Dangers of Yoga Asanas

dougringwald — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 18:29:25 +0000

I love practicing yoga postures, but if practiced incorrectly or without awareness they can be dangerous. This recent article in the New York Times “How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body” illustrates this point. Yoga is a system for raising awareness in and of one’s body, mind and soul. With awareness, the practice naturally unfolds. One needs always to be focused and carefully exploring what is happening in the body every moment of a posture. May we all observe ahimsa (non-violence) and practice and teach safely with ever increasing awareness.

Fascia – fabric and glue of the body

dougringwald — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 17:02:40 +0000

Fascia is the biological fabric and glue that holds our bodies together. It covers us from head to toe in a 3D spider web of callogen fibers, connecting everything. In bodywork such as massage therapy, physical therapy, pilates and hatha yoga much focus is put on optimal bone alignment and muscle health. Fascia, long overlooked, seems to be getting it’s due as an important part of spatial functioning and health. For more info on this topic check out the Anatomy Trains website. There are many great audio recordings on this page explaining the importance of fascia including one titled Fascia and Yoga. Anatomy Trains and KMI (Kinesis Myofascial Integration) was developed by Tom Myers and is an extension of the work of Ida Rolf, Moshe Feldenkrais and Buckminster Fuller.

How Yoga Won the West

dougringwald — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 21:34:39 +0000

Article from the NY times about Swami Vivekenanda’s arrival in America in the 1893.

Incredibly detailed asana instructions – Iyengar

dougringwald — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 16:29:18 +0000

I came across this site recently, Brad’s Iyengar Yoga Notebook. Incredibly detailed instructions for many basic asanas from an Iyengar student. If you’re not sure of what next to explore in an asana, this guide will help you deepen your awareness of the subtleties. Thank you Brad Priddy!

The Gold Ring

dougringwald — Mon, 30 May 2011 04:36:04 +0000

This incredible and fascinating story aired on NPR. Writer Jeff Greenwald meets the Buddha.

Listen here.

Sunday class time change at Yoga Bent studio

dougringwald — Thu, 05 May 2011 22:17:46 +0000

There has been a time change for the Sunday hatha and meditation class at Yoga Bent . The time for the class has been permanently changed to 4:30-6pm starting this Sunday. Happy Mother’s Day!

Researchers find that meditation changes your brain

dougringwald — Mon, 02 May 2011 22:09:17 +0000

Interesting New York Times article regarding meditation. It seems there have been quite a few scientific studies documenting the benefits of meditation in recent years. In one of the studies mentioned in this article, it is demonstrated that there are physical changes in the gray matter of meditators’ brains. The interest in meditation and yoga by allopathic doctors and researchers is very encouraging to me. Perhaps this kali yuga (dark age) is truly ending

Ayurveda: some online resources

dougringwald — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 19:46:44 +0000

Ayurveda, a Sanskrit word meaning “life knowledge,” is a 5000 year-old natural healing system from ancient India and a sister science to yoga. While this very comprehensive system does offer treatments, powerful herbs and cleanses, the main goal is prevention. Rather than being a strict diet and lifestyle program, Ayurveda acknowledges that we are all unique beings with individual needs and that we are capable of knowing what’s best for us when we listen to our bodies, strengthen and trust our own intuition and ultimately, learn how to live a life inbalance with the cycles of nature.

My wife, Lara, is studying to become an Ayurvedic Practitioner. Below is a list of online resources she has put together.

Dosha quizzes:

This one is good because you can select more than one answer if you really can’t decide between two or even three. It looks like it would calculate automatically, but it does, so just add up each column and make a note of it, so you can share your final numbers with me (for vata, pitta and kapha…both mental and physical).

http://www.askyogimarlon.com/quiz.html

This one’s a bit more comprehensive, but you can only chose one answer. Still it’s one of the better free online quizzes. Neither of these tests are perfect, but between the two, you’ll probably know your current dosha.

http://www.holisticonline.com/ayurveda/w_ayurveda-dtest1.htm

The most important thing to keep in mind is the general IDEA behind each answer. For example, one of the questions is about leisure activities and one answer is “sports, politics” and another is “water, flowers.” Well, obviously not everyone in the world is going to definitely LOVE either of those answers…but the idea behind “sports, politics” is stuff that is exciting, stimulating, perhaps competitive, etc. The idea behind water, flowers, is relaxing, mellow surroundings, etc. So, don’t feel like by answering a certain question you are saying “I feel EXACTLY this way”…. the general is much more important than the details.

