Yoga – the practice, the teacher, the outcome….

Those of you practicing yoga for a while, already know that there are different styles and ways to practice yoga, that each teacher is his/her own flavor and the results you get form one class to another may vary dramatically. Yoga is showing up these days not only in yoga studios and gyms, but neighborhood lawns, and private living rooms, garages, the beach… There seems to be an abundance of yoga teachers, and there are always folks who are willing to try anything, and even more folks who are willing to sacrifice anything to save a buck.

This leads us to a peculiar situation where we have all this wonderful research coming out of many of the leading universities in America, as well as the medical establishment, who point to the incredible benefits of yoga – physically, psychologically and even spiritually, and at the same time people who say “I tried yoga, I got hurt. No thanks.” We get news of yoga teachers improperly using their position to take advantage of their students. Others, even committing unthinkable acts of violence, like murder and rape. Yoga seems to be main stream, main news, main controversy and mainly remains a mystery to this day.

Here are a few words from my more than a decade of teaching experience and even more than that, of practicing. Hope this is helpful to all.

First – let us start with the practice itself. Yoga is a very personal journey to becoming a healthier, happier, more compassionate human being. Through the varieties of practices it offers, one can address the whole mind – body system and develop mindfulness. This keeps everything from your bones, to your heart, immune system, brain and every organ, tissue, vessel and so on, healthy. It also gives the person an opportunity to learn about their mental, emotional environment, habits, hang-ups, dreams, inspirations, strengths and weaknesses. One, then, has the opportunity to let go of things and develop a different outlook, attitude and overall predisposition. So, one is liberated from the habitual accumulation of negativity, stress and drama and free to explore the freedom of being at ease with whatever comes. 

Second – let us see the role of the teacher. While yoga is a personal journey, because ultimately everyone of us does the work for our selves, the teacher matters. The teacher is one of your first gateways to the practice. One can read a book and get an idea of what is to be done, but the teacher is there to sort of guide you in the way in which it should work well for you. It “should” indeed, not that it actually “will.” For a teacher to be effective, he or she should know what they are doing. Doesn’t every yoga teacher know what they are doing? The sad answer is “No.”

Here’s a common scenario – a person starts doing yoga, takes a few classes, gets infected by the mystery and next thing you know they want to be a yoga teacher. All one has to do is call a few yoga studio and find a teacher training, pay a sizable price and a few weeks or a month later, emerge a “qualified yoga teacher.” Now contrast this to the way things used to be back when yoga was still in the caves of India where you would have had to follow your master for years and listen to everything he said, lectured and did so that you can collect the wisdom and the practice - one crumb at the time. Meanwhile, you were suppose to endure hardships, learn to serve others, let go of your attachments, commit and indefinite amount of time to the process and be willing to live a life in the fringes of society.

These days yoga teachers are celebrities, akin to movie starts. In the olden days, every bit of wisdom that came out of a yoga mouth was earned through experience and distilled in the fire of the practice until it is every bit embodied. Now, a yoga teacher plays rock & roll music in class that highlights our very attachments and faulty ideas about love and life. Now, a yoga teacher wears Prana or Lululemon or whatever brand of expensive clothing is out there, promotes the latest herbal supplements, special yoga shoes, or mat wipes…Yoga teachers mechanically repeat bits and pieces of wisdom found in books and movies and somehow can’t find a way to translate them into their own lives. Yoga studios make great money from yoga teacher trainings and so they are willing to take anyone who has the time and the money to commit to the process. The teachers, teaching the new comers are themselves, often questionably worthy of the role. So, the blind leads the blind…and the masses go to yoga classes wondering what happened to the promise of enlightenment, health and wellness.

So, my advice to every yoga student that leaves my Intro To Yoga series is – please shop around for your yoga teacher. Ask for qualifications. Try a few classes. Don’t take everything you hear for granted.  Ask questions. Try to get a sense for what this or that teacher is really like.

Third - know why you are doing yoga. If you are trying to rehab an injury you will have to be more selective of the teacher’s skills, the level of class or the environment to you go to vs if you are just working out.  If yoga is part of a stress reduction effort, or a part of your spiritual journey, or a combination of all these and more…you will have to be more selective with your teachers and environment. Yoga studios generally attract better teachers than gyms. Mainly because yoga studios, generally, are owned by people who love yoga, so the focus is different. Generally! Not always. Some gyms have good yoga teachers too.  Generally, folks who teach at home are teaching at home because the yoga studios and the gyms prefer not to have them. Generally, not always….so, you have to do the work of fining good yoga teachers. Generally, someone with more years of teaching experience will have more to offer, but sometimes, some new teachers are real gems. Ask of the person’s background. Ask of the person’s personal practice. Ask for references. Ask for credentials.  Try classes and teachers until you find what feels right, works right and is right for you. Feel free to go to more than one yoga teacher. One can be good at one thing and another can be good at another thing. You are not enslaved to your yoga teacher and I know some want you to feel that way so you can just follow them around – yoga teachers have egos and need money too, just like everyone else.

