Most people will tell you that Yoga is something spiritual, special even exotic. It may be!!
NOTE: I'm NOT a yoga teacher. I'm more self-taught from books. I've experimented on my own to come to these conclusions. If you're interested read on.
This is a more pragmatic and working approach to the physical and associated mental relaxation achieveable from (ir)regular and (ir)reverent practise :-)
For the last 10-15 years I've been practising some asanas and actually worked on integrating it into my life more than increasing the repertoire of asanas. I've tried to find a small core of exercises which help me keep flexible and supple with the minimum of resistance, time and effort.
I find that the more you become rigid in the 'doing' of these 'flexibility' exercises the more likely it is that you'll become an all-or-nothing person. More likely nothing than all!!
People have all kinds of arbitrary, illogical, unthought-out objections, rules, 'prathaas' which end up destroying their one chance of keeping the practise of yoga in their daily lives.
Yoga is not special!! Make an asana a part of your life. Do it while watching TV, reading the paper, listening to music ie do Not view it as a special activity. Do you consider brushing your teeth as special? Most probably not. Well so is an asana. Its just something you do. The less you notice that you're doing something special the more likely that you'll continue to do it.
A good way to do a Padmasana is to start sitting cross-legged on the floor instead of sitting on a chair. Big deal!! My whole family tree has been doing that since centuries.
Be like the Cat!! Look at a cat. When it wakes up it stretches... It's not making a song-and-dance about Hindu Heritage and culture and Yogis and spiritualism and the whole shebang.... It does the stretch and moves on. Period. But while doing it, it enjoys the experience of a goooood stretch.
Observe the feeling when you get up from a cramped day at the office. Notice the difference after the stretch. You're undoing the crampedness of your office with the stretch.
Simplify: There are very few prerequisites for doing asanas. Yoga is minimalistic. It requires no special equipment, timings, or groups to do it. I regularly do asanas while travelling in a train! I'm up there on the top while doing a padmasana or vajrasana. You can do a 'Uddiyaan-Bandha'-like exercise while pissing!! It helps to remove gas and reduces pressure on your bladder!! Helps in avoiding urinary stones. Its just a practical thing.
Timing:
Don't bother with timings, I never do!! Doing something at 4 'o clock is the best time according to the shastras or something!! Known as the 'Brahma-muhoorta' it is the hour when your mind is at it's most relaxed and aware. However "The Best is the enemy of the Good"!!.
Most of us will not achieve the Apex of most things that we do (at least not in more than one field) We can only be the best in some thing. Choose your goal. If you want to be the best at Physics save your mental energy for that. Be good in the rest of the things you do!!
I normally do my asanas before going to sleep or in the evenings!! The body has become quite flexible by that time. Most Mornings its quite stiff, at least for the first 20 minutes or so. Why bother!! I get good sleep this way.
There are times when I've remembered that I've got to do my asanas at 3 'o clock at night.
I did them for 30 minutes or so and fell right back to a deep sleep. At other times I just went right back to sleep and didn't do the asanas for weeks-on-end.
Duration:
Some days are better than others. Deal with it!! Enjoy the good days and move on!! There'll be days when the simplest asana is not easy. There's always tomorrow. 20 Minutes of light stretching is good enough. On good days 1 or 2 hours may feel worth it. Be flexible in your approach.
Breaks :
There have been breaks in my practise for months on end. Big Deal!! There's so many people who've never even done a Padmasana. I continue my asanas when I feel like it!! It also seems to give the brain a chance to differentiate between the cramped feeling induced by laziness versus the relaxed floating feeling of the asanas. Enjoy the feeling!!
Perfection:
So many asanas in so much time!! Don't bother. Pick a set of asanas which give you the opposite twist if you want to. It's not mandatory. The sages are not riled up 'coz you didn't follow up the Halasana with the Bhujangasana. Do what you're comfortable with. Don't make silly rules which you can't fulfill anyway. Aim Low!! you're not competing with Bharat Thakur or the Iyengar Sisters!! ;-)
Understanding:
What is the effect of an asana on your muscles, and state of mind. It is easy to observe the feeling of relaxation following a good piss!! All kinds of muscles in the body and mind have tautened for a long time and finally found release... The same thing applies to asanas.
Meals : Most people don't do Yoga 'coz "I've just had a meal!!" "You've got to maintain a gap of 3 hrs or at least 1hr between asanas and meals" BullShit!! for two!!
There are 2-3 reasons why a gap is 'recommended'
1) There are some asanas like Paschimottanasan which put a squeeze the stomach. Well!! Don't do this immediately after the meal. Use your brain!!
2) There are some asanas like Vajrasana or Even Padmasana which divert blood from legs to the rest of the body. These are recommended after a meal as the stomach is able to digest food faster. Also these asanas will activate your intestines. Go to the toilet and relieve yourself. It'll help keep the body clean!!
3) Even asanas like Paschimottanasan Can be done following the relieving Vajrasana. If it feels uncomfortable back off, go to the toilet or fart or something to relieve the uncomfortableness.
Something like one hour down the line it's ok to do this asana. Anyway most obsese/fat people find it difficult to do this asana!! so Big Deal!!. If you're young and flexible enough it should not matter so much.
