To Summarise...

[Guest guest]

I've been interested in Yoga for quite some time

now and have been practising Ashtanga Yoga for a few

weeks now and have noticed a considerable difference -

more energy, flexibility, leaner muscle with less

tension, improved posture and comfort and soforth. I'd

like to become more knowledgable about hatha yoga,

although I already have my own idea of spirituality and

mediation, having adopted certain practises and aspects of

earth religions such as Shamanism.<br><br>Instead of

just saying "new member" I thought it would be better

to read through the last 50 messages or so to get

some sort of a grip on how the club works and what

strands are being discussed. It seems a shame that

everyone is attacking each other and criticising one

another for who, what or how they believe or practise

certain things.. Although.. it's human nature and spice

in a debate is good for mental stimulation..

providing it doesn't cross the line into arguing..

although, for such spiritually attuned people, I know that

isn't possible <br><br>By the way.. bonus points go

to whoever used the phrase "masturbatory

feud".<br><br>On the subject of diet.. I'd like to know why

vegetarianism seems necessary, or veganism as some people were

hinting towards. From a nutritional point of view.. it

can be damaging to omit all meat products, due to the

fact there are essential components that have to be

supplied to our diet, as they cannot be synthesised by the

body. Linoleic Acid, from animal fats... for

one.<br><br>Someone commented on the fact that certain forms should

not be changed and that we should work through the

state of boredom. As pleasant a thought of staying

loyal to something that has remained unchanged over

time, change is sometimes necessary and complimentary.

"If it ain't broke don't fix it" may be true in these

circumstances, although if something can be enhanced for

physiological, nutritional or psychological reasons, why should

that be sacrificed at the expense of not wanting

change?<br><br>It's nice to find a club where everyone interacts with

each other on a regular basis, even if moments do

become heated at times - what would life be without some

spice <br><br>Cuídate Mucho Namaste<br><br>Jon

[Guest guest]

Dude, get used to it. Some people here are cool, but the rest are pretentious,

psychotic or both.<br><br>S

[Guest guest]

Welcome to the funny farm.<br><br><I thought

it would be better to read through the last 50

messages or so to get some sort of a grip on how the club

works and what strands are being

discussed.><br><br>That's a great idea, but I would suggest read back about

1000 msgs for a better view. There are sometimes over

50 msgs a day here. And as time permits, it could be

useful to make your way back through the entire archive,

some very interesting stuff in there (and it could all

disappear someday). I find it very interesting that this

seems to be the most active online forum on the subject

of yoga.<br><br><It seems a shame that everyone

is attacking each other and criticising one

another><br><br>It is truly a shame, but there may not be as much of

that as there sometimes seems to be. One particular

person has chosen to use at least 8 identities here

mainly just to attack one other person. I don't know why

things are so crazy here, but it seems worth it, and the

more people post in good spirit, the better this

"place" can be. <br><br><I'd like to become more

knowledgable about hatha yoga.><br><br>Me too. In case it

is useful, I keep a list of yoga books

here:<br><a href=http://www.ionet.net/~tslade/yogabook.htm

target=new>http://www.ionet.net/~tslade/yogabook.htm</a><br>Mainly these are all

books on hatha yoga, including all

available books on Ashtanga yoga.<br>Also I keep a list of

yoga links

here:<br><a href=http://www.ionet.net/~tslade/yoga.htm

target=new>http://www.ionet.net/~tslade/yoga.htm</a><br><br>On the subject of

vegetarianism, here is an

interesting website:<br><a href=http://www.beyondveg.com/

target=new>http://www.beyondveg.com/</a><br>I'll

have to look into linoleic acid. My teacher used to

insist that you must be vegetarian to be a yogi but I

take some refuge in the quote from Desikachar's book,

The Heart of Yoga, recently posted here (#9098).

Probably less meat is better, but everyone has to work

this out for themselves and things change over time.

There is certainly a big difference between eating some

chicken or fish a few times a week and eating hamburgers

3 times a day.<br><br><Someone commented on the

fact that certain forms should not be changed and that

we should work through the state of

boredom><br><br>If someone wants to check out Ashtanga yoga, they

should probably "follow the rules" and work through

whatever boredom they may have. I have never found

Ashtanga yoga to be boring in the least. But I also have

found it useful to study and explore far beyond the

boundaries of pure Ashtanga yoga. <br><br><what would

life be without some spice ><br><br>What would it

indeed?

