ashtanga yoga guruji

[Guest guest]

>

> I am curious. If the guy who invented asthanga

> still practices. Does

> anyone know if he does? I don't mean this to be

> offensive and

> appreciate his system, but he doesn't appear to be

> in great physical

> shape and I'm just really curious to why some yogis

> have a lot of

> extra fat and people like swenson have great bodies.

> Is this more a

> genetic thing? Im curoius if Swenson is naturally

> muscular or if

> asthanga contributed to his current shape. I know I

 

 

Genetics have a major role in the physical body.

Together with varying degrees of physical intensity in

the practice.

 

> can't get an

> absolute answer. I'm just curious about what

> practicing ashtanga

> alone will do for my body. I really appreciate

> flexibility but also

> want to look good and am getting burned out on going

> to the gym in the

> day and doing yoga at night and am really

> considering giving up my gym

> based strength training.

 

Depends on how you want to look - Arnold/Stallone or

the Swensons?! If its the former, then steroids and

iron it is. If its the latter, then regular practice

should keep you well-toned.

 

Well, most teaching practitioners practice all day

long and look toned. Whereas people with multiple jobs

have less time for practice which means they have to

practice regularly to look toned!

 

>

> I've read a lot of posts about yoga and strength and

> it almost seems

> to good to be true.

>

 

Depends on the kind of yoga - Restorative yoga won't

build strength:-) Ashtanga/Vinyasa works.

 

Gayathri.

 

 

Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently-talented fool -- Anonymous

 

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Guruji as far as I know has not practiced asana since the death of his son

(correct me if I am wrong) though for heaven's sake, he is 90 years old and

still travels and leads workshops all around the world!! Most people I know

who practice ashtanga become very lean and strong, but please remember that the

real reason for yoga is to prepare the body for meditation. But if wanting a

great body is what gets you into yoga in the first place so that you eventually

come to meditation, so be it as everyone starts somewhere.

[Guest guest]

John,

I can't answer all your questions but I do know

that practicing yoga involves all eight limbs of the

Ashtanga system. Of which asana is just one. After

all we practice yoga to become free of our bodies not

enslaved by them. Also, if we truley are a yogi/yogini

we never stop practicing especially when we are off

the mat. However,I have been told that Guruji does

not practice asana any longer, he IS 90 years old.

However he rises very early in the a.m. (before he

teaches Mysore classes) to practice the subtler parts

of yoga. Hopes this helps.

--- John de la Garza <john wrote:

>

>

> I am curious. If the guy who invented asthanga

> still practices. Does

> anyone know if he does? I don't mean this to be

> offensive and

> appreciate his system, but he doesn't appear to be

> in great physical

> shape and I'm just really curious to why some yogis

> have a lot of

> extra fat and people like swenson have great bodies.

> Is this more a

> genetic thing? Im curoius if Swenson is naturally

> muscular or if

> asthanga contributed to his current shape. I know I

> can't get an

> absolute answer. I'm just curious about what

> practicing ashtanga

> alone will do for my body. I really appreciate

> flexibility but also

> want to look good and am getting burned out on going

> to the gym in the

> day and doing yoga at night and am really

> considering giving up my gym

> based strength training.

>

> I've read a lot of posts about yoga and strength and

> it almost seems

> to good to be true.

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

John,

I know what you mean... I notice this too, but I don't know if Guruji practices

or not.

 

Speaking from experiance though... When I was in high school, I played soccer &

got slide tackeled & blew my knee out & had arthriscopic surgery... a couple

years later when I was in college, I took a class in raquetball because everyone

was doing it... needless to say, blew the same knee out again, had more surgery

(artheriscopic & lateral release-they had to open my knee up & shave off some of

the bone under knee cap so it could "glide" better because that time I did it

good) I was in a wheelchair for a short time after that.

 

That was about 10 yrs ago, not until I met my husband in '98 is when yoga

entered my life... he introduced me to it & I was hooked... so much so I am now

a yoga instructor. I was trained in Hatha, but practice ashtanga & incorporate

that in some of my classes. After I got married, I did gain weight, but not

until recently, with my daily practice & teaching is everything coming together.

I am a size 12/14 (which is on the larger end of average).

 

Just from me doing a daily ashtanga practice, as well as teaching, my body has

changed dramaticaly & I don't work out at a gym. My muscles are far stronger

than what any weight machine could have given me, my lungs are also far stronger

& my flexibility is fantastic & I credit this all to ashtanga yoga... I hope

this helps you.

 

Namaste,

Maureen

[Guest guest]

Anna,

 

Ashtanga is not invented by Mr Jois of mysore. Though

he is a world famous teacher (little known in India)

in ashtanga, I was told that he teaches only asanas.

 

Lot of people have mistaken ashtanga to asnas.

 

this from mysorru.com page

 

Yoga advocates an eight-fold path to achieve final

liberation from pain and suffering, called Ashtanga

Yoga. The eight steps are: yama or disciplined

behavior, niyama or self purification, asana or Bodily

postures, pranayama or control of breathing,

pratyahara or control of the senses, dharana or

concentration of the mind on a chosen object, dhyana

or meditation and Samaadhi Means concentration . The

final step in Yoga.

 

Hope this helps

 

Kiran Kumar

gokulam, Mysore

 

 

 

 

--- ANNA APPLEBAUM <annaapplebaum wrote:

>

> John,

> I can't answer all your questions but I do know

> that practicing yoga involves all eight limbs of the

> Ashtanga system. Of which asana is just one. After

> all we practice yoga to become free of our bodies

> not

> enslaved by them. Also, if we truley are a

> yogi/yogini

> we never stop practicing especially when we are off

> the mat. However,I have been told that Guruji does

> not practice asana any longer, he IS 90 years old.

