want to

practice more, than do your series in full vinyasa (which

means sun salutations between each side). if you don't

practice asthanga or any other vigorous system have fun

and practice as often as you want.<br><br>om shanti

[Guest guest]

Try practicing full series twice a day, with

vinyasana! See how long you last before you burn out!

<grin><br><br>I sure can't do it, but then again I'm not a kid

anymore, and I'm not everyone. Then again, humm...maybe if

I really committed myself to practicing twice a

day, I might just get used to it...it's amazing what

we can get used to doing if we believe it's possible

and there's no other alternative. <br><br>Some folks

are human dynamos, some can practice 8 hours a

day...so are so adept and flexible that they only need

expend half the energy of the average astangi. Some try

too hard and burn out/get injured.<br><br>The happy

medium for me right now is to practice a full series

once a day, in the morning, and at night work on

various hip stretches (baddhakonasana, rajakapotasana,

hanumanasana, etc) by themselves.

[Guest guest]

I am not a yoga teacher or an advanced student,

but I might offer some ideas.<br><br>First of all, if

you are wanting to practice more and it feels OK, it

should be OK to just do it. There are stories (mentioned

here recently) of students in Mysore practicing full

series several<br>times a day. If its not a good thing

for you, you will probably find out.<br><br>If you

just think you aren't making progress fast enough,

there may be a different approach. I think some people

(those with more deep chronic muscular tension) may need

to hold postures much longer<br>than 5 breaths. You

could do full primary and hold each posture for 8 or 10

breaths. Or 20 or more or whatever seems right. You can

have a pretty lengthy session that way. Or just do

half of the series with more breaths to keep the

length down.<br><br>After attending about 600 led

classes over 4 years, I have started to feel that I

really need to hold postures much longer. It may take me

several breaths just to get into some postures. In Mysore

classes and home practice, I have been holding postures

for 10, 20 or more breaths (not necessarily counting

them) and seem to make much better progress. I have

come across the idea that in exercise science, a

stretch is not considered to be able to make a permanent

change in a muscle unless it is held for a certain

minimum time. I have heard 30 seconds and I have heard 60

seconds. 5 breaths may be 15 or 20 seconds. I have seen

PKJ on videos count to 5 in as long as 35 seconds. I

also see that he counts to 8 in most postures in some

older videos. In other schools of yoga postures are

held for a long time. I'm sure 5 breaths works for

many or maybe most people, but everyone is

different.<br><br>How did 5 breaths come to be the standard deal

for<br>led Ashtanga classes? I've heard that "it used to be

8" and before that 10 breaths. Has it just been

watered down for mass consumption? I've also heard the

idea that you don't want to pause for too long, so as

to keep up the heat. <br><br>This would be a good

topic to hear some more ideas on.

[Guest guest]

Thanks for your message, as well as for the music hints. <br>Five counts seems

too short, wouldnt it be more to ashtanga eight-limb -philospophy to count to

eight.