Find a class that serves your needs. Not all yoga classes are the same. Your needs may change on daily basis. You may have to attend several classes a week and they can all be different and with different teachers.  Feel free to experiment at home once in a while. Yoga is about self empowerment. You should not be totally dependent on your yoga teacher. What will happen if your yoga teacher does not show up one day? Will your yoga practice be doomed? This is one more reason to know more than one good teacher.

Cost should not be your sole consideration when you decide where to take yoga. Price often reflects quality. Have you tried to buy a BMW for the price of a Kia? Good luck. The smooth ride, the safety features, the impeachable mechanics are not cheap and the reason is because it takes years to develop that kind of standard and performance. If you want real cheap, you can go for a golf cart, but you won’t be able to travel very far or very comfortably.  Same with yoga classes – the class may be cheap, but the trip to the chiropractor’s office, or worse, the doctor’s office is not.

Accept that sometimes, even with the greatest of intentions and the greatest of teachers, things can happen – no one is immuned to injury. But if you chose your teacher well, go slow and at your own pace, do not compete with yourself or others, listen to your body, ask good questions and practice regularly, your chances of an injury are slim to none. In all those years of yoga practice I have NEVER had a yoga injury….except ones, when I was trying to go into a handstand from a cartwheel..one too many times.  My arms got tired and I fell on my right shoulder, dislocating my collarbone….So, use good judgment in everything you do.

Ultimately, you determine the outcome of your practice because it is YOU, who finds the teacher, chooses the practice and chooses to practice.

Happy yoga days, friends!

Valentina Petrova is a yoga teacher & personal adviser. She owns Holistic Movement Center in Morro Bay, CA where she teaches group and one-on-one sessions. She’s the host of “Yoga for Life” TV program on Ch. 2, Charter. Call 805-909-1401, or visit the web at www.holisticmovementcenter.com for more information.

Strengthen relationships for longer, healthier life

This one, straight out of Harvard Medical School.....

Each January, most of us make a list of New Year’s resolutions — maybe we want to strengthen our bodies, or our resolve to eat better, or the determination to quit smoking. As it turns out, strengthening your social relationships may be an effort worth adding to your list of New Year’s resolutions — for the good of your health.
Social connections like these not only give us pleasure, they also influence our long-term health in ways every bit as powerful as adequate sleep, a good diet, and not smoking. Dozens of studies have shown that people who have satisfying relationships with family, friends, and their community are happier, have fewer health problems, and live longer.

Conversely, a relative lack of social ties is associated with depression and later-life cognitive decline, as well as with increased mortality. One study, which examined data from more than 309,000 people, found that lack of strong relationships increased the risk of premature death from all causes by 50% — an effect on mortality risk roughly comparable to smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day, and greater than obesity and physical inactivity.

What makes social connections healthful
Scientists are investigating the biological and behavioral factors that account for the health benefits of connecting with others. For example, they’ve found that it helps relieve harmful levels of stress, which can adversely affect coronary arteries, gut function, insulin regulation, and the immune system. Another line of research suggests that caring behaviors trigger the release of stress-reducing hormones.

Research has also identified a range of activities that qualify as social support, from offers of help or advice to expressions of affection. In addition, evidence suggests that the life-enhancing effects of social support extend to giver as well as to receiver.

All of this is encouraging news because caring involvement with others may be one of the easiest health strategies to access. It’s inexpensive, it requires no special equipment or regimen, and we can engage in it in many ways.

What counts
The quality of our relationships matters. For example, one study found that midlife women who were in highly satisfying marriages and marital-type relationships had a lower risk for cardiovascular disease compared with those in less satisfying marriages. Other studies have linked disappointing or negative interactions with family and friends with poorer health. One intriguing line of research has found signs of reduced immunity in couples during especially hostile marital spats.

Having a network of important relationships can also make a difference. A large Swedish study of people ages 75 and over concluded that dementia risk was lowest in those with a variety of satisfying contacts with friends and relatives.

