how long do you hold a pose? and Spinal flexes

[Guest guest]

Hi all

I'm quite new to Kundalini yoga (I've done Hatha for around 20 years), and I

love it.

 

I'm holding asanas for around two minutes, and am finding incredible

sensations: I can feel the energy moving strongly around my body when I

release the pose. When I'm in the pose I can find places where I'm tense,

and I breathe into those places, which seems to help.

 

What's the optimum time to hold an asana?

 

Also, I love spinal flexes ---- I just enjoy doing them; my body seems

grateful for them. What are the benefits of spinal flexes?

 

Many thanks.

 

All best wishes

 

Angela

---------------

Angela Booth

Email: angela

 

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[Guest guest]

Sat Nam Angela,

 

Welcome to kundaliniyoga!

The KY philosphy is different from other yogas in more than one

way -utilizing breath, mantra, mudra and asana- and function

of a kriya (set of asanas) is stressed OVER form.

Its not that correct form is not stressed just that 'don't get

caught up in it'. If you'll notice in KY manuals, it will stress

what a kriya effects, immune system, liver, etc.. I don't know if

kundaliniyoga.org goes into that on the lessons.

 

Spinal flexes are great, do them every morning. The key to staying

young physically centers around the spine. Spinal flexes pumps or

recirculates cerebrial spinal fluid back up to the brain.

One of the stories I've heard in KY about spinal flexes, concerns

a longtime KY teacher and an original student of Yogi Bhajan, on a

trip to the middle east. He noted that the rate of spinal problems

and disease amongst the natives, who ride camels (spinal flex

motion), is virtually non-existent.

 

Hope I helped.

 

Blessings

 

Brad

[Guest guest]

Kundaliniyoga, "Angela Booth" <angela@z...> wrote:

> Hi all

> I'm quite new to Kundalini yoga (I've done Hatha for around 20

years), and I

> love it.

>

> I'm holding asanas for around two minutes, and am finding incredible

> sensations: I can feel the energy moving strongly around my body

when I

> release the pose. When I'm in the pose I can find places where I'm

tense,

> and I breathe into those places, which seems to help.

>

> What's the optimum time to hold an asana?

 

hello!

I'm a new member - but was a member a couple of years back -

returning...

 

First of all, I'm pleased to hear that someone else is doing asanas,

as it sometimes feels like everyone else is mainly doing seated

meditations.

Re your queastion about times, some of the times seem very long - e.g

hold a wheel backbend for 4 mins - but I interpret that as a long-

term thing.

Which asanas have you found wothwhile to prolong - and do you do it

as you feel, or follow the times strictly?

Namaste

Mike

[Guest guest]

Sat Nam Angela and welcome to the list.

 

I had not done any yoga prior to starting KY. But I started with the

spinal flex exercises as well. I love the way I feel after doing

them. Cobra pose and the shoulder stand/plough prose are my

favorites. As for times, I hold them for the time recommended.

Usually they start with 1 minute and go up from there. Some I hold

for 1 minute, others I hold for 2-3 minutes. My understanding is that

holding the times specified is highly recommended. So I try to stick

to them. But there are others on this board better able to articulate

why. My understanding is that certain times achieve certain effects.

I know that applies to meditation, but I believe it is also

applicable in asanas.

 

Christa

[Guest guest]

I also love how the spinal set makes me feel, when I first started, I

had asked online for alternate poses since my knees were so bad, but now

after doing the spinal set for 6 months, I can do all the poses with no

knee problems! A pleasant surprise, completely unexpected. I love

running up the stairs;-) like a kid.

 

I also do the suggested times, I began by just doing what I could and

then spent a long time at minimum required times, now I'm at the maximum

times. In the beginning holding the locks and resting after each

position was hard, I'd get into the position and forget, but now I

hardly ever forget.

 

I am now at a quandry as to which direction to go, should I stick with

the spinal set or move onto another set or do both? Sometimes I think I

can do the soinal set forever.

 

 

On Monday, June 24, 2002, at 11:09 AM, spatialagent1 wrote:

 

> I had not done any yoga prior to starting KY. But I started with the

> spinal flex exercises as well.

 

-cris

 

Cris Naugle

SpiralXdesign, Inc

http://www.spiralxdesign.com

 

Walk in Beauty

[Guest guest]

Sat Nam, welcome back Mike,

 

KY is different as I explained to Angela, the focus is on function

not form. Sounds as if you're still approaching KY from a Hatha (?)

perspective. We look at a KRIYA as a whole, in fact I don't use the

word asana that much, and rarely hear other KY teachers use it.

Thats because the focus is on the kriya as a whole. I and many

others do KY to prepare for meditation.

 

"queastion about times, some of the times seem very long" - whatever

the kriya calls for, usually in a class the times are cut...3 minute

asanas cut to 1 or 2 minutes. The philosophy is to honor the kriya,

but honor the body as well, and work up to the time if you need to.

 

"Which asanas have you found wothwhile to prolong - and do you do it

> as you feel, or follow the times strictly?"

 

As a KY teacher I can recommed several kriyas that are 'worthwhile',

Nabhi Kriya, Surya Kriya (uses alot of breathing, Sat Kriya, and

root lock)

 

If you're just holding asanas, and not following the kriya, is it KY?

 

Blessings

 

Brad