15 minute yoga!!!!!!!

[Guest guest]

Missy Pinky is aghast and agog. So let me figure

this out. If one only spends 15 minutes a day doing

yoga then one has so much more time for going on chat

boards, gossiping, drinking wine (beer, champagne as you

will), watching t.v., thinking and feeling and reacting

as one always does. If one spends exactly 15 full

minutes a day on yoga than ones mind would change... not

at all! It could stay...ummm excatly the same. So

why bother with 15 minutes? Missy is going to write

her own book -3 Minute Yoga. It will be available on

Amazon too and shipping will be very cheap because the

book is only a few pages long. But I'm sure it will be

a big seller for such a little tome. Perhaps I'll

title it 9 Ways to Practice 5 Postures in 3 Minutes for

6 Days. And I'll subtitle it Samadhi Can Be Yours

in a Mere 532 Lifetimes!!!<br>The reason to dedicate

time to daily Yoga practice is to change our mind or

rather to have revealed to us the true nature of our

self. In other words to be truly happy and less

dependant on all the stuff (ie those fun lil' urban drugs

that are so not a particular problem). With yoga, one

can move from a materialist world view to a spiritual

one. This, my friends, is also the reason to follow a

tradtional system because it is a proven method. If every

Dick, Thom and Bery creates their own system it will

reflect that individual's limitations which in turn will

limit their students' potential. <br>It may be called

yoga, it may be fun, it may be inspiring, it may only

take 15 minutes but beware - that does not mean it is

yoga.<br>Yes, missy pinky is a devotee of Sri Jois's Ashtanga

Yoga System and this is, after all, the ashtanga yoga

club.<br>Big Hugs from a Small Gal Over Many Time Zones, m.p.

[Guest guest]

"If one spends exactly 15 full minutes a day on

yoga than ones mind would change... not at all! It

could stay...ummm excatly the same. So why bother with

15 minutes? "<br><br>I disagree. I understand you

are saying that a superficial practice benefits no

one. True, but it's not always all-or-nothing. If my

mother wanted to learn yoga, she sure wouldn't be

spending the time or energy to do 2 hours of ashtanga. I'd

rather see her focus and enjoy herself in a 15 min.

practice than do nothing at all. But that's just

me.<br><br>Anyway, a well spent 15 minutes can lead to the spiritual

growth to which you refer. Some people need an extended

time or a slower pace to cultivate the desire to delve

deeper. There's no race and no one right way.<br><br>I

don't cheat or cut corners in my own personal practice,

and I still have time for the goofing off to which

you refer. Live and let live. But I would never tell

anyone "'why bother' doing yoga if all you can do is 15

minutes." It wouldn't sound quite right.<br><br>I'm curious

to know why you feel this way and why you feel a

person not dedicated to your particular view of yoga

cannot "change their mind" or understand the "true

nature of the self." I assume that exempt from this are

the thousands of people who meditate or use other

systems besides ashtanga (who might do 15 minutes of yoga

as well) to achieve these goals.

[Guest guest]

i must have missed the lead in to the 15 minute

yoga thread. "So why bother with 15 minutes?" well,

sometimes that is all a person has. rather than

chastizement, i prefer the helpful tone give by SPW (yes that's

right) in post 2371--his best that i can find. some some

previous postings about abbreviated practice sessions on

this board:<br><br>message 3366: <<A standard

practice for limited time sessions is to begin with 5

suryanamaskara A and 3 B, standing poses through

pasichamottanasana and then skip ahead to sarvangasana (shoulder

stand) through to the finishing poses. This is not

daunting regardless of the hour. All the best with

it>> <br>message 2203: in reference to practicing when

ill <<3 As 3bs and sit in padmasana and take

rest.<br>David Williams claims to have never missed a day of

practice in over 30 years using the minimum<br>even when

very ill. Try it. ESPW >><br>message 2371:

<<If I am ill, I do the Minimum>>...<<If

your practice is a priority, you can almost always

make time for it. Just try to practice every day.

Really, that is the most important thing. Honest. DYPAAIC

ESPW>>

[Guest guest]

I assume you are referring to my post on

Godfrey's newest book (msg#3410). I don't think Godfrey was

intending to try to convince any serious ashtanga yoga

practicioners that they just need to practice for 15 minutes a

day. The book is intended for beginners. Some people

are motivated to jump right in to practicing 2 hours

a day. Others may take time, practicing a few

minutes a day or a few days a week at first. Many people

have little or no interest (or need) in practicing

yoga at all. But if someone is drawn to yoga and they

know they can start a practice with 15 minutes a day,

that is not too intimidating. Everyone starts

somewhere and not everyone starts at the same place. And

you can make a lot of changes with 15 minutes a day.

That could be enough salutations to work up a sweat.

In my post I pointed out that this is not strictly

an Ashtanga book, that it is aimed at beginners and

that most Ashtanga yogis would not have much interest

in the 15-minute routines. I wanted to mention this

book here mainly because of the great amount of useful

and inspiring<br>information it contains for anyone

practicing any kind of yoga. If you live near a large

bookstore, maybe you can check it out. The section at the

end on choosing a yoga teacher is very

interesting.<br><br>Anyway, that's that's the story on that. Myself, I aim

for quite a lot more than 15 minutes a day, the more

the better.<br><br>And for your furthur

entertainment:<br><br>Perhaps I shouldn't even mention this one, but I've been

reading a book called "The Complete Idiot's Guide to

Power Yoga" by Geo Takoma. Go ahead and laugh, I

laughed too. But I figured, well I'm a complete idiot and

I'm looking for any clues on how to fix this skeleton

and yoga seems to be the best thing so far and here's

a 400-page book by an ex-marine yoga master, so

let's have a look. I'm not saying I recommend this

book, but I'm glad I came across it (and I thought

you'd want to know about it). And if you think the

title is funny, don't even open this one, it might be

too funny.<br><br>I'm going to bed now..........

