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Member
Posts: 16
| I have two books on yoga, Swenson's Practice and Maehle's Practice and Philosophy, and so far I believed that both are great books, the second one because of the practice part. For me, Swenson's book still is great, but for Maehle I now have doubts, after having read Nick's critical or even devastating remarks on an excerpt.
What do you think, should I through Maehle's book away? I cannot judge on the practical part, as I am a beginner in Ashtanga and my knowledge in anatomy is close to zero. As Nick noticed, Maehle's qualifications are low. Healthcare practicioner or Heilpraktiker is a very low level thing in Germany, but of course one should not judge on diploma, but on skills and knowledge.
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Veteran
Posts: 113
Location: Uppsala, Sweden | As a whole, I would say that Gregor Maehle's book is the best I know, on Ashtanga Yoga and the Primary Series. David Swenson's Practice Manual is also a good book.
As for Nick's critique of Maehle, I agree wíth Nick, that a bent knee is always an open knee, that is if I remember this part correctly. It's been a couple of weeks since I read Nick's post. When the knee is fully bent, the tibia can still twist/turn in relation to the femur (which it should when doing half/full lotus), and therefore I think "sealed" is not a good choice of word. And I think it is more important to really emphasise the need for hip flexibility - e.g. rotating the femur, in this case laterally (front part out to the side) to being able to enter the half lotus without hurting yourself - which I think is way more important than being able to touch your heel to your sit bone, which of course also is a good prerequisite (for doing half lotus), but one much easier to achieve. So whenever doing any Ardha Baddha Padma... (half bound lotus..) -asana and the likes, you should back off from it if you feel any pain in the knee joint, until you have done lots and lots of different hip opening asanas that eventually will enable you to try the padma- (lotus) asanas again, and then possibly do it without any pain or problem at all, which is the most important indication that your are doing it right.
For most beginners there is only one safe way to do lotus (or half lotus) postures, and that is to _not_ do them at all - until much later, after years of practice in other postures.
[femur = thigh bone; tibia = shin bone, located medially (inner side of) and anteriorly (to the front) on the leg]
So, I don't quiet agree with: “If you closed the gap between tibia and femur, both bones will now move as a unity, preventing any strain on the knee joint. I like to refer to this knee position as "sealed." It ensures that the rotation happens between the femur and its hip socket (acetabulum) and not between the femur and the tibia (knee joint)” (p. 56 in Gregor Maehles book "Ashtanga Yoga: Practice & Philosophy", 2006)
Other than that and so far, I haven't found anything (worth mentioning) in Maehle's book that I don't agree with, anatomically/physiologically. I think it is an excellent book, and I do think that the knee joint should be flexed completely, the femur rotated in the hip joint, the foot pointed and inverted etc., when doing padmasana or ardha baddha padmasana -- as described by Maehle, and others. And if that is wrong, then someone will have to explain it better to me.
Edited by Iraputra 2010-01-19 8:00 AM
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| Iraputra - 2010-01-19 4:56 AM
For most beginners there is only one safe way to do lotus (or half lotus) postures, and that is to _not_ do them at all - until much later, after years of practice in other postures.
Absolutely!!!
Most adults do not have the hip flexibility to do full lotus. If you cannot bring both knees to the floor in Cobbler (Bada Konasana) with a straight back, you should not even attempt full lotus as you will injure your knees. If you really must do full lotus, work on Cobbler. If your hips aren't flexible enough for Cobbler, you must force your knees into excessive internal rotation to get into full lotus. The knee joint is not designed to be internally rotated that far and it will lead to injury.
Lotus works fine for people who have spent their lives, from childhood on, sitting on the floor. It is VERY difficult for people who attempt it later in life after spending many years sitting in chairs, unless they have exceptionally open hips.
Many adults will never be able to do full lotus without risk of injury. Although almost all of the thousands of Yoga poses can be beneficial to someone at some time, you only need to practice those poses which have a low risk of injury and are beneficial to your unique body right now.
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Member
Posts: 16
| I do full lotus, also bound lotus, without any pain in the knee, but cannot bring both knees to the floor in cobbler. Would you still recommend to rather leave lotus for now? I mean, is there risk of injury even without feeling pain when going into or staying in lotus? I am 46, practice Ashtanga since 9 months, before that except cycling a clean no sports record.
Thanks for the rehabilitation of Maehle's book. I like the first part, carefully written and with an appealing layout, helpful practical tips like spending "an hour daily in Ardha Siddhasana daily, and the hip joints will quickly open" and much more. |
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Maehle on Ashtanga Yoga
