Yoga

Thomason

Thomason

Joined
Nov 28, 2002
Messages
9,375
Saturday is Yoga Day USA. A local health club is having a free demo and class with donations going to tsunami relief. Just wondering if any knuts know anything about it. Can out of shape geezers like myself do yoga?
 
Yoga is great for flexibility and circulation and muscle toning. The easier postures involve simple stretching and should be suitable for anybody. When you incorporate pranayama (breathing exercises) it becomes a great way to integrate mind and body. I'd say check it out.

Jack
A real man. :p
 
Gollnick said:
Real men don't do yoga.
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I'll give you a few reasons why real men should. :)

1) The oldest, most evolved exercise system on the planet. Yoga has forgotten what Pilates and such are still trying to learn.

2) Makes you hella strong.

3) Makes you flexible...obviously

4) As one ages - attempts to push it hard - to challenge oneself tends to lead to injuries in exercise modes like running and weight training. I find I can get the deep satisfaction from pushing my limits with Yoga without the injuries.

5) Works on the mind - I originally started it to help combat depression and it has been by far the most effective treatment.

6) The best looking chicks do Yoga
 
OK, but at least real men do, like, manly yoga, right? With some motion and intensity?
 
johnniet said:
OK, but at least real men do, like, manly yoga, right? With some motion and intensity?
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Yeah mate. Try Ahstanga yoga - it's like a full on gymnastic workout. each movement flows into another and there are a lot of strength moves.

Most professional sports teams have a yoga instructor nowadays.
 
Yes there are different systems (styles) of yoga. But that's as far as my knowledge of it goes. I'd like to learn more about them as I too have been interested and thought about checking it out.
 
The Yoga styles I've been exposed to;

Iyangar - Very strict, emphasis on holding postures absolutely correctly and for long periods. Developed by VKS Iyengar in the 1950's. Tend to use props (straps and bolsters) to help you achieve the correct posture, then gradually take the props away as you improve. It's amazing how many Iyengar instructors are Swiss or German - 'You vill hold zee leg strait'.

Hatha - More generic style, emphasises easier postures and breathing.

Astanga - vet gymnastic. Flows quite rapidly from one posture to another. A great high if you are advanced enough to do it.

Bikram - Yoga done in hot rooms to generate greater cleansing and blood flow. Very smelly but you do stretch a long way.

Kundalini - a variation on hatha yoga which focuses on aligning energy flows. Slightly more mystical and esoteric. Might push a few of your buttons if you are a Christian, although it shouldn't because the purpose of Yoga is to clear your mind to allow you greater communion with your god, whomever that may be - not to be a religion in itself. Some instructors do forget this important truth.

It's a little like martial arts in how different styles are invented or blended from one to another and different people espouse of their style as the 'only way' (Iyangar followers are particularly guilty of this snobbery)

Check out this site if you want to do some reading.

http://www.yogasite.com/yogastyles.html

From personal experience, having dabbled with Yoga for 5 years and noticing my dedication increase over time, I can espouse the following benefits.

1) Weight control - Although running and high intensity exercise will drop fat faster. I have lost weight steadily in the times I was doing Yoga alone. This supports the growing idea that a stressed body/mind will store fat more readily and lose it more slowly. Yoga drops your anxiety levels remarkably, taking your body out of that alarm state where it tries to store fat.

2) Stress/Anxiety - This is the reason most people try Yoga to begin with. Most exercise will improve your sttress levels but this is where Yoga particularly excells.

3) Real world fitness - On some of my adventures I have had to crawl, scramble, climb and generally be a monkey - since I've been doing Yoga I am far more effortless moving through a natural environment. This is somehting that a few of my compadres have noticed in the last few years. How I move easily where they are grunting and straining.

4) More mental energy - I've noticed in writing and working with clients I get less drained by 'work' and seem to have a more abundant reserve of energy.

5) Feel younger - In the years when I was playing football and doing Triathlons it seems that feeling stiff and sore in the mornings was part of my life. Now I notice that I spring out of bed in the morning.

6) Better sexual performance - I'm not kidding. All that muscular endurance, flexibility, body control and stamina does have it's uses.

7) Did I mention that their are some lovely women who do Yoga? Down to earth, intelligence, non materialistic and fit.
 
A.J. Hawak, Linebacker for the Ohio State Buckeyes and Leading tackler in the Big 10 (I beleive) practiced power yoga...and gave much credit to it...


Plus, yoga is a foundation in the kama sutra.
 
While I havn't ever tried Yoga, we have a stretch routine in Hapkido that incorporates some of the postures & breathing techniques that are very similar... I would give it a try!

And let me just say I agree, Sara Ivanhoe is a total babe!!! If she were leading class you could count me in ;)
 
Thanks for all the input, gentleman, and the link, Ming65. I intend to check it out this weekend.
 
A responsible instructor in a beginner's class will know how far to go. I have only dabbled in Yoga, but now I incorporate the Sun Salutations in my workout routine. It's a great way to warm up, and then cool down.

And Yoga is indeed a great way to meet women. Once they figure out you're not gay, they become very interested in a guy that follows such a spiritual form of exercise.
 
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