I`m doing a yogaworks (close to Iyengar in style) teacher training these days. It`s absoultely wonderfull.
One of the things I`ve been told during the training is that a central part of what we are trying to do in yoga is to create space in the body so that energy flows freely. Previously I`ve thought of yoga as mostly meant to cleanse through creating and moving prana and to strengthen and balance the body not as meant to creating space. What I`m finding is that the emphasis on lengthening all parts of the body in the alignment focused schools of yoga gives me a feeling of energy flowing extreemly easily. Much more so than styles of yoga I\ve encopuntered that does not pay meticulous attention to alignment and body structure but instead stresses focus on awareness from the start. To generalize my impression is that due to differing focuses in different schools of yoga some will give you a purified body with a little more space for energy to flow and others will give you a purified body with a lot more space. To me it seems likely that a body with a lot more "internal space" would be much better equiped to handle high energy charges than one without it. Does anyone have an opinion on this?
I am in total agreement with you there. Creating space in the system is what allows the energy to flow freely. There are different approaches to that but alignment oriented yoga is one and in my opinion is extremely complimentary with AYP as an internal practice.
How does one attempt to create space in other systems? The way I see it one can cleanse the internal circuits making them more powerfull and more able to have energy flow through them, one can coordinate the flow in a beneficial way meaning that energy travels the circuits that are more beneficial and one can enlarge the roads meaning creating space. I don`t see how one can create space other than stretching and opening the body and structuring ones alignment in such a way that bad posture does not create blocks. In my experience i cannot see how other styles of yoga manage this as well as the alignment focused ones. For example, when i see teachers of the Bihar tradition that have practiced for twenty years they don`t have as open and spacious bodies as people focusing on alignment.
Could you explain what you mean by yogas which focus on alignment as opposed to those which don't?
I have just recently taken up Ashtanga yoga and it is suiting were I am at. Not sure if it would qualify for your "alignment" tag.
What I find is the heat built up from the fast practice seems to create a space when combined with the asanas. Last weekend it had the effect of opening my heart and just yesterday during savasna I could feel my heart open again and intense pain(opening) in my upper chest. Later this developed into feelings of love throughour my body.
Of course one can't divorce this from my twice daily practice of AYP. One of the reasons I am trying the Ashtanga is to help release some of the big mounds of stuff that are surfacing for me at the moment It seems to be helping well, and part of the reason I feel, is because of the heat and sweat in the practice.
What would be your thoughts on how Iyengar style yoga would deal with this?
Part of the reason I ask is that I have found, when I have done a little yoga before meditation it sometimes has an overdoing effect and I have to cut it out. With the Ashtanga it seems to sweat it out and release it.
Iyengar Yoga specifically focuses on the alignment of the body in the asana using props and many minor adjustments to optimise good form even before and after one can do the final poses. Other forms such as Ashtanga place less emphasis on strict alignment and more on the bodys inner guidance as well as building up heat and energy flow. AYP works on an inner level to open up the channels using breath and sitting practice. All of these in my opinion have a similar end in opening and creating space for the energy to flow.My training has been exclusively in Iyengar and AYP so I can't speak for Bihar and other sytems but yoga hs been around for a long time . Much longer than Iyengars system of alignment practice. All of the schools have much to teacha and hopefully in our modern information culture have the ability to cross polinate in order to produce the best that yoga can offer. Iyengars contribution has been immense and you can see his influence in many styles of yoga today.It may be too analytical for some and while it does have a very high level of precision it also can tend to lead to a sense of constant dissatisfaction or excessive serious attitude which seems counterproductive. Also, since most of us don't have the time or energy to be full time yogis one must choose a practice that suits our lifestyle, but in my opinion the final aim is the same from different approaches.
Creating space
Posted - Jul 18 2008 : 2:26:37 PM