Strengthening ties
For many of us, the recent holidays meant family gatherings, getting together with friends, and participating in special religious, community, and workplace activities. Such occasions are an opportunity to check in with each other, exchange ideas, and perhaps lend a supportive ear or shoulder. Now is a good time to strengthen your ties throughout the years to come.  Here are some ways to start:

• Focus on your most meaningful relationships.
• Choose activities to do together that are most likely to bring joy to you and the people you care about.
• Delegate or discard tasks that eat into your time, or do them together with family or friends. 

What does yoga have to do with this? 
As you nurture your self, learn about your self, accept your self and grow, your become the kind of person to nurture, learn, accept and grow with others. You become the kind of person you'd actually want to hang out with, so others, naturally, want to hang out with you. 


Through yoga we learn to be present and observant - two mindfulness skills that are integral to any and all relationships.


Through yoga we learn how to be patient. We learn gratitude for the way things are. We learn about our limits, our challenges and what works best for us. This knowledge is a good place to stand on as we interact with others. 


Yoga keeps this body healthy, so we can enjoy life more fully, manage the stress of full time jobs, be able to take care of our loved ones. 


Basically, in my humble opinion, any yoga is better than no yoga, and any relationship is better when one has yoga in their lives.
Cheers.

Thank you and a Happy New Year

Another year almost gone. I am going to have to say what I have been saying every year for the last however many years – “This has been the best year of my life!” There are many reasons why, but one thing I have to mention for sure is how grateful I am to teach in a yoga community that’s diverse, caring, giving, sincere and fun.  It’s like seeing friends every day I go to “work.” Here are few reminders of what this little yoga community has done this year, through the Holistic Movement Center.  

For starters, Narayni, a long time teacher at HMC, decide she has to wake up at the crack of dawn and offer a Karma yoga class to benefit the Red Cross and their relief effort in Chile after the earthquake. Folks got up for a yoga class once per week at 6:30 am. HMC matched donations. Then Narayani had to do it again and did the same thing for the floods in Pakistan. We had our Karma yoga classes collect money and HMC matched the donations again. 

Then came the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life and with only 2 weeks, or so, to prepare we put a team together and walked the walk collecting almost $3600, which incidentally represents about 10% of what the event raised, out of the 20+ teams present. People came out, shared their stories and walked for a 24 hour period in the relay. It was by far the most touching of events. Yours truly shed a few tears and you know me – not one to sob over anything, unless it’s a chick flick. 

We also collected donations for the Woman’s Shelter for a couple of months and for the Animal Shelters to help them keep the animals cozy in the winter.  It seems like the donations bin and the Karma classes were taking turns almost every month. And people kept giving! In these tough economic times, people kept giving. That’s why I want to thank everyone for their support and compassion. 

What does 2011 hold for us? I don’t know, but I already have a beginning planed. On 3 consecutive Saturdays, I am teaching 3 classes at 3 different locations to raise awareness and support for the work of San Luis Obispo Child Development Center. The Center offers programs for protection, prevention and treatment of children who are neglected or abused. Their work is valuable as the children need all the help they can get. So, come to a class and instead of paying for the class, donate something to SLOCDC. Here’s where you can go: January 1, 2011 at 10:30 – 12:00 noon at HMC, 845 Napa Ave, Morro Bay / Jan 8 2:00 – 3:30 pm at Smiling Dog Yoga, 1227 Archer St, SLO / Jan 15^th at 3:00 – 4:30 pm at Serenity Natural Living, 104 Main St, Templeton.  (To learn more about this event, please visit our website, or call at 805-909-1401, or find on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/HolisticMovementCenter)

So, yes, I feel privileged to be a part of such a big hearted community. It’s fun seeing you all a few days per week and hearing people’s stories. Thank you all for being a part of “the best year of my life.” Happy New Year to all and my 2011 be the “best year of your life” too. 

Cheers.

Happy Thanksgiving...

On a beautiful day in Morro Bay, California, it's hard not to be grateful to just be here. Add to that the yummy smells of cooking delights, the textures, the conversations, the pie and you start appreciating all of your 5 senses and all of the organs that go with them...If on a day like Thanksgiving you can't appreciate being a human, than you are really hopeless. You obviously need more yoga and probably a good therapist. Thanksgiving beats even Christmas in my book. Christmas has gotten a little warped into a gift giving mania, while Thanksgiving is about enjoying the gifts of friends, family and the bounty of the table, the bounty of  life.

