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Echo
United Kingdom
48 Posts |
 Posted - Dec 29 2007 : 10:41:31 AM
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Ever since starting the meditation, I seem to have lost just about all enthusiasm for my asana practice. In fact, when I try to practice, my heart is not in it, often my wrists hurt and I tend to ach afterwards. I have been practicing for over 5 years, and have been spending between 45 – 90 minutes most days.
To be honest, it troubles me a bit as it’s been an important part of my life. It’s helped keep me fit and healthy. In fact, before I started, I was a mess. Oh my god, what am I going to do?! I’ll get fat!! 
I’m not sure if it is just a phase or if it is a sign that I should cut right back. On the other hand, I suppose that with the DM and the SB I’m still practicing an hour a day.
Any thoughts?
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Victor
USA
910 Posts |
Posted - Dec 29 2007 : 1:15:34 PM
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| Well, a couple of things come to my mind. One is that in our busy world we may only have enough time or attention for so much practice in a day and it needs to be decided which is the most valuable way to spend that time. The other thought might be how you practice asana. I had the same experience after doing AYP for some time and let the asana go for some time. Eventually I found myself going back to asana but not being as concerned with the outward or mechanical form but going deeper into how the poses feel from the inside. Also at least in my practice I find that two sitting practices a day combined with asana seems like alot so i am back to sitting in the morning and asana later in the day. Its all about self pacing |
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Jim and His Karma
2111 Posts |
Posted - Dec 29 2007 : 1:50:15 PM
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Asana works on the same blocks meditation does...just more coarsely. Meditation can achieve certain openings that shift your asana practice dramatically, and allow it to penetrate more deeply, and to access "spots" (speaking metaphorically) that are more sensitive and less previously brought to light, so to speak.
My guess is that this is what's happening. You're experienced asana habit thinks it's doing the same X pose as ever, but it's not the same, the component parts have been "processed" in uncertain ways by meditation, and you need to be more sensitive, because those parts may be less conditioned than you assume.
So I'd do two thigns: 1. yes, definitely scale back the time and intensity of your asana practice...but don't stop, as these symptoms may actually be a good indication (though we don't want them to be in any way severe). 2. start doing your asana practice MUCH more gingerly and hesitantly. Listen to yourself more as you do it....practice more like you did as a beginner. Because the ground you'd tilled in your 5 years of asana practice, which you thought you knew and which you thought was nice and loose and pliant, is simultaneously being worked on by a differnt plow, and so it may not be as familiar as you might superficially think.
Also, it's good to bear in mind that meditation is a subtle opening tool and asana is a coarser one. Beware, in asana, that you may be applying coarse sandpaper to sensitive zones. Victor's approach, of being internally aware, is essential.
Does this make any sense?
What is DM and SB?? |
Edited by - Jim and His Karma on Dec 29 2007 1:52:23 PM |
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tadeas
Czech Republic
314 Posts |
Posted - Dec 29 2007 : 2:20:17 PM
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Echo: http://swamij.com/koshas.htm - Your physical body is one of the sheaths over the Self. If you do asanas, there'll be less "friction" on this level, it let's you go in more easily and work on the other levels. As Yogani says we're building a bridge between the physical world and the infinite. This means working on all the levels. And that's motivating for me :)
Jim: DM=deep meditation, SB=spinal breathing |
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Echo
United Kingdom
48 Posts |
Posted - Dec 29 2007 : 3:16:37 PM
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Thank you for your replies. I found them very helpful. I guess it’s clear that I should cut back on the asana practice. In a way, my body is clearly telling me as much - it’s made it very difficult for me! Part of me felt that maybe I was just using the AYP practice as an excuse for being a slacker.
I would say that the asana practice completely changed me as a person, very much for the better. I did come to feel that something was missing though. Then I discovered AYP, which I have certainly found effective so far. I’m sure that I need to work with the AYP for some time before concentrating on the asana again.
Jim, your analogy of the sandpaper makes perfect sense to me. I’m using nice fine grade emery in the morning and evening, but using course stuff in between!
I think that maybe I should develop a nice gentle practice, maybe 30mins max, and do it as if I were 90 years old, as my teacher used to say.
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yogibear
409 Posts |
Posted - Dec 30 2007 : 07:23:24 AM
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Hi Echo,
In addition to what Jim and Victor wrote about self pacing and internal awareness, I would add being very light hearted about it and don't be to concerned about missing a day or a week or a month. I don't do asanas every day any more due to time, obligations and sometimes just plain laziness.  My emphasis has shifted from asanas to meditation over the years and that gets priority now. But I am not worried about it because my body always starts craving it and I haven't lost any flexibility. Asanas are so pleasurable.
