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Eddie33
USA
120 Posts |
 Posted - Nov 12 2007 : 2:50:00 PM
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been doing a very basic routine of asanas in the morning and at night. I have got to admit being involved with sports most of my life the htought has occurred to me that what I'm doing is basically just stretching.
Of course there's a meditative aspect to this stretching. The way you look at the act of doing asanas compared to stretching for a sports activity is certainly different. There's a quality of meditativity to it. That may be in itself a cause for saying that asanas are different than just stretching. But then from anonther angle that still seems a superficial distinction.
You can also say that over time asanas grows to be something much bigger, as you add on more complicated asanas and such.
Also there a kind of curiousity that i have when it comes to sprts activities and the effects it had on your consciousness. In sports even after all the strenuous workouts and stretches there wasn't really ever a time when i thought about what the effect all this was having on my state of consciousness. also it's hard for me to say that it had any impact on it at all, at least not something that i can articulate in a certain way. Which makes me think that maybe most of the effects are imagination or autp suggestion. I don't know.
just some thoughts i had. If anyone wants to add anything that would be cool. Obviously i beleive of the effectiveness of these kinds of practices or i would be here. But i also beleive in the importance of asking questions. Many many questions.
Peace |
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anthony574
USA
549 Posts |
Posted - Nov 13 2007 : 10:13:26 AM
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| Asanas for me show their true nature during Auto-yoga. I stop "doing" the postures and it's more like they are do-ing me! Regular practice seems to me to function as a maintenence thing because when the ecstatic yoga takes over and I allow it, already having stretched certain muscles and learning certain postures makes the auto-yoga possible. Maybe one day auto-yoga and regular asanas become one and the same, but believe, if you have ever had the postures literally feel like somoene is manipulating your body like a child with a GI-Joe and every stretch can be felt in every muscle and you almost tear up with ecstacy...that's asanas. They almost feel choreographic from above and so extremely natural that its mind-boggling! But during the routine practice when you are going through the motions, I think you are preparing yourself for ecstatic asanas as well as doing work on purification, body wellness, and meditation. |
Edited by - anthony574 on Nov 13 2007 10:17:49 AM |
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Eddie33
USA
120 Posts |
Posted - Nov 13 2007 : 10:37:28 AM
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ok here you go i like that response. it kind of fuels me to ant to do them more. i think i've felt a littl bit of that. mostly when i do them at night though when i'm loose. in the morning i'm as stiff as a board and i would raher do anything than do asanas.
on thing that i found that i like is steching my arms ino the air as much as i can and thn bending my rists back. i's a very pleasureabl feeling |
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anthony574
USA
549 Posts |
Posted - Nov 14 2007 : 4:46:23 PM
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I wonder if you have ever gone to a class or had a teacher show you asanas?
I attended a class last night for first time since doing them (7+ months)...only to find that I was doing them WRONG! It was a shock to my system to realize that I am no asanas guru...I am a student just like everyone in the room who didn't even know one posture. |
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Eddie33
USA
120 Posts |
Posted - Nov 15 2007 : 10:11:49 AM
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| that doesn't make sense. how can there be a wrong way to do asans. it's just meditative stretching for christ sakes! |
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anthony574
USA
549 Posts |
Posted - Nov 15 2007 : 12:19:25 PM
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No, there is a wrong way. I thought the same thing.
The principle of asanas is to accept the body, to know it. When you take a stretch and stretch to a point beyond its capability to the point that you feel pain, even "good" pain, this is not asanas mindset. This is what I have been doing for 8 months and now I realize why, like you, I never "got" asanas (except if I smoked pot). When you add in the role of acceptance it seems less about Stretching (which I thought was the point) and more about accepting your body in these new positions while your breathing is kept deep and in awareness.
Maybe you already do it that way. For me, it was mind-blowing to realize I had asanas all wrong!
I did spinal twist in the class, maybe twisting 30degrees as opposed to my usual 160degrees...and for the first time I actually felt something. Relaxation is something that asanas has shown me now that I have hardly ever felt. Asanas the way I used to do them brought no relaxation, only stretchiness. |
Edited by - anthony574 on Nov 15 2007 12:45:22 PM |
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emc
2072 Posts |
Posted - Nov 15 2007 : 3:21:27 PM
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Weee... as a total beginner of asanas this is very interesting to read. The right teacher has finally arrived, and I have tried my first asanas with guidance. Mind-blowing indeed! Thank you anthony for your post. I have always refused asanas due to the pain and stretching that was only a pain in the ***. Now, exploring the breathing, posture and awareness working together is awesome! I cried myself through the first class that ended with a meditation that lasted for what seemed ages (was probably 15 min or so). I meditated without breathing, almost continously and effortless... Remarkable sensation - not having to breath! I had to hold my hands on the floor to ground me.
Just an association from an earlier discussion when I had met a guru from India (Manmoyanand) claiming the importance of doing the eight limbs of yoga in right order... He said that according to Patanjali, the ego should be seen through (as a result of the first two limbs) before it was time to start with asanas. Seems it was not time for me to start doing asanas before some glimpses of what death of ego means... funny... |
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Just Stretching