> However he rises very early in the a.m. (before he

> teaches Mysore classes) to practice the subtler

> parts

> of yoga. Hopes this helps.

> --- John de la Garza <john wrote:

> >

> >

> > I am curious. If the guy who invented asthanga

> > still practices. Does

> > anyone know if he does? I don't mean this to be

> > offensive and

> > appreciate his system, but he doesn't appear to be

> > in great physical

> > shape and I'm just really curious to why some

> yogis

> > have a lot of

> > extra fat and people like swenson have great

> bodies.

> > Is this more a

> > genetic thing? Im curoius if Swenson is naturally

> > muscular or if

> > asthanga contributed to his current shape. I know

> I

> > can't get an

> > absolute answer. I'm just curious about what

> > practicing ashtanga

> > alone will do for my body. I really appreciate

> > flexibility but also

> > want to look good and am getting burned out on

> going

> > to the gym in the

> > day and doing yoga at night and am really

> > considering giving up my gym

> > based strength training.

> >

> > I've read a lot of posts about yoga and strength

> and

> > it almost seems

> > to good to be true.

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Hi John,

In my experience, lifting weights certainly doesn't have a negative effect on

your yoga practice. I started studying yoga in France 4 years ago. The

practice I did was more Iyengar than anything and did not really help me stay in

shape. I gained quite a bit of weight and got very flabby and weak from

inactivity while over there. When I came back, I began to lift weights in order

to get back in shape. About the same time, I started taking an Ashtanga class.

I am quite certain that I would not have advanced as quickly as I did if I

hadn't been doing the strength training as well. In the beginning the two

really complimented each other. But I am speaking from a female point of view.

So, I'm not sure if the combination of the two would be helpful for men who are

already stronger. For about a year now, I've stopped weight training, bc I

found that Ashtanga was enough to maintain and advance my physical condition.

But the jump-start was very helpful. --ro

[Guest guest]

I actually got interested in yoga through weight lifting. I got

sick of the gym, and started studying a russian personal trainer

named Pavel who recommended weightlifters use kettlebells. If you

check out kettlebell training, it is a bit like yoga with weights.

But what happened is I soon started doing yoga and found it to be so

dynamic, and challenging and strength oriented that I lost interest

in the kettlebells.

 

 

ashtanga yoga, "Rochelle Keesler"

<nouvellerochelle> wrote:

>

> Hi John,

> In my experience, lifting weights certainly doesn't have a

negative effect on your yoga practice. I started studying yoga in

France 4 years ago. The practice I did was more Iyengar than

anything and did not really help me stay in shape. I gained quite a

bit of weight and got very flabby and weak from inactivity while

over there. When I came back, I began to lift weights in order to

get back in shape. About the same time, I started taking an

Ashtanga class. I am quite certain that I would not have advanced

as quickly as I did if I hadn't been doing the strength training as

well. In the beginning the two really complimented each other. But

I am speaking from a female point of view. So, I'm not sure if the

combination of the two would be helpful for men who are already

stronger. For about a year now, I've stopped weight training, bc I

found that Ashtanga was enough to maintain and advance my physical

condition. But the jump-start was very helpful. --ro

[Guest guest]

Hi Maureen,

 

I had an arthriscopic surgery on my left knee 10 years ago. The

doctor told me that I would never quit weight lifting because I had

to have a very strong thigh. I never liked it, so I started swimming.

Until about an year ago when I went to my first class of Ashtanga

Yoga, and found myself there!

 

I´ve been practicing for 13 months now, but I started to feel my

knees again. I have to skip the jumps, sometimes I cannot stay on the

asanas, and some postures I was able to do now I can´t because of my

knees.

 

Did you have any problems when you first started yoga? How did you

deal with it?

 

I know that I can´t give up, and that this is something I have to go

through to realy get to know myself, my body and my limits. But after

this stated, I sometimes cry a lot at the end of the series when I´m

at the corpse posture.

 

Any words would help.

 

Namaste

 

Anis

 

ashtanga yoga, Maureen Lauer <mlauer93>

wrote:

>

> John,

> I know what you mean... I notice this too, but I don't know if

Guruji practices or not.

>

> Speaking from experiance though... When I was in high school, I

played soccer & got slide tackeled & blew my knee out & had

arthriscopic surgery... a couple years later when I was in college, I

took a class in raquetball because everyone was doing it... needless

to say, blew the same knee out again, had more surgery (artheriscopic

& lateral release-they had to open my knee up & shave off some of the

bone under knee cap so it could "glide" better because that time I

did it good) I was in a wheelchair for a short time after that.

>

> That was about 10 yrs ago, not until I met my husband in '98 is

when yoga entered my life... he introduced me to it & I was hooked...

so much so I am now a yoga instructor. I was trained in Hatha, but

practice ashtanga & incorporate that in some of my classes. After I

got married, I did gain weight, but not until recently, with my daily

practice & teaching is everything coming together. I am a size 12/14

(which is on the larger end of average).

>

> Just from me doing a daily ashtanga practice, as well as teaching,

my body has changed dramaticaly & I don't work out at a gym. My

muscles are far stronger than what any weight machine could have

given me, my lungs are also far stronger & my flexibility is

fantastic & I credit this all to ashtanga yoga... I hope this helps

you.

>

> Namaste,

> Maureen