I like to do Iyengar style sometimes, Ghosh style other times and then my own style as well sometimes. That way I don't get bored doing the same old thing and it is like I am doing the poses for the first time again.
I have a routine that I do that I like very much that takes about 10 minutes and it totally wipes the stress out from the day before my evening meditation. I often do just that and a more extensive routine only once or twice a week.
So just play with it, have fun with it, and enjoy it.
Hope that helps some. Best, yb. |
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Jim and His Karma
2111 Posts |
Posted - Dec 30 2007 : 11:02:12 AM
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Good advice from yogibear.
I was thinking about your posting this morning, and found, I think, a better way to make my prior point.
The asana practice you're doing now can not be the same asana practice you always used to do, because you, your body, your energy pathways, your blocks, have changed. So it's necessary to observe sensitively and work intuitively to create a new asana practice for yourself - and be flexible to do so again whenever necessary - even if that means every day!
I think that paragraph combines the best of all advice given you in this thread. |
Edited by - Jim and His Karma on Dec 30 2007 11:03:01 AM |
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Echo
United Kingdom
48 Posts |
Posted - Dec 30 2007 : 11:02:15 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by yogibear
Hi Echo,
In addition to what Jim and Victor wrote about self pacing and internal awareness, I would add being very light hearted about it and don't be to concerned about missing a day or a week or a month. I don't do asanas every day any more due to time, obligations and sometimes just plain laziness. My emphasis has shifted from asanas to meditation over the years and that gets priority now. But I am not worried about it because my body always starts craving it and I haven't lost any flexibility. Asanas are so pleasurable.
I like to do Iyengar style sometimes, Ghosh style other times and then my own style as well sometimes. That way I don't get bored doing the same old thing and it is like I am doing the poses for the first time again.
I have a routine that I do that I like very much that takes about 10 minutes and it totally wipes the stress out from the day before my evening meditation. I often do just that and a more extensive routine only once or twice a week.
So just play with it, have fun with it, and enjoy it.
Hope that helps some. Best, yb.
Yes, it does help! I find it very encouraging that other people have had similar a similar experience. Having to cut right back on asana practice is something that I never expected, in fact I imagined that I would do more!
I’ve not come across Ghosh style yoga before – did you mean Ghost yoga?
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Echo
United Kingdom
48 Posts |
Posted - Dec 30 2007 : 11:06:03 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Jim and His Karma
Good advice from yogibear.
I was thinking about your posting this morning, and found, I think, a better way to make my prior point.
The asana practice you're doing now can not be the same asana practice you always used to do, because you, your body, your energy pathways, your blocks, have changed. So it's necessary to observe sensitively and work intuitively to create a new asana practice for yourself - and be flexible to do so again whenever necessary - even if that means every day!
I think that paragraph combines the best of all advice given you in this thread.
Thanks Jim. I'm very glad that I posted about this - I very nearly didn't - I thought it was just being ...I don't know... a bit whiney! |
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Jim and His Karma
2111 Posts |
Posted - Dec 30 2007 : 11:09:00 AM
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Not whiney at all! The aches and pains constitute physical messages from your inner guru. Likewise the mental aversion. So something needed to change. I just don't think you need to quit outright.
Oh, and while scaling back for a while definitely makes sense, FWIW, I do a 90 minute asana practice. So you may (or may not!) find that a change of approach allows or even encourages you to eventually gear back up, though with a different approach. But as Yogani says, scale up very gradually, because the effects of asana and AYP in parallel can be cumulative. So it's subject to self-pacing. |
Edited by - Jim and His Karma on Dec 30 2007 11:10:46 AM |
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yogani
USA
5201 Posts |
Posted - Dec 30 2007 : 11:38:51 AM
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Hi All:
This is the kind of balancing and adjusting (self-pacing) that is necessary when spreading out through the limbs of yoga. It is the scenario discussed in the Asanas, Mudras and Bandhas book.
Great job of exploring it here everyone, and thanks much, Echo, for bringing it up.
It is inevitable that the vast asana (yoga posture) movement will gradually transition toward more integrated approaches to practice, as the truth continues to emerge from within us all. Many adjustments will be necessary along the way. It is a good thing.