4) Your stomach is an acid-filled pouch which partially digests the food. It then passes it on to the lower small intestine. More digestion goes on with absorption. The large intestine is responsible for holding the crap!! Due to certain bad-habits people get constipated.
The effect of a)Gravity b) Leaning/Hunching forward c) Wearing belts or tight clothes d) Being Fat and constipated. This leads to Hernia where the intestines are forced out of their cavity to the outside. PAIN follows!! There is a way to counter act these bad-habits.
a) Drink more water.
b) Eat a good mix of soft and hard fiber. Soft fiber allows moisture to remain in the feaces and hard fiber aereates them. This allows for smooth bowel movement. People are not afraid of eating 4-6 times a day (snacks and all) but going to the toilet the same no. of times scares the shit out of them!! :D
Crunchy Apples, Sprouts, Chana, Salads, Carrots, Soya chunks (Nutrela) are a good source of hard fiber.
c) Most important give an opposite pull up on your intestines/bowels by
1) Exhaling strongly followed by pulling in your stomach towards your solar plexus.
2) Hold this for a few seconds. If you're constipated do this slowly over time.
3) You can pull your intestines up bit by bit. At some point they will reach the limit of pulling up.
You're creating a vacuum to pull up the intestines. This will make the intestines stick to the walls of their surroundings and give a strong/gentle squeeze to them. If you hold for too long the intestines may draw up more than necessary resulting in a cramp-like state. Just relax and inhale slowly to reduce the vacuum.
4) Don't forget to Inhale slowly and release the intestines back to their original position.
This in a way counter acts the effects of gravity and other assorted bad habits.
If you're too constipated. Drink a few glasses of water. Do Bhoo-namana Vajrasan (ie namaaz position). This will squeeze out the crap!! :-) Fart a few times to relieve the pressure.
Get someone to gently massage the belt area around the navel. There is a pressure point 3 fingers directly below your navel. Press this point a few times. This will help in releasing any gas.
Go to the toilet a few times.
Observe your breathing:
Count backwards from 100 to 1 or 50 to 1 (with each breath)...
This will distract your logical left brain and bore it into sleeping. By observing the breath you automatically slow it down. As the breathing rate slows down so does the counting rate which results in the left brain being forced to cope with boredom in between counts. You'll lose track of time and may lose track of the count. Congrats!! You've achieved relaxation!!This gives your right brain a chance to express itself. Creativity and calmness follow. Your heart rate is closely linked with your breathing rate. This slows down the heart rate. The knotted muscles in your stomach release and start frilling up and down with each inhale and exhale.
NOTE: I'm NOT a yoga teacher. I'm more self-taught from books. I've experimented on my own to come to these conclusions. If you're interested read on.
This is a more pragmatic and working approach to the physical and associated mental relaxation achieveable from (ir)regular and (ir)reverent practise :-)
For the last 10-15 years I've been practising some asanas and actually worked on integrating it into my life more than increasing the repertoire of asanas. I've tried to find a small core of exercises which help me keep flexible and supple with the minimum of resistance, time and effort.
I find that the more you become rigid in the 'doing' of these 'flexibility' exercises the more likely it is that you'll become an all-or-nothing person. More likely nothing than all!!
People have all kinds of arbitrary, illogical, unthought-out objections, rules, 'prathaas' which end up destroying their one chance of keeping the practise of yoga in their daily lives.
Yoga is not special!! Make an asana a part of your life. Do it while watching TV, reading the paper, listening to music ie do Not view it as a special activity. Do you consider brushing your teeth as special? Most probably not. Well so is an asana. Its just something you do. The less you notice that you're doing something special the more likely that you'll continue to do it.
A good way to do a Padmasana is to start sitting cross-legged on the floor instead of sitting on a chair. Big deal!! My whole family tree has been doing that since centuries.
Be like the Cat!! Look at a cat. When it wakes up it stretches... It's not making a song-and-dance about Hindu Heritage and culture and Yogis and spiritualism and the whole shebang.... It does the stretch and moves on. Period. But while doing it, it enjoys the experience of a goooood stretch.
Observe the feeling when you get up from a cramped day at the office. Notice the difference after the stretch. You're undoing the crampedness of your office with the stretch.
Simplify: There are very few prerequisites for doing asanas. Yoga is minimalistic. It requires no special equipment, timings, or groups to do it. I regularly do asanas while travelling in a train! I'm up there on the top while doing a padmasana or vajrasana. You can do a 'Uddiyaan-Bandha'-like exercise while pissing!! It helps to remove gas and reduces pressure on your bladder!! Helps in avoiding urinary stones. Its just a practical thing.
Timing:
Don't bother with timings, I never do!! Doing something at 4 'o clock is the best time according to the shastras or something!! Known as the 'Brahma-muhoorta' it is the hour when your mind is at it's most relaxed and aware. However "The Best is the enemy of the Good"!!.
Most of us will not achieve the Apex of most things that we do (at least not in more than one field) We can only be the best in some thing. Choose your goal. If you want to be the best at Physics save your mental energy for that. Be good in the rest of the things you do!!