Can't tell you the joy of eating freshly cooked cranberry sauce on a morning toast after a yoga practice! There are no words for that in the English language, but there are a lot of sounds such as "mmmmMMMmm" "ahh"...etc. Then off to figuring out how to make a procini risoto. Loved porcini, although a practically made myself allergic to them in Italy in September. I ate so much porcini that i was getting headaches. Goes to show you, less is more. Nevertheless, after a 2 month break, I am welcoming porcini mushrooms on the Thanksgiving table.

Hope all of you are as excited about this day of the year as I am. Also, somewhere between the tastings while cooking, the conversations, the setting up of the table, you make the time to reflect on the wonderfulness of your life and human existence. Instead of a second plate of food, get a second look at how you are on this day of your life. Watch this body glide through the kitchen, listen to the laughter of friends, barking of dogs, chirping of birds, delight in the taste of single spoonful of cranberry sauce, hug your kids, parents or pets, and just soak up the moments as they bubble up to the surface of time. You may not remember half of what happens on this day, but the delight in your heart will make you smile long after this day is gone. 

If this all sounds like too much Hippie talk, than you definitely need more yoga! Besides, all that awesomeness around Thanksgiving comes at the price of over consumption of goodness, which means, you definitely need yoga to process the holiday.

See you on the mat!
I am thankful for the opportunity to share this practice and this life time with all of you. I am assuming that my previous lifetimes have been equally worthy of appreciation, but this life time, so far, has been pretty awesome. Whatever may come ~ it's been great so far... and thank you all for sharing.

Yoga, gymnastics and history....

This note was inspired by Karen Croley, who read a recent article in the Yoga Journal and asked a good question – about the historical roots of yoga and it’s relationship to gymnastics. Here’s my response, similar to what I answered on Facebook but expended upon.

The article I found was titled: New Light on Yoga by Anne Cushman. She talks about a book by a guy named Sjoman who did some research on Krishnamacharya and where he got his yoga, from where we now have our yoga via Pattabhi Jois and Iyengar. The article makes mention of the fact that Krishanamacharya was interested in British gymnastics and used the gymnasium and the tools there to elaborate the yoga postures that are now a signature of the Ashtanga tradtionion, but also transcend it and have become what we now recognize as "yoga postures". 

Anne Cushman does make one point in the article which gets overlooked generally among yoga practitioners - it's not WHAT you are doing but HOW you are doing it that makes it YOGA. 

That being said - I have to agree with her article. It's well put together and it mirrors my sentiment and teaching style. It is because of the above mentioned point, that I tell people what to do, then tell them to experiment and find out what works for their body precisely! Each body IS different. We owe Ieyngar the attention to detail and the precision of yoga posture alignment but ultimately even his strict instructions must be adopted by a body and its own peculiarities. A posture must feel organic, dynamic, alive and what I like to say “juicy.” It’s like eating a good dessert. It could be done with most precise measurements of ingredients but it still may not be the kind of flavor you prefer. To your bread pudding you may want to add some rum, or nuts. I prefer chocolate. So, that’s the stuff that’s still left to you to figure out in a pose – where is your chocolate and your rum, and how much of a nut are you trying to perform the postures, rather than let your body express them.

Indeed we are left with very little instruction on the postures of yoga. Like the authors mentions in her article - the Hatha Yoga Predipika only has 15 postures and they all are sited, forward bends or variations thereof, or of padmasana (the lotus pose). Even things like Shiva Samhitta are short on a few postures when you compare it to yoga lore, the story told of when Shiva danced in front of his wife and manifested the 850,000 yoga postures....The Shiva Samhitta states that of all 8.4 million posture (notice the number just went to a million) only 84 are important. Most of these texts did not emerge until the 15^th -17^th century. Prior to that yoga was a philosophical exploration of reality aided by meditation and varieties of ritualistic practices. The Vedas mentioned the word “yoga” thousands of years ago, but in the context of spiritual growth, not in the context of exercise. In fact, thousands of years ago, it never occurred to anyone that exercising is good for your heart. They considered closeness to God, serving others, understanding the nature of reality, to be good for your heart…and your mind, and your karma, dharma and neighborhood.

So, as far as postures go - it has been left to the imagination of the practitioner to manifest a flow that works for the body. When that mentality and Krishnamacharya’s creative expression came to America, we added steroids to it and made everything fancier, more challenging, more fun, more everything, until it was all about the posture and not at all for the PURPOSE of the movement - which is to purify the body, the energy and the mind. So, our yoga postures became nothing more than a mind trip like everything else we do. That is not to say that a person cannot work with these postures for the right reasons and indeed purify the body, energy and mind. Many do exactly that. Creativity in itself is not a problem. In most cases creativity is the result of listening, experimenting, being present in the moment and manifesting the inspiration of the moment. In this case it's the HOW of the movement that makes it YOGA. 