You might find you have one predominant dosha (vata, pitta or kapha) or you might be pretty evenly between two, in which case you’d be “pitta-kapha”, “vata-pitta”, etc. You can google “pitta diet” or “vata personality”, “kapha diseases”, etc. to find tons of info online.

Here’s a few links to get started in terms of diet though:

Vata

http://www.ayurbalance.com/explore_vatadiet.htm

http://www.whatsyourdosha.com/vatadiet.htm

Pitta

http://www.ayurbalance.com/explore_pittadiet.htm

http://www.whatsyourdosha.com/pittadiet.htm

Kapha

http://www.ayurbalance.com/explore_kaphadiet.htm

http://www.whatsyourdosha.com/kaphadiet.htm

Pitta/Kapha

http://foodsheal.com/images/pk_diet.pdf

Pitta/Vata

http://foodsheal.com/images/pv_diet.pdf

Vata/Kapha

http://foodsheal.com/images/vk_diet.pdf

The System of Yoga workshop with Kim Schwartz

dougringwald — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 00:10:28 +0000

April 1-3 at Oak Park Yoga and Wellness Kim Schwartz will be teaching an overview of the philosophy and practice of yoga. Kim is the former director of the hatha teacher training program at the Temple of Kriya Yoga and the person who wrote the asana manual that I used when I studied there. This guy knows his stuff! I’m very happy to be able to attend this workshop. It is open to all levels of yoga practitioners. If you are interested in attending, you can find more info here.

What is meditation?

dougringwald — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 17:09:21 +0000

Meditation is an interning of the mind, turning the mind away from external objects and exploring consciousness. Meditation is an inward journey and the goal is to know pure consciousness (awareness without thought) at the depth level of the mind.

I recently read a great meditation article in Yoga Journal and the author quoted a commonly used metaphor in India regarding meditation which I will paraphrase here. The mind is like a king who has not been given a proper seat. Until the king is on his rightful throne, he will be restless and dissatisfied. Once he is seated on the throne, he becomes calm and begins to manifest his royal qualities. The throne is the Self (atman), pure consciousness. The mind is restless until it can experience its true grandeur as consciousness. In the practice of meditation, we persistently and patiently keep directing the king (mind) toward the throne (consciousness) until it settles into consciousness on its own.

In my experience, this means that when I realize I am no longer concentrating on my object of meditation, I simply acknowledge it and gently guide my mind back to the object of my meditation, I guide the king back to the throne. Sometimes this seems to happen almost continuously as thought after thought pops into my mind! Other days my mind is more calm and the thoughts appear less frequently.

In the 8 limbs of yoga as outlined by Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras, limbs 5, 6 and 7 are respectively: pratyahara (sense withdrawal), dharana (concentration), dyana (meditation). When we sit to meditate, these are the steps we go through. At first, we close our eyes and bring our awareness inward. We de-energize the sense organs so they stop grasping for external objects to sense. Then we concentrate and effortfully hold our attention to a subtle object in our minds: a feeling, a visualization, a mantra…etc. Thirdly, our concentration technically becomes meditation when we can effortlessly hold our attention to the single subtle object. This series of actions is what is commonly referred to as meditation.

There are so many methods of meditation. I think the best thing is to pick one and consistently practice it. Even 5 or 10 minutes per day gives amazing results! You’ll notice how less reactive and more calm you feel. I like to practice in the mornings right after I wake up. Taking time for myself and turning my attention inward before going about my daily activities really sets the tone for the rest of the day. I feel more aware of my thoughts and actions.

Give meditation a try! If you don’t know any techniques, how about this one?