I normally do my asanas before going to sleep or in the evenings!! The body has become quite flexible by that time. Most Mornings its quite stiff, at least for the first 20 minutes or so. Why bother!! I get good sleep this way.
There are times when I've remembered that I've got to do my asanas at 3 'o clock at night.
I did them for 30 minutes or so and fell right back to a deep sleep. At other times I just went right back to sleep and didn't do the asanas for weeks-on-end.
Duration:
Some days are better than others. Deal with it!! Enjoy the good days and move on!! There'll be days when the simplest asana is not easy. There's always tomorrow. 20 Minutes of light stretching is good enough. On good days 1 or 2 hours may feel worth it. Be flexible in your approach.
Breaks :
There have been breaks in my practise for months on end. Big Deal!! There's so many people who've never even done a Padmasana. I continue my asanas when I feel like it!! It also seems to give the brain a chance to differentiate between the cramped feeling induced by laziness versus the relaxed floating feeling of the asanas. Enjoy the feeling!!
Perfection:
So many asanas in so much time!! Don't bother. Pick a set of asanas which give you the opposite twist if you want to. It's not mandatory. The sages are not riled up 'coz you didn't follow up the Halasana with the Bhujangasana. Do what you're comfortable with. Don't make silly rules which you can't fulfill anyway. Aim Low!! you're not competing with Bharat Thakur or the Iyengar Sisters!! ;-)
Understanding:
What is the effect of an asana on your muscles, and state of mind. It is easy to observe the feeling of relaxation following a good piss!! All kinds of muscles in the body and mind have tautened for a long time and finally found release... The same thing applies to asanas.
Meals : Most people don't do Yoga 'coz "I've just had a meal!!" "You've got to maintain a gap of 3 hrs or at least 1hr between asanas and meals" BullShit!! for two!!
There are 2-3 reasons why a gap is 'recommended'
1) There are some asanas like Paschimottanasan which put a squeeze the stomach. Well!! Don't do this immediately after the meal. Use your brain!!
2) There are some asanas like Vajrasana or Even Padmasana which divert blood from legs to the rest of the body. These are recommended after a meal as the stomach is able to digest food faster. Also these asanas will activate your intestines. Go to the toilet and relieve yourself. It'll help keep the body clean!!
3) Even asanas like Paschimottanasan Can be done following the relieving Vajrasana. If it feels uncomfortable back off, go to the toilet or fart or something to relieve the uncomfortableness.
Something like one hour down the line it's ok to do this asana. Anyway most obsese/fat people find it difficult to do this asana!! so Big Deal!!. If you're young and flexible enough it should not matter so much.
4) Your stomach is an acid-filled pouch which partially digests the food. It then passes it on to the lower small intestine. More digestion goes on with absorption. The large intestine is responsible for holding the crap!! Due to certain bad-habits people get constipated.
The effect of a)Gravity b) Leaning/Hunching forward c) Wearing belts or tight clothes d) Being Fat and constipated. This leads to Hernia where the intestines are forced out of their cavity to the outside. PAIN follows!! There is a way to counter act these bad-habits.
a) Drink more water.
b) Eat a good mix of soft and hard fiber. Soft fiber allows moisture to remain in the feaces and hard fiber aereates them. This allows for smooth bowel movement. People are not afraid of eating 4-6 times a day (snacks and all) but going to the toilet the same no. of times scares the shit out of them!! :D
Crunchy Apples, Sprouts, Chana, Salads, Carrots, Soya chunks (Nutrela) are a good source of hard fiber.
c) Most important give an opposite pull up on your intestines/bowels by
1) Exhaling strongly followed by pulling in your stomach towards your solar plexus.
2) Hold this for a few seconds. If you're constipated do this slowly over time.
3) You can pull your intestines up bit by bit. At some point they will reach the limit of pulling up.
You're creating a vacuum to pull up the intestines. This will make the intestines stick to the walls of their surroundings and give a strong/gentle squeeze to them. If you hold for too long the intestines may draw up more than necessary resulting in a cramp-like state. Just relax and inhale slowly to reduce the vacuum.
4) Don't forget to Inhale slowly and release the intestines back to their original position.
This in a way counter acts the effects of gravity and other assorted bad habits.
If you're too constipated. Drink a few glasses of water. Do Bhoo-namana Vajrasan (ie namaaz position). This will squeeze out the crap!! :-) Fart a few times to relieve the pressure.
Get someone to gently massage the belt area around the navel. There is a pressure point 3 fingers directly below your navel. Press this point a few times. This will help in releasing any gas.
Go to the toilet a few times.
Observe your breathing:
Count backwards from 100 to 1 or 50 to 1 (with each breath)...
This will distract your logical left brain and bore it into sleeping. By observing the breath you automatically slow it down. As the breathing rate slows down so does the counting rate which results in the left brain being forced to cope with boredom in between counts. You'll lose track of time and may lose track of the count. Congrats!! You've achieved relaxation!!This gives your right brain a chance to express itself. Creativity and calmness follow. Your heart rate is closely linked with your breathing rate. This slows down the heart rate. The knotted muscles in your stomach release and start frilling up and down with each inhale and exhale.
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