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Nasasaya
USA
3 Posts |
 Posted - May 19 2013 : 2:41:50 PM
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Does the Booklet on Asanas give definite instructions for increasing the flexibility of ones body to eventually be able to sit in full Lotus and do other Asanas in perfect posture, or is it mainly focused on showing different Asanas that allow for the most prana 'conductivity', or what? I haven't read that book yet.
I want to be able to Sit in full Lotus without back pain, and to do forward bends touching my belly to my thighs and chin to my shins. I need a well-rounded yoga practice so that i can sit comfortably in meditation on the flat ground for long periods of time.
Does anyone know of any manuals that i could read to learn to transform my posture and flexibility persistently over time. I don't really believe in Bikram Yoga it sounds too invasive. and I've been called to Ashtanga Yoga, but i would rather not have to travel somewhere to find a good teacher. |
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Etherfish
USA
3615 Posts |
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machart
USA
342 Posts |
Posted - May 19 2013 : 7:48:27 PM
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Welcome to the forums nasasaya!....I recommend Erich Shiffmanns books and videos .... His video on lotus helped me tremendously...
I'm über flexible now....my advice is take it slow ...never push to where it hurts...but a little discomfort can be a good thing... |
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Victor
USA
910 Posts |
Posted - May 20 2013 : 01:25:27 AM
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| Iyengar style yoga is in my opinion the most intelligent and sophisticated system for mastering asana. This also includes a number of his students who have gone on to start their own systems. |
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BillinL.A.
USA
375 Posts |
Posted - May 20 2013 : 12:44:02 PM
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Thanks Machart for the recommendation.
I've been looking for a good asana book.
Erich Shiffmann's "Yoga The Spirit And Practice Of Moving Into Stillness" has about the best reviews I've ever seen on Amazon for any product.
Just bought the Kindle version for my desktop pc and will start working on some of my posture kinks.
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HathaTeacher
Sweden
382 Posts |
Posted - May 21 2013 : 09:35:56 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Victor
Iyengar style yoga is in my opinion the most intelligent and sophisticated system for mastering asana.
Iyengar is very precise, and even people practicing other systems learn faster when they leverage his big picture (asana, pranayama, meditation and relaxation, diet etc. - he explained the eight limbs of yoga very clearly in his "asana bible", Light on Yoga; the only path it skipped was the tantric path, unfortunately  ) Taking it back to the forward bends in the initial post above, it's esential to have all the necessary pieces in place: breathing, bandhas, diet, and not least daily backward bends (those become difficult as we grow up, so self pacing is necessary, but that's not a reason to omit them - the spine still needs them; practicing mostly/only forward bends presses the discs too close to the nerves, which gradually leads to pain and injuries). If you want the spine to stay young, do it the kids' way: bend backward.
Forward bends are first and foremost about coming forward, not down. Here's a brief video on Paschimottanasana, for example (remember what she says w.r.t. self pacing, and about her heart region aiming at her toes - not down):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umlVLoDHp7c
Some really good Sivananda teachers take their bends of the arms all the way forward to the toes, and bearthe there for a while, before going down to the final position of this video sometimes (and sometimes, just stay at the toes, breathing).
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Nasasaya
USA
3 Posts |
Posted - May 31 2013 : 5:41:36 PM
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Thanks for the the guidance. I'll be looking into these paths.
Any other suggestions will be much appreciated |
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Increasing Flexibility for Perfect Asanas