Yoga is about growth, transcending suffering, realizing one's full potential and contributing positively to the lives of others. Even enlightenment is about that, not about a trip up to a cool place you can later tell all your friends about. 

So, that's why I generally get ticked off when people start asking, what I consider irrelevant questions  such as" Do I get enough cardio when I do yoga?" Not only does it depend on the style of yoga you do, but also it begs the question "Why are you doing yoga in first place?" If you want cardio - run, bike up the hill, box... there are tons of ways to get cardio, why bother tying yourself in a knot to do it. If you jog, bike, spin, or whatever for cardio, you also get to keep your dignity. In a yoga class, your hind end is up on display, you get to see, feel and hear body parts and mind tendencies you may not want to know that they exist, so if you want to keep the pretense of your ego personality, you should pick something more forgiving.

Even though we are left with very little instruction on the yoga postures, we are left with tons of instruction on how to be present, evolve and develop and realize our full potential, be happier, serve others and enjoy life...which is what yoga is really all about. The best part about it is that we get to learn these truths by first facing our own selves, learning to listen to our own bodies and intuition and learn to enjoy the present moment in the safety of our own mat. When we sincerely approach the practice, the practice changes how we are, even though we may have never heard of the Shiva Samhitta or Patanjali, or Krishnamacharya. The grass does not need to know how to grow. When the spring comes, it grows. It doesn’t even know what kind of grass it is or who brought the first seed over. It just grows and fulfills it’s grassness.

To Karen – thank you for the question. 

Letting go.....

Letting go…
Let’s face it – we use this little phrase all the time. There always seems to be something we could, or should let go of – relationships, ideas, past experiences, judgments, expectations, and stuff around the house…. you name it.

Why is it important to let things go? Because by letting go you make space. In yoga language, the human mind develops attachments to all sorts of things. It does that in order to affirm and maintain its egoic sense of self, safety, security and perpetuity. It holds on tight to what it knows whether or not it may be a source of suffering. So, we hold on to harmful beliefs, relationships, situations, habits…rather than learning new things, experiencing new things, becoming different people. Sometimes, we think we are learning new things, experiencing new things and becoming different people just to find ourselves sort of in the same boat as before, just with a different set of circumstances around us. This is why we often comment “Why is THIS always happening to ME?” We do not account for the fact that we have not let go of any of the mechanisms that have lead us down this path before, we simply moved to a new locations, changed jobs, significant others, wardrobe, traded one guru for another, one diet system for another…

Attachment can be said, is also a control issue. It’s the illusion that we need to control everything in order to manipulate reality into our liking. Some people are more direct, forceful, organized, and good hearted, others are more  dysfunctional, manipulative, and selfish, others are somewhere in between, but we all have a sense of wanting to elicit an outcome to our liking and that is a form of control.

The Amritta Bindu Upanishad tells us that the mind is both the source of our suffering and the source of liberation. If attached (to things) it leads to suffering, if non-attached it leads to liberation. The text calls the mind which is “possessed” of desire an “impure” mind, and states that only a “pure” mind can lead to liberation, while a “possessed” mind leads to “bondage.”

Dr. Phil – an unlikely reference for a yoga article, but nevertheless providing wisdom, asks “Do you want to be right, or do you want to be happy? And how’s that working out for you?” he also makes another point “Life is not a success only journey. You are going to get beat up along the way!”

Why is it important to let go? Because not letting go, in simple terms, results in suffering. Suffering comes in many forms – we obsess, perseverate, become physically and emotional exhausted, stressed out, bitter, disappointed, frustrated, feel guilty, taste failure, depressed, become competitive, self-judgmental, critical, sarcastic….in other words, we become the kind of person we’d never want to hang out with yet we expect of other to make us feel like the kind of person we would want to hang out with.

This being said, we must begin the process of letting go by simply being willing to surrender control for a moment, become present in the moment and see. What will we see? This thing we call “reality.” If we are willing to sit and experience the way things are without rationalizations, expectations, criticism, judgment, fear and making things personal, we can see things for what they are. Not worse than they are. Not better than they are. Not what they could be, if only… We can see objectively, factually, honestly the way things are.

Then we must accept what we are seeing. Accepting is not a giving in. Accepting is giving to the moment what it deserves – your full attention. It gives you back knowledge. That’s the knowledge of how things are. If you don’t know where you are standing, you cannot possibly proceed in any meaningful way. It would be the equivalent of being in the middle of China without a map and no ability to read the language, and trying to get home by  convincing yourself that this is really not China and you are really not lost and that hopefully tomorrow when you open your eyes you’ll be in your living room, just like that. Forget about it!

