AT ALL...- Funkybadlady

[Guest guest]

<< You see, I see bodies everywhere that

are fat and locked in position. To me, it looks like

death. But the people in those bodies seem perfectly

happy and seem to prefer being that way.

>><br><br>My question is: will those fat and stiff people

still be perfectly happy by the time they will have

reached 60 or 70 - if by then they will not have died

from a stroke/heart attack already? Or won't they wish

to have done more, when they were young still, to

turn their stiff and fat bodies into better shape, so

to avoid later dependency on medicare assistance?

<br><br>Certainly it's easier to lead a worthy and satisfying life

if the body is strong and healthy and the inner

organs are well functioning. And isn't this one of the

goals Yoga strives for: self-fulfilment? The classical

Western concept of "mens sana in corpore sano" - a

healthy mind in a healthy body - still rings as true as

ever, and finds its equivalent in yoga.<br><br>On the

issue of flexibility and backbends - what's the sense

of it all - I found some interesting reflections

worth considering in one of my favourite books on

iyengar yoga: "Yoga - The Iyengar Way", by Silva, Mira &

Shyam Mehta (it's not Astanga, but very good

nonetheless). <br><br>On flexibility:<br>"Flexiblity in the

joints is important for circulation and energy to flow

in the body healthily. Where a joint does not

straighten or cannot bend, circulation and energy are

blocked, inviting disease. Flexibility assists movement so

that the postures can be completed and their full

benefit experienced."<br><br>On the importance of

backbends:<br>"In normal life the spine degenerates with age. The

body becomes shorter and lacks vitality. Bending

backward counteracts this process. The spine remains long

and pliable and the inner organs open and stretch.

The brain is energized through being inverted*. The

mind remains alert and cheerful."<br>(* in urdhva

dhanurasana, that is.)

[Guest guest]

Hi ya!<br><br>I like the way you respond in that

you tell us your resource..very nice!<br><br>Coming

from a cardiac rehab background..I still have probs

shaking the need to really, really get my heart rate up

near a target zone. Can yoga truly do that for cardiac

conditioning?<br><br>Thanks,<br>Robin M.