Yoga On The Rock
FAQs
1. Is
Yoga An Exercise?
No, yoga
is not an exercise. In fact, the
“stretches” practiced in yoga are not even called exercises. They are called poses or postures, or the
correct Sanskrit name is “asanas”.
Asana, according to the yoga sutras (yoga philosophical text) means
“steady comfortable posture”. The
postures should always be comfortable and practiced without strain; and, this
“sthira” (firmness steadiness, alertness) and “sukha” (comfort, ease) should
always be maintained in unison during practice. Hence yoga does not “expand”
energy as such, like when exercising, but rather allows the practitioner to
“gather” energy from practice, which stays with them long after the class is
done.
2. What
is the difference between hatha yoga, asthanga yoga, vinyasa flow yoga or yin
yoga etc., are they similar?
Actually,
they are all the same, in that they are all ‘hatha yoga” practices. Much of the yoga we see practiced in the gym
or the yoga studios or with private teachers is hatha yoga, which is the
physical aspect of yoga. So asthanga,
vinyasa flow, yin yoga and even power yoga are all hatha yoga practices. “Ha” means “sun” and “tha” means “moon” ,
hence in hatha yoga the sun and moon energies within the body are brought into
balance. All the different ways of practicing hatha yoga strives to create this
condition within the body and mind. How
they differ is the way they approach this practice. Vinyasa flow is usually practiced in a quick
continuous flow moving from one pose to another in rapid fashion, while yin
yoga is practiced deliberately slowly where focus on one pose could last as
long as 5 minutes. The style of each way of practicing depends on individual
tastes; asthanga yoga really puts much emphasis on alignment while the integral
yoga approach emphasizes the meditative aspects of practicing hatha yoga. While there are indeed different types of
yoga, for example, bhakti yoga, karma yoga, raja yoga, jnana yoga etc. these
aspects of yoga are not hatha (physical) yoga practice. The physical yoga practice is all hatha yoga.
3. Many
people say they like to practice yoga for stretching but they do other
exercises for strengthening the body or for a cardio vascular workout. Is that true that yoga is only for
stretching?
No, that
is not true. Yoga in our western society
is so misunderstood, although we are learning.
While I say we should continue to do our workout at the gym, swim, walk
or run if we enjoy that along with our hatha yoga ( in fact, hatha yoga will
enhance physical activity); however, if we wish to just focus on hatha yoga we
can get a full workout from our yoga practice.
In fact many people who practice serious hatha yoga only do that and
maintain strong healthy bodies. I always
tell students in yoga you learn to lift your own body weight. When you consider a headstand and/or arm
balances, that is clearly what one has to do.
These poses require great strength in order to perfect them, and this
strength does not come from lifting weights, but from slowly building up the
ability to lift one’s own body weight through consistent yoga practice. Also a vinyasa flow approach to yoga provides
a great cardio workout, as do standing poses that are great strengtheners for
the body and a stimulant for the heart muscle.
As one whose main workout is practicing yoga, I always tell students, at
the end of the day, when we reach three score and then some, the three best
practices to do to keep the body fit is walking, swimming and yoga. That’s it!
4. Does
yoga help you lose weight???
Now
everyone wants to know the answer to this question although often people are
afraid to ask. I always tell people
“yes” and “no”, which sometimes will turn some off, especially when they are
looking for a quick fix. But what I do
encourage people to do is to look at the whole picture, and in this regard yes,
yoga is great to help work on weight loss and maintenance. Of course we do know the only real way to
lose weight is to stop eating the junk and/or overeating. But what yoga does is
help us get rid of the stress which is the greatest impetus for curtailing
overeating and making poor choices in diet, in the first place.
Yoga works directly on the mind (our biggest
culprit when it comes to overeating) and on all the systems of the body, for
instance, the endocrine system, thus stimulating the thyroid and parathyroid
glands. It works on our digestive system
through twisting poses, hence our digestive system improves tremendously. It works on circulatory, elimination,
skeletal, muscular, respiratory, and nervous system etc. and has an
overwhelming effect on how we manage and maintain a healthy stress level. Hence indirectly in this way, through
practicing regular hatha yoga, the pounds melt away.
5. Can
yoga help with health issues?
Because
many of our modern day health issues come from stress, yoga is an excellent way
to help improve body/mind health and wellness.
The diseases of our modern world (unlike many diseases in countries like
Africa and India), are non-communicable diseases, that are not caught from
contagions, but are life-style diseases caused by how we live and manage stress
in our lives. Cardiologist Dr. Dean Ornish has designed an award winning
practice using yoga, diet and meditation to reverse heart disease in patients
with CHD. Yoga is also widely known to be effective in auto-immune health and
wellness and those suffering from auto-immune diseases, for example fibromyalgia,
arthritis, sarcoidosis etcetera; or, respiratory diseases like asthma or
digestive problems like irritable bowel syndrome. These and many other health
issues are greatly benefitted if not cured, by practicing hatha yoga.
6. Do
I need a teacher to practice yoga?
No, many
people begin or are inspired to practice yoga through practicing with a book or
video. However if one is serious about
the practice of yoga and/ or is inspired by being in a group, then a yoga
centre or working with a teacher is best for you; this is particularly
important if one wishes to work with yoga to help improve health and/ or
correct structural problems with the body, as these require expert advice and
guidance to safeguard the student.
7. Is
yoga a religion?
No, but yoga can benefit body, mind and spirit. Hence those who practice the “spiritual”
aspects of yoga – raja yoga, jnana yoga, bhakti yoga – these practices are
designed to assist the student’s mind for higher development and self-
awareness. Hence it can benefit any religious practice, but remains neutral more
like software for any religious practice one may subscribe to. However, this is
not accomplished through the practice of hatha yoga practiced in most yoga
studios as this practice
( hatha yoga) mainly works on the
physical body.
Joanne Wohlmuth, Director –E-RYT-500
No comments:
Post a Comment