Once we accept the way things are, we may see some options ahead of us. We may see what is in our control and creativity to do and what is not. We may see who may have answers for us, who may be of help, who may be of inspiration. We proceed from there.

But we proceed. As we make a decision to move forward, we are making a decision to let go of the attachments that we have witnessed to be in play. We choose not to dwell on the way things were. We have already acknowledged them. We proceed forward with an action plan. Whether we like or dislike the options ahead of us is not the point. Whether we are sure that the future will be what we want it to be is not the point, in fact, such expectations in themselves may be a problem if we are rigidly attached to them. Let the future be an inspiration rather than an expectation. Our action plan may be to digest the past with the help of a therapist, or it may be to look for a new job, or give up old friends, clean your house top to bottom, take more time for rest, clean the fridge and coverts from all the junk food….make new friends.

We have an action plan and we follow the action plan paying attention to how things are along the way and being honest with every moment. The mind actually likes looking forward to the new when it thinks it’s going to be beneficial. So, we put a smile on our face and remember that the yogis tell us that motion equals emotion. If we act as if we are excited, we become excited. If we act as if we are happy, we become happy. If we act as if we are enjoying the possibility for growth, we start to enjoy it. Here one finds varieties of visualizations and affirmations that can be used as part of your action plan. But none of them will work if you do not go through the process up to this point. Visualizations and affirmations only make sense and produce results if one has come to terms, honestly, to the way things are and is now motivated to proceed in a different direction.

As time goes, we find ourselves free and open. We find out that we have let go. Whatever we were trying to let go of has somehow been released and is now just information in the mind. It is only information and it does not produce an emotional or psychological reaction as parts or all of that information is brought to our attention. Memories are just information. People are just information. Things and place – information. Soon we may even find ourselves not remembering all of the details that we used to painstakingly remind ourselves about, regurgitating and re-living. Now, they just fade away and we feel space, we feel lightness and we feel available for whatever comes without the usual fears, expectations and judgments. We find out that they have been replaced by curiosity, excitement, a sense of adventure and gratitude for life just as it is.

Then we know we have indeed let go…. Until we identify something else that we need to let go of. Eventually, the yogis say that we completely let go of the notion that our personality is who we are and therefore, we use this personality to navigate to word, but we shape it to resemble more and more the divine magicians that we are, when we are not attached to a particular personality.

Meanwhile, remember, you are here temporarily. Enjoy the ride and travel lightly – less baggage is more fun because it’s easy to move around and take less time to pack and go.
Cheers.

Comparing apples and oranges….

Lately, it seems that the topics of conversation in the yoga studio are revolving around whether yoga is enough to make you fit, give your heart a workout, increase your metabolism, and other similar concerns. So, let us take a closer look under the hood of the fountain of youth mobile and see what we can see.

First of all we need some definitions.

The first and foremost definition is the definition of “Yoga.” The word itself has been translated in varieties of ways from simply “yoking” (as in yoking with ultimate reality), to the classical definition of “Chitta Vritti Nirodha” meaning - cessation of the fluctuations of the mind; to the  Bhagavad Gita’s “Yoga is skill in action.” Also, “Yoga is Samadhi,” says Patanjali.

Yoga is one of the accepted schools of philosophy (dharshansa) within Hinduism, standing on its own feet along side Sumkha and Vedanta.  In Jainism, yoga is the sum total of all activities — mental, verbal and physical.  For Buddhist the yogachara path is a framework of philosophy and psychology for engaging in practices that lead to the path of the bodhisattva. Guru Nanak Dev, the first Sikh teacher referred to as the “Great Yogi” by Yogi Bhajan (the founder of Kindalini Yoga and the 3HO movement), taught to engage all beings as members of the one family, being in service to others and deepening one’s own awareness of the mysteries of the body and mind.

Other important definitions:
Physical fitness/Health Related Fitness comprises two related concepts: general fitness (a state of health and well-being,) and Specific Fitness/Skill Related Fitness (a task-oriented definition based on the ability to perform specific aspects of sports, or occupations).  There is no simple definition of fitness, but when spoken of, it is generally understood that fitness has to do with the ability of the human body to function effectively, efficiently, meet energetic demands on it imposed by physical activity and be free of conditions occurring as the result of sedentary lifestyle.

Therefore, there are 5 major areas that are looked at when Health Related Fitness levels are assessed.