[Guest guest]

Jon, <br>To get the most help from this forum, I

would go TL one better. Instead of going back over the

last 1000 or so messages, go back and read the FIRST

1000 or so messages. There you will find the greatest

concentration of helpful postings. The last 1000 or so will

merely guide guide you thru the various spats and hissy

fits (including my own). Reading the first couple of

thousand messages will confirm for you that most ashtangis

are not hateful, intolerant, self appointed

know-it-alls. Read the last 2000 and you might well come away

with the opposite impression.

[Guest guest]

If you want one person's version (mine) of some

the more informative older messages that are worth

reading, I maintain a sort-of-index on my website

at:<br><a href=http://www.alanlittle.org/yoga/index.html

target=new>http://www.alanlittle.org/yoga/index.html</a>

[Guest guest]

<I find it very interesting that this seems to

be the most active online forum on the subject of

yoga.><br><br>Sorry Terry but I must disagree. Or have you totally

forgotten about the Ezboard Astanga Club?<br><br>Just by

looking at posting stats Ez seems to be more active:

almost 3000 posts in 7 months whereas has managed

to amass 9000 in what 3 years of existence.

<br><br>Also, the lack of internet psychodrama makes the

content over there far more valuable for those in search

of answers in ridicule's stead.<br><br>Don't get me

wrong, though. I enjoy reading this club too but for

laughs only. It's my daily 30 minutes of astanga

soap-opera.<br><br>Rechaka - puraka -

kumbaka:<br><a href=http://pub42.ezboard.com/byoga84291/

target=new>http://pub42.ezboard.com/byoga84291/</a><br><br>CynXir

[Guest guest]

Cynxir,<br><br>I enjoy reading Ezboard too, but

for laughs only. The arrogance by some of those

posting there is particularly worth of notice . And where

else would you find posts neatly ordered into a sort

of Indian caste system, which btw makes a mockery of

Indian culture? Goodbye.

[Guest guest]

Actually, I guess I did forget about EZBoard when

I said that. Thanks for the reminder - my brain is

old.<br><br>I recently typed in "yoga" in the search box for

clubs and found tons of clubs arranged in, I

think, order of how many members - and this one was at

the top. And in years of surfing the web for yoga

info I have never found anything comparable to this

club. There is a newsgroup, alt.yoga, but I haven't

found it to be too interesting. But the EZBoard

Ashtanga forum is certainly just as valuable and

interesting as this forum is. At first I didn't want to

participate there much since there is a much smaller

membership, and I maybe even thought it wasn't the best idea

to start that club and "split things up". But

EZBoard is growing and now I kind of think more like the

more forums the better. A while back I got a bit

frustrated there with all the ads and pop-up ads. It seemed

to take forever just to try to go a read a few

messages. But that seems to be better now. I volunteered to

chip in $5.00 toward the $30 that it would take to get

rid of the ads. I think it would be a good idea to

make that happen someday.<br><br>I like the people at

EZBoard (Sunshine is great!), and the nasty comments

about EZboard here have been one of the many

heartbreaking features of this forum. I have tended to post

here more just due to convenience and more membership.

I have been known to post the same msg in both

groups. There is a very good feeling at the EZboard club.

I haven't noticed the craziness there that seems to

never end here. I think one of the reasons for starting

the alternative was to be able to delete msgs if they

were deemed inappropriate, but as far as I know that

hasn't come up over there. Another reason was so there

could be just more friendly chit-chat, which a lot of

people (myself included) thought was not so appropriate

here. And the way EZBoard is setup, it works great for

allowing all kinds of off-topic posts which don't get in

the way of "on-topic" discussions. I like the way

things have been set up there.<br><br>Anyway, I didn't

mean to overlook the EZBoard forum. I have posted

"ads" for that club here in the past. <br><br><Don't

get me wrong, though. I enjoy reading this club too

but for laughs only. It's my daily 30 minutes of

astanga soap-opera.><br><br>Come on now, let's not

feed the fire. There is certainly no lack of

soap-opera entertainment value here, but there is still some

well-intentioned posting going on.<br><br>I do hope everyone here

will check out the EZBoard Ashtanga forum if you have

not already.

<br><a href=http://pub42.ezboard.com/byoga84291/

target=new>http://pub42.ezboard.com/byoga84291/</a><br>Lots of good info and

lots easier to find stuff

there.<br><br><br>Also I liked the idea of reading the first 1000 posts

instead of the last 1000. And Alan's "digest" is a cool

thing too. (I hope you keep working on

that).<br><br><br>If the yogis can't be friends, is there any hope?