Per your comments elsewhere, Jim, it is certainly true that Iyengar (and others) in the asana field have been laying the groundwork for much more integrated applications of yoga, and the acceleration of worldwide human spiritual transformation, even if they are not saying that!
The same can be said of every teacher and tradition that has brought useful methods to the table. The unceasing forward march of open Applied Spiritual Science will continue to bring it all together, and the whole will be much greater than the sum of the parts. Bravo!
The guru is in you.
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Echo
United Kingdom
48 Posts |
Posted - Dec 31 2007 : 02:43:27 AM
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| Hi Yogani – I thought that I would just take the opportunity to say thank you for all the hard work you have put into getting the AYP system together and getting it out to the world. And thanks too to all the people on the forum that take the time to help noobies with such thoughtful posts. I know that AYP will be the foundation of my practice for many years to come. |
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yogibear
409 Posts |
Posted - Dec 31 2007 : 08:28:10 AM
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Hi Echo,
The Ghosh system was brought to America by the irrepressible Bikram back in the early '70s. His protoge, Tony Sanchez is also a formidable hatha practitioner. Bikram's teacher was Bishnu Ghosh, Yogananda's brother.
It is also known as hot yoga. It is a good style, minus the extreme heat. Just google it.
quote:
Yogani wrote:
Per your comments elsewhere, Jim, it is certainly true that Iyengar (and others) in the asana field have been laying the groundwork for much more integrated applications of yoga, and the acceleration of worldwide human spiritual transformation, even if they are not saying that!
Very true, Yogani. A yogi is no longer a pretzel sitting on a bed of nails staring at his navel. Krishnamacharya style hatha, of which Iyengar is the most familiar proponent is very palatable to Americans and has helped greatly to make yoga a common household term with a positive association to it, i.e., better health.
It is only a matter of time before the higher aspects of the science catch on in the same way.
Best, yb. |
Edited by - yogibear on Dec 31 2007 09:05:41 AM |
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yogibear
409 Posts |
Posted - Dec 31 2007 : 11:05:11 AM
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From Haich and Yesudian, Yoga and Health written in 1953:
"The entire system of Hatha Yoga is based on returning a natural way of living, an intuition which guides the human mind from a higher plane. It is based on a return to an inspiration of the mind and thus becomes a valuable asset for the new world now being born and for the new generation which will lead a happier, more natural life. As the clamour of weapons dies away, a new, and freer world will be born, and the time is fast approaching when we shall have to bind and heal man's wounds and train his body in a healthier, and more conscious manner. May God grant that the three greatest gifts of Hatha Yoga-- health, strength, and youthfulness--be transmitted to this new generation." |
Edited by - yogibear on Dec 31 2007 5:17:20 PM |
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yogibear
409 Posts |
Posted - Dec 31 2007 : 11:32:51 AM
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| Thanks for the link, Yogani, to the protecting the heart with jb. Hadn't seen this. |
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Echo
United Kingdom
48 Posts |
Posted - Dec 31 2007 : 1:41:15 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by yogibear
Hi Echo,
The Ghosh system was brought to America by the irrepressible Bikram back in the early '70s.
Ah yes! I know it as Bikram yoga. It must be interesting to practice in such heat! |
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yogibear
409 Posts |
Posted - Dec 31 2007 : 6:32:37 PM
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Hi Echo,
Actually, I prefer a nice quiet beach somewhere in Hawaii.
I did that for a while (the hot temperature, like low 100s), but I find my body does well with the temperature in the lower 80s.
The heat is too extreme for me.
But Bikram would tell you other wise in an heart beat.
Best, yb. |
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Echo
United Kingdom
48 Posts |
Posted - Jan 19 2008 : 08:58:35 AM
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Hi,
I thought that I would post an update. I have started my asana practice again – HURAH!
I must have had at least a two month break. At times I thought that was it as far as asana went!
I have found that the meditation and pranayama have added a new dimension to my practice and I’m taking it much easier than before. Physically, I found what you guys said was true, in that I don’t seem to have lost much in the way of suppleness. I do feel that I have lost a bit of muscle tone, and feel a bit flabby, though I have not put on any weight.
It feels great to have it back! :)
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yogibear
409 Posts |
Posted - Jan 20 2008 : 08:03:53 AM
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Hi Echo,
Glad to hear about the positve results of your experiment. Hopefully it helps to loosen up your paradigm and keep things fresh and new.
Best, yb. |
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I've lost enthusiasm for my asana practice!
