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| Wow, what a super educated discussion!! Awesome!
I am not an expert at ALL, but if anyone is making a reading list from this topic, I have another recommendation: "The Thinking Body" by Mabel Todd. (i think I got mine off Amazon.) Here's from the back cover: "The Thinking Body, originally published in 1937, is a classic in the study of human physiology, and the effect of psychological and mental processes on human movement.... The purpose of the book is to re-educate us in our movements, to bring the power of mental and psychological processes to bear on all our physical movements." I read it as a dance student but I think that yogis would really like it, too. It's a really cool read and it covers the skeletal system, posture, breathing, some scientific mind-body stuff... I definitely get a couple of "light-bulb" moments every time I read it.
To Danielle's original question, why can we go every day? I thought the answer was "Because we are just total rock stars like that!!" But that might not be scientific enough for your hubby. Seriously though, the yoga DOES just seem to work. It is so restorative. Even when I am sore from yoga, the best cure always seems to be MORE YOGA! Hah. |
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Extreme Veteran
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Location: Oregon | Nick: Good point-but with your knowledge if Chinese medicine, and adherence to home practice and self-knowledge, that's very different to most people's and teacher's experience of Bikram or any other from of yoga-or at least I would say fairly unique.
Nick, I'm not sure I agree with that. One of the things that cheeses me the most about the criticisms of Bikrams is how the series and the dialogue can be boring. It's labeled as dogma.
Cindi said: Bikram's series is one of the best for balancing and stretching the human body.
And I agree. But I think the real strength of it lies in the repetition. The practitioner gets to really learn a pose. And I think by doing that, you get more dramatic health related results.
I'm going to quote you again. Nick: It is possible to increase our circulation only if you are skilful and strong enough to decelerate movements into postures, which can require great muscular control and strength-it takes a lot more energy, so the heart starts pumping to meet the higher demands.
So i think perhaps that all forms of yoga could benefit from slowing down the movements and not being so dedicated to the postures-it's often the things we miss on the movement that determines the inaccuracies in good posture.
Even though they still call the 26 posture sequence a beginning yoga class, because it's the same series, and the postures are so specifically articulated, you can learn them and begin to master them. When you said, only if you are skillful and strong enough to decelerate movements into postures, really rung a bell for me. I've seen people be able to slow down in Awkward Pose, for example, within a few months.
The focus on the same postures, via the fundamentals in the dialogue is huge. It shouldn't stop there. But it's the set up to really begin the study of Yoga, in my humble opinion. No other class has come close to giving me the tools to know a pose as Bikrams has, with it's much maligned dialogue. |
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| what i find truly fascinating about yoga is how it is both as Nick and as Cyndi describe. there is this action of the physical anatomy and then there is this action in the energetic anatomy. and of course, they work together.
it's incredibly dynamic 'stuff.'  |
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Location: London, England | Hi Andre,
I wasn't meaning to denigrate the Bikram sequence or the efforts of it's teachers and students-sorry if it came across that way.
Nick |
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Regular
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Location: The City of Brotherly Love | Nick,
Thanks again for your time. I will surely obtain the Myers book--sounds like a great start and a fascinating perspective. Especially when you are a Bikram teacher, as much as I love the sequence and I love the changes in my understanding of the postures over the years, I think you have to keep finding ways to obtain a fresh perspective and a drive for continuing education.
What's your opinion of "Anatomy of Hatha Yoga" by Coulter?
And thanks Dancing for your suggestion as well. Any opinions on reading material or any other form of media is surely welcome.
RB
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Location: London, England | Hi Roy,
You're welcome. Another book that I think is one of the world's best is called 'Anatomy and Human Movement,' by Nigel Palastanga et al. It's a textbook of neuromusculoskeletal anatomy, which is spot on for a yoga teacher, but not only that, it details the function of every skeletal muscle in the human body, and palpation techniques that let the teacher know exactly how to tell which muscle is acting underneath the skin-so you get learn about the so-called 'bony landmarks,' such as the anterior superior iliac spine, which would then allow you to design your posture in such a way as to gain maximum stretch of this muscle and/or its synergists. You also then know how to contract this muscle, or at least how to design a posture which contracts this muscle. By knowing the insertion and origin of each muscle, you can basically teach asana to have the maximum therapeutic value for the student or for yourself.
I haven't studied the Coulter book in great depth, for the simple reason that I don't think it is very good, and I'm not prepared to spend time reading a tome as large as this when it has nothing to offer me. But maybe it will lead to good things, and serve a purpose by upping the standard of anatomical knowledge in the yoga world. But in my opinion, he hasn't managed to develop an understanding of anatomy that effectively changes the way asana are practiced-there are gaping errors in the postures displayed in the book-like on page 290, dreadful cobra pose which is a therapeutic disaster, well, aprt from for the therapists and chiropractors who are rubbing their hands gleefully at the extra business coming through the door 
Nick |
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| coulter's book is very dense. it's a good book, i think as far as information goes, but you can get the same information in an easier (more accessible) format in other books.
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Extreme Veteran
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Location: Oregon | Nick: I wasn't meaning to denigrate the Bikram sequence or the efforts of it's teachers and students-sorry if it came across that way.
Nick, I wasn't taking it that way at all. I appreciate your articulation. It connected a few more dots (for me, anyway) on the strength of this series. Personally, I think any style would benefit from more repetition. |
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Why can we go every day?