Cardiovascular fitness (Aerobic fitness) which refers to the ability of the circulatory and respiratory systems to supply oxygen to skeletal muscles during sustained physical activity. Regular exercise creates cardiovascular fitness by enlarging and strengthening the muscle of the heart, thus making it more capable to pump more blood with each heart beat, thus supplying oxygen to skeletal muscles. In addition, it is shown that regular exercises increase the number of arteries in skeletal muscles that are regularly worked.  Further, the amount of oxygen being inhaled increases (lung capacity) and thus more oxygen is available for the system to function on.

Flexibility – this one should be self explanatory, but in case you are unsure – this is a measure of the range of motion in the joints of the human body. If one cannot tie their shoes, or scratch their head – there‘s not flexibility.

Endurance is a measure that shows the ability of the body to exert energy over a task and over a prolonged period of time.  The definition of “long” generally depends on the type of activity being performed and the level of intensity of that activity.

Muscle Strength and Body Composition are the final two parameter looked at when speaking of Health Related Fitness.  While muscle strength is an obvious one, body composition refers to the percentage of fat, muscle and bone in one’s body at any given time.  Two people with the same weight and height, but with different body composition will look completely different.

On the Skill Related Fitness end of things, things like Ability, Balance, Motor Coordination, Speed, Reaction Time and Power are relevant. One can take this in an everyday sense to determine if one can go up and down the stairs, bend over and squat in order to perform everyday tasks, or if one is coordinated enough to dance and play music, can get things done fast and is able to react to environmental stimuli appropriately. On the other hand, one can take that to the sports arena and depending on the sport in focus, these parameters must be within certain ranges, for the person to be successful in that sport. If you are going to be a soccer player but you can’t duck, kick, squat, take off running, change direction in an instant and jump, you will have a hard time playing at all.

Further on fitness, age and gender play a role in what is considered “excellent,” “good,” “moderate” or “poor” level of fitness.

Does yoga, then, have anything to do with fitness? 

Physical fitness is a way of keeping the body healthy through a cycle of exercise, nutrition and rest.

Yoga is a path to liberation and fulfilling your potential as a being while embodied. Physical fitness is only important as it enables the individual to proceed along the path with minimal distractions such as illness or discomfort.  Hence, the asana and pranayama practices.  However, physical fitness is not in and out of itself the goal.

The number of pushups one can do is absolutely irrelevant to personal freedom. Standing on one’s head is no measurement for wisdom. Ability to sit in lotus is no prerequisite, or a guarantee for fulfillment and enlightenment.  The number of pushups done with grace, the lightness and control of a head stand, the ease of a lotus posture are only indications, (not always good ones either) of the time spend in a committed practice. 

More important things such as mindfulness, equanimity and compassion have more of a chance of developing with a long committed practice. Think of it this way – the asanas will prepare your body for long hours of meditation, or the grueling demands of service to others. The asanas will give you the energy, stamina, and physical freedom to pursue other things you enjoy – from the great outdoors to cooking, writing music or playing sports. The asana will open the door for you to see and even understand many of your own traits and mental habits, teach you to be aware of your being physically, energetically and even mentally and emotionally.

Meditation will refine these skills and take them further into and outside of your being. 

Long and committed practice in itself is no guarantee for moral, ethical or psychological progress, not even for enlightenment. But as the yogis say, no effort is wasted on the path. You may get the point next time around. Meanwhile you are gathering the stones to pave the road when you are ready to do so, and while you are at it, you are still enjoying many of the physiological benefits of the practice.

If the ego owns your asana accomplishments, rather than viewing them as simply manifestations of possibilities, and opportunities to observe yourself in yet another twisted situation, than your asana practice is gymnastics and your time in a yoga class is strictly a work out.

Good news is that yoga can be an excellent work out too. It is sad to reduce the practice to just a work out, but if all you want is to work out – than be my guest.

…Which brings us back to comparing what kind of fitness levels we can achieve with just doing yoga.
Since I have been a full time yoga teacher for many years now, and at least 75% of my physical activity is yoga (the other 25% being split between dancing, occasional bike rides, hikes, gardening and walking around town with the sporadic and unusual fun things like zip lining, swimming, etc., when on vacation), I decided to go through a few standard fitness tests just for fun. Please understand, that I am not the kind of person to work too hard at physical things. I like hiking but slowly, so I can enjoy the scenery. I like biking – the same way. Going at 12 miles per hour is like…way too much work, and there better be some kind of a treat. So... my long training days and competing have long gone!