[Guest guest]

In the course of a long and stressful day in the

operating room or night on duty I usually have several 15

minute breaks. I have made up several short routines

that help me chill out and regain some equanimity as

well as stretch my neck, back and legs which ache from

standing in one place at the OR table during long cases. I

usually do these short 15 minute practices in the quiet

back hallway - and I do them whether or not I've done

a full practice that day and find them very helpful

physically and mentally. 15 minute yoga is an adjunct, not a

replacement! Once I started this last year I couldn't go back

to sitting around drinking coffee, reading the

newspaper or watching someting dumb on tv again.

[Guest guest]

I wasn't going to enter into the "15 minute"

debate, however the events leading up to my reply are too

ironic, I would be remiss not to share.<br> I just

attended a very informal talk with guruji at his apartment

here in Sydney. There were about 15 of us there, I'm

still not sure how I got invited.<br> One of the

questions that came up was how to maintain a regular

practice while living a hectic "western" lifestyle. The

woman who asked was a nurse who works incredibly long

and irregular hours. Guruji suggested that she try to

practice 15 minutes a day!!! He said what was important

was that she gets the practice in everyday and if she

can only practice 15 minutes while working that was

better than nothing. He then added "maybe 30 minutes

better". He suggested for an abbreviated practice to do 5

suryanamaskara A and 5 B, standing poses through

pasichamottanasana and then skip ahead to sarvangasana (shoulder

stand) through to the finishing poses. This is probably

a bit longer than 15 minutes, but just interesting

that guruji wasn't nearly as rigid as some diehards.

He didn't promise he just said to practice

everyday--period. <br> He said never practice twice in one day. It

builds excess heat in the body. <br> Some questions were

posed about people teaching his method with

modifications--"who is teaching that?" He said if you modify, its not

the method he teaches and not ashtanga. He said he is

going to start having a teacher training starting next

year, but "very hard teacher training"--chuckle,

chuckle. <br> Just some info I wanted to share with all of

you. If I can manage to get invited to another one of

these informal sittings I'll write more.<br>Leigh

[Guest guest]

namaste-<br>Thank you SO much for sharing this

information. I have long been struggling with whether to

practice 2 times in a day, and I'm very glad to get that

one finally cleared up. It's wonderful that you had a

chance to be part of that small group. Please share

more!

[Guest guest]

We live in a quaker instant-oatmeal,

gimme-instant-gratification-society. Many people are looking for the quickest

and

easiest way to get to the top, which may be samadhi for

some or a more shapely ass for others. To these

individuals a 15 minute routine is great: they may see it as

a way to sidestep the committment to 90 mins. of

daily practice and still reap the fruits of ashtanga. I

think this is where missy p's beef with the short

routines is coming from. They may be misinterpreted as a

green light to slackers who think they can get the

benefits with less effort. Obviously, to someone who is

just too busy to fit in a full routine but has a love

for the path, these short forms are a great blessing.

IMO they are usefull since a little yoga is always

better than none. However, I hope people will not read

short-form as short-cut. Why not put in the extra time for

physical, psychological and spiritual development? These

should be among everyone's top priorities.

<br><br>Leighbaz, thanks for the great information

[Guest guest]

leigh, thanks for sharing the wisdom on this "15

min. yoga" topic from the source: the guru's own

mouth.<br><br>has missy read Guy's book or was she criticising it

based on title alone?<br><br>Does anyone know if there

is a psychological basis to referring to one's self

in the third person?

[Guest guest]

<Does anyone know if there is a psychological

basis to referring to one's self in the third

person?><br><br>I believe there is. It seems to me that the

internal dialog I use to help make sense of the world

shapes that very sense that I have. Thus, in my internal

dialog when I constantly refer to "I this", and "I

that", it makes it seem that the I (ego) really does

exists. In using the self inquiry, "Who am I", one

investigates the reality of I. Sometimes after a long

meditation, when there is much disidentification with I, it

seems to make more sense to use the third person,

because going back to using I seems to bring on the

identification with a personal I. Krishnamurti used the third

person a lot. It can be a rather affected way of

speaking, however.

[Guest guest]

Regarding the 15 min/day question. If you believe

that there is something to get out of doing yoga, then

I guess you have set the context from which these

kind of questions arise. 15 min/day vs. 120 min/day.

once/day vs. twice/day. There is no end to it. However, if

you do yoga only for the love of it, these questions

do not arise. You just do. <br><br>Regarding the

"Power Yoga" book. You are right. Its fun to read and I

am doubly a complete idiot, so I have my copy.

[Guest guest]

It's funny to consider . . . when discursive

thinking takes the form of having a conversation with

yourself, it's as if you're trying to create the illusion

of a double-self. Or as the Buddhists and advaitist

would put it, the creation of a self,

period.<br><br>What's really interesting is *why* we create this

illusion...

[Guest guest]

<What's really interesting is *why* we create

this illusion...><br><br>I'm not sure having the

answer to that is meaningful. When there is a thorough

seeing of *how* this illusion is created, the illusion

disolves, or more accurately, when there is a thorough

seeing of the illusion appearing, it disolves.

[Guest guest]

I agree with you about doubting the

meaningfulness of "how." Yet, I've found that deeply delving

into the question of the how and why of this existence

-- what IS this place? Why are we here? -- can be as

effective a mind-stopper as any yogic practice!<br><br>Life

is an utterly mysterious, luminous Wonder.

[Guest guest]

"Life is an utterly mysterious, luminous Wonder"<br><br>too bloody right mate!