asanas

[Guest guest]

Hi,

 

I am teaching beginning KY classes under supervision. Here in Western Colorado,

the students tend to be older, and perhaps less physically fit, than was true

for my supervisor when he taught in Southern California. We are finding that

many of the new students have extreme difficulty with some of the

asanas--particularly with the shoulder stand, the bow and (naturally) the

rocking bow. My supervisor tends to persevere with the asanas. I am thinking

that there might be value in introducing these students to some transitional

asanas which would increase both the flexibility and the strength that are

required for success in these positions.

 

Any opinions/suggestions?

 

Gary Whitlock

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Dear Gary,

 

I too have taught KY, for many years. And I find that it simply

doesn't matter whether one does asanas or not in the stimulation of K

energy. The main thing, I find, is simply to focus on the chakras, etc.

Any focus on physical strength or any other aspect, I find, in any case,

can be an unncessary obstacle and distraction.

 

warm

love

~*~

sky

[Guest guest]

Dear Gary,

 

My supervisor tends to persevere with the asanas. I am thinking that there

might be value in introducing these students to some transitional asanas

which would increase both the flexibility and the strength that are required

for success in these positions.

 

If they want to do these exercises then it is beneficial in fact important

to work up to doing them. The instructional exercises can be done as warm

ups. It can be disruptive to try to teach how to do them in the middle of

the sets since KY works on building energy through activation, not through

strength and technique.

 

I am finding the same thing and I use a combination of helping the students

get stronger and avoiding the excercises that are way too difficult.

Frankly, I will not teach shoulder stand. It takes too much to do it

correctly and can cause problems.

 

Sat Nam,

 

Gururattan Kaur

 

>

> Any opinions/suggestions?

>

> Gary Whitlock

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

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[Guest guest]

Dear Gururattan Kaur,

 

Thank you for your input. As I mentioned in my emailing, my teacher has

experience in Southern California. There, his classes were generally in

their twenties or thirties; here, in their forties to sixties+. He is

coming to the position that, if a person is over fifty and hasn't previously

done the shoulder stand, it is probably better that he/she avoid it because

of age-related changes to the neck. Then again, being a chiropractor, maybe

he should emphasize it !-).

 

I like the idea of instructional exercises as warmups to the asanas.

Heeding Yogi Bhajan's statement that a class should not exceed an hour of

total exercise, would you include the warmups in that total, or are you

suggesting that the warmups take the place of the asanas entirely until a

desired level of strength and flexibility have been reached?

 

Sat Nam,

 

Gary Whitlock

[Guest guest]

> Heeding Yogi Bhajan's statement that a class should not exceed an hour of

total exercise, would you include the warmups in that total, or are you

suggesting that the warmups take the place of the asanas entirely until a

> desired level of strength and flexibility have been reached?

 

I suggest doing some warm ups to build up strength and then do a KY set.

These should probably all be in about an hour, perhaps a bit more is ok if

the warm ups take a long time to explain and practice. In the later case

the warm up are really hatha yoga getting ready for KY.

 

Sat Nam,

 

Gururattan Kaur

 

>

> Sat Nam,

>

> Gary Whitlock

>

>

>

>

> "OUR DESTINY IS TO BE HAPPY"

> - Yogi Bhajan

>

> You can UNSUBSCRIBE from this list at the eGroups Member Center (My

Groups), or send mail to

> Kundaliniyoga-

> NO UNSUBSCRIBE REQUESTS TO THE LIST PLEASE!

> WEB SITE: kundalini yoga

>

> KUNDALINI YOGA ON-LINE TRAINING. Details from

> kundalini yogaclasses.html

>

> Sponsored by YOGA TECHNOLOGY - Popular publishers since 1988 of books on

Kundalini Yoga and Meditation.

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

satnam.

i hope that i may be of some help....i found that in my beginnings, i was

quite unsure of my positioning and in that would lose my balance and even

lack stamina.

fortunately most of that balance and stamina that we all need is within the

mind.

try to just have your students practice stillness to enhance there

inerstrength.

they subtle control over the nervous system, to stop those muscular "shivies".

i also find that for the sholder stand, it can be quite useful to have a

chair to support the back....

curl up onto your back with your knees tucked into your chest.

have the chair facing you with your hands at the near bottom of the front

legs.

as you slowly get up onto your sholders bring the chair into your lower back

as a suport.once you pull it in keep your hands near the seat of the chair.

don't give it too much weight

when it is time you let go of the pose....simply and of course slowly push

the chair aside and role vertebra by vertebra onto the floor.

then i go into corpse pose.

hope it helps, IM not sure how convenient it is for a class but it works at

home just fine.

love Joe