I got on the scale noting my weight – 115 lb, body fat -21% this morning (it actually ranges from 19 – 22% depending on what I had for dinner, how much water I drank, and when I got on the scale). I am age 38, height 5.4. Here are the results of this morning’s experiments:

• BMI is 19.7, which makes me normal (18.5 – 24 for female of 38).
• Below 21% body fat for a female of 38 would be “too little,” and 21 – 33% would be normal.
• Blood pressure – excellent 109/75…or something of the sort.
• Resting heart rate while typing on the computer is 60 (female athletes ages 34 -41 get 54-60, excellent is considered  61-65, good is 65 - 69). 
• Flexibility – off the charts.
• Upper body strength (the push up test) - did 27. Excellent is 25+ push ups in a minute (and I did chaturangas which are harder)...and it's sucks to hurry up. I can do more s-l-o-w-e-r.
• Abdominal strength (simple crunches for 1 min) – Excellent. I did a total of 54 no fuss, no sweat. Second try was 63 still no sweat. Hmm...  (39 + is considered excellent.)
• Leg strength – that’s the infamous wall squat test. 3 minutes. Actually, my alarm when off at 3 min but I could have stayed longer. I’d say I was at about 60 % capacity at that point, but who knows. That’s also “excellent.” Excellent is considered to be something above 46 seconds for women of 38 and 51 seconds for man of 38.
• Balance test – you’ve got to be kidding me, right? Anyhow, I did it. It’s a joke. They don’t have a category for a person that can stand on one leg for more than 3 minutes doing varieties of twisted things.
• I did not do the Explosive Power test since I do not have the proper equipment and I am committed to none violence.  But I can open my own jar of spaghetti sauce, thank you.
• Will do the running test and let you know how it goes soon. I need someone to spot me, but I am guessing I’ll score in the excellent category as well.

Furthermore, I am guessing that anyone who’s been doing yoga at least 2 or 3 times per week in the strong beginner to intermediate level will be able to score in the good to excellent category.

Why? Because WHAT IS CONSIDERED HEALTHY IS NOT THAT MUCH! To be healthy, yoga can give you more than you need.

Yoga is not Olympic training. It’s a health and wellness practice. If you want to win Ironman, you will have to train for that and push the limits. Winning the Ironman is not a measurement for either health or wellness. It’s an extraordinary accomplishment for which one will pay the price later. Just like all athletes pay the price later – physically, mentally, emotionally, there’s always a price to pay for our greatest accomplishments….Why? Because they are, most often, accomplishments of the ego and in most cases they are in disregard of other important things in life and in the body.

Did you know….. The average world class athlete retires from his sport at the age of 33. Incredibly, the average NFL player is retired by the age of 28, the average world class wrestler by 24, and the average elite gymnast by 19.

And here’s another staggering statistic: The average elite athlete will die by the age of 67. That is considerably lower than the 76 year life expectancy of the average American. According to the NFL Players Association, the average life expectancy of an NFL player is 58 years of age.

With yoga, on the other hand, since it is not about accomplishments, the only thing you’ll get over time is more health, more wellness and more happiness.  Lots of people I know began yoga at 58 – the age the average NFL athlete is already dead! There is a multitude of yoga teachers over 50 and a respectable number of them over 70. If you want to see what yoga can do for your longevity, see Patricia Walden, Iyengar, Dharma Mittra. Krishnamacharia died at a 100 years of age. Indra Devey at 101 and there a countless others, most of whom continue to practice all the way to the end.  There’s a reason yoga is called “the fountain of youth.”

So, to all my friends who are wondering if they are getting enough from yoga, I suggest you ask yourself the following few questions.
1) Why are you doing yoga?
2) Are you actually doing yoga?

Of course, there’s a lot more to be said about the incredible benefits of yoga physically. News and research is coming out regularly, expounding on what yoga can help you with, heal you from and in general what it does to your biology, physiology, psychology and spirituality. Since, I’ve written plenty on the subject, I will save my ink here. However, next time your doctor, or your friends tell you that yoga is not enough for you to maintain a healthy level of fitness, you go ahead and invite them to a yoga class with me.

This being said, if you are one of the folks out there, enjoying your really gentle and restorative classes, and you never find yourself physically challenged, you may consider trying harder classes, or supplement your yoga with daily walking, swimming, biking and whatever else you like. People do yoga for different reasons. Peace, calmness, relaxation and enjoyment ARE very good reasons to be practicing gently. Just realize that you are not addressing all of your body’s needs, even though you may be addressing all of your mind’s needs…. As always…there’s got to be a balance!
Cheers.