Guest guest Posted January 22, 2002 Report Share Posted January 22, 2002 Sanskrit chanting to "jungle physicians" and people long dead and little known.<br><br>Radical contortions that put the lower back and knee ligaments in danger.<br><br>Slavish adherence to "keeping the practice" 6 days a week.<br><br>Journeying to India to pay $500 a month for what you can learn at home.<br><br>Believing that "siddhis" will someday arise as a result of your yoga practice.<br><br>Believing that your yoga practice is anything but another way to exercise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 23, 2002 Report Share Posted January 23, 2002 You catch me in a talkative mood.<br><br>"Unnecessary: Sanskrit chanting to "jungle physicians" and people long dead and little known."<br><br>Unnecessary, perhaps. What if it is? I always thought it was cool that my teacher ommitted the chanting from the classes in his studio. The reasoning being that this makes some people uncomfortable, which it does (and that it is unnecessary). But then, I also thought it was cool to hear about the beautiful chanting at Eddie Stern's studio from a friend who visited recently. Could this be an element that makes yoga "more than exercise"? Or perhaps just part of the ritual, part of the tradition. There can be usefulness in tradition and ritual.<br><br>"Unnecessary: Radical contortions that put the lower back and knee ligaments in danger."<br><br>This may be true. And then perhaps such postures may be necessary to insure that all joints have acheived full range of motion and all tension has been removed from the musculoskeletal system. The postures may be dangerous if practiced incorrectly or prematurely. The goal of "a comfortable seat" may require a lot of work.<br><br>"Unnecessary: Slavish adherence to "keeping the practice" 6 days a week."<br><br>12 hours out of every 168 doesn't seem too radical. Perhaps it is necessary to practice daily if you want to get anywhere with it. The penalty for skipping a day? You're one day behind where you would have been. Just depends on if you're into it or not.<br><br>"Unnecessary: Journeying to India to pay $500 a month for what you can learn at home."<br><br>Never been to India and have no plans to go. Would probably agree that it is not necessary (in order to learn about Ashtanga yoga). But I'm not going to learn at home what I can from a teacher, and I trust that KPJ has some knowledge beyond the average teacher. If I was interested in going, the $500 doesn't seem too outrageous (even if it is beyond my reach). Most Amercians spend almost that much in a year just on cable TV. That ($500/month) works out to probably a little over $20 for a session with KPJ, and the price goes down the following month.<br><br>"Unnecessary: Believing that "siddhis" will someday arise as a result of your yoga<br>practice."<br><br>Sure, probably an unnecessary belief. Most Ashtangis are down to earth enough to not give much or any concern to any siddhis that may or may not develop in the future. Most serious yogis also study Patanjali's sutras and probably find them more substantial than anything we might read here.<br><br>"Unnecessary: Believing that your yoga practice is anything but another way to exercise."<br><br>Could be an unnecessary belief. One could approach yoga as purely a form of exercise. My primary interest in asana practice has been as physical therapy. But there is a lot more to asana practice than exercise or physical therapy and a lot more to yoga than asana practice. If you are open to it.<br><br>Just some thoughts....or I guess counterthoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 23, 2002 Report Share Posted January 23, 2002 Sanskrit chanting to "jungle physicians" and people long dead and little known.<br>You might consider that a superstition, or a silly ritual.<br>To me it shows a deep knowledge of the working of the human mind. Chanting (an not necessarily at the beginning of your ashtanga practice) does have an effect on the mind. <br>Pity you have decided not to do it any more...<br><br>Radical contortions that put the lower back and knee ligaments in danger.<br>No risk, no gain!<br><br>Slavish adherence to "keeping the practice" 6 days a week.<br>All classical yoga text, from the Yoga Sutras to Hatha Yoga pradipika insist on the need to practice. I would have to disagree with T Slade there, not practicing for a day put you back much more than a day. Meditators say that if you miss one day, it take a week to catch up. More like it.<br>Also, the discipline of practicing daily is unvaluable mind trainind. How else would you decide when to practice?<br><br>Journeying to India to pay $500 a month for what you can learn at home.<br>But can you learn it at home?<br><br>Believing that "siddhis" will someday arise as a result of your yoga practice.<br>Do you believe that? Know anyone who does?<br><br>Believing that your yoga practice is anything but another way to exercise. <br>Depends what you call exercises.<br>Yes, yoga practice is nothing more than a way to exercises and train body, mind and soul, if you look at it that way.<br><br>But if you don't practice yoga, what are you doing writing on this board anyway?<br><br>Cheers,<br><br>Christophe Mouze<br>Editor Yoga Online<br><a href=http://www.yogamagazine.net target=new>http://www.yogamagazine.net</a> <br>(currrently studying in Mysore, oops, I should have stayed at home...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.