yoga exercise abstract
Meditation, in all its various colors, has hit the mainstream. It used to be just the hippies and alternative people who flocked to a room somewhere back in the 60s and 70s to learn transcendental meditation. I was one of them. My friend was one of the “alternatives” and invited me to a session that he was attending. Sounded interesting. I was given a mantra and taught how to relax my mind and silently repeat that mantra over and over again. When my mind wandered, gently bring it back to that nonsensical word and continue to silently and effortless repeat it. We were taught to practice that for 20 minutes twice a day. I did, and have been for years. Now it’s 30 minutes once a day about 5 times a week. During my college years I lapsed and had intermittent on/off periods during my high driving career years. But for a number of years now it’s been a regular practice, not “TM” but rather insight meditation has taken its place. That practice has made a major impact on my patience level, sense of peace and contentedness, clarity of thought and abiding sense of internal joy. Medical research now proves the physical and mental benefits of an ongoing meditation and mindfulness practice. Dozens of articles have been written about it and books extolling its benefits include its step-by-step process. But few have the emotional impact and first person case study that prominent neurosurgeon Dr. James R. Doty’s has in his memoir Into The Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon’s Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart. Wow is the superlative that comes to mind.
Dr. Doty is now a professor of Neurosurgery at Stanford University. But, as he tells it, it’s a fluke that he actually attended college at all, not to mention become a successful and prominent neurosurgeon. He doesn’t use the word fluke he calls it magic and weaves a compelling tale of being a young boy and meeting a woman in a magic shop who seduced him by promising the ultimate magic trick that would change his life. He was to spend his 12 weeks of summer vacation with her learning the trick. And if he practiced the trick, even at home, he could have anything he wants in life. That would be truly amazing since he came from a very poor family with a drunken father who couldn’t keep a job and bedridden, clinically depressed mother who had to continually pack up the family and move when they got evicted from apartment after apartment for not paying the rent.
The trick, as Dr. Doty relays, was learning to meditate and then manifest his dreams. With regular practice and a deep, sincere desire for those goals to materialize along with visualization and the trust that they would – his life could change. Would change. This book tells that story of how his dreams came to pass. Along the way he shares the step-by-step process that this woman, Ruth, taught him. His abiding hope is that others will learn the way too.
It’s a profound read that is hard to put down.
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Yoga Is Yoga – Right?
Posted in exercise, meditation, mid-life, recreation, spiritual, spirituality, yoga, tagged BKS Iyengar, boomer women, commentary, meditation, new life directions, observation, personal growth, Religion and Spirituality, Yoga on September 30, 2011| 4 Comments »
A beautiful quote that captures the essence of Iyengar Yoga by its mastermind BKS Iyengar. All yoga is rooted in the blend of mind, spirit and body. But this particular style emphasizes correct physical alignment while contorting the body into prescribed poses. It aims to use the concentration necessary for correct posture as a tool in teaching meditation. In order to bend and stretch as required, each pose is deconstructed into its minutiae parts forcing concentration on all nuances of muscle and bone configuration. And that trains the mind to focus.
Image via Wikipedia
I’ve been practicing Iyengar style yoga for 14 years and it’s made a significant difference in my flexibility and attitude toward life. (Though this gorgeous pose is, sadly, not me.) It has also enhanced my meditation practice by quieting the mind and tiring out the body, readying it for silent focus on the breath. And, in all those years, I’ve had just one injury to a shoulder because I rotated my arm farther than my body was ready for.
Recently I’ve branched out to experience other teachers and styles of yoga, maybe because my attitude is one of experimentation these days. I’ve enjoyed the change and the atmosphere in the different studios, but I’m grateful for my Iyengar training because without it, I wouldn’t know how to properly practice the pose. And neither do the other students, evidently, as I scan the room and notice poor body alignment. The teacher may demonstrate the pose correctly, but none explains the process to the students.
Image via Wikipedia
Knees and thighs are not charged, leg rotations are not accurate, spines are not straight, ham strings aren’t being stretched – the list goes on. And the teacher says nothing, does not walk the room and adjust the poses. All students are being left to interpret the instruction on our own. I’m waiting for injuries to occur all around me. It surprises me how teachers can teach without teaching. They demonstrate, they talk the pose through – but none has ever explained flexion of muscle, rotation of limbs, proper knee placement and more.
My suggestion for all yoga enthusiasts is to start with a few series of classes to learn the Iyengar method in order to know how the poses are supposed to be aligned before launching into any other style yoga. Injured necks, backs, limbs and more are painful, in some cases, long term problems that can be prevented with the appropriate instruction.
What are your yoga experiences? And how have they affected your life?
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