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| Hello all,
New to the site. New to yoga.
I am a fairly athletic 40 year old male. Have been riding and racing bicycles off and on for the last 20 years. Never had any type of stretching program. We usually just jump on the bike, ride, jump off, and drink beer.
Even though I am active I have high blood pressure and anxiety/stress issues. Lately, I have began to think that bicycle riding/racing is causing more stress than relief. Riding road bikes with local amateur racers is not the most pleasant thing in the world. It is all about who's the fastest, who wins the sprints, or who can yell the loudest at the person that screwed up the pace line rotation. You can smell the testosterone in the air. So, I have cut out a significant amount of riding and started practicing ashtanga yoga.
I have about 50 days under my belt. I wanted to start out right so I took a 4 day beginners class here in town. I have also been working on following the 8 limbs of yoga. Jan 28 - 30 I attended a David Williams weekend training. He was super cool, looked great for 60, and was very motivating. He was all about no adjusting by the teacher, breathing super deep and long, and slowing down movements so you move almost as slow as Tai Chi. He said at the end/during yoga practice you should feel no pain. I left the seminar feeling like yoga was more about breath and bandhas then deepness/alignment of asana. So, I came home and have practiced every day (no moon days/saturdays) since.
This weekend I am attending a Manju Jois training. After the first night I felt like a was run over by a semi truck. I was pulled and pushed all over the place. I was so sore I could barely sleep. During practice I heard him say something along the lines that if it isn't hurting your cheating a bit. In the boat pose he made references to feeling pain in abs and back. So, I have left this seminar thinking that breath and bandhas are important but, also deepness/alignment of asana is important even if it is uncomfortable.
So, why do you think the two teachers have different approaches?
Through my reading I have come to the conclusion that every student that learned the ashtanga system from Pattabhi Jois back in the 70's experienced great amounts of pain. So, is it just a matter of paying my dues before I become comfortable and I am able to breathe freely and deeply in the asana? I am fine with that but, I need to pay the dues of a 40 year old man.
Any thoughts?
Thanks,
StrickyB
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
    
| Hi Bobby - I won't address the Ashtanga issues. I am an Iyengar student/teacher, so I'll let some of the sweat n' grunt people (and I mean that in a nice way  ) answer those things.
I will say however, that if you have any decent mountain biking around where you live, seriously consider switching out the racing machine and get one with suspension and some fat, knobby tires. Don't race it, just go ride it. Mr. Tourist was an Ironman triathlete and adventure racer. Did about a trillion miles of road training and racing over the years. He still has a road bike, but it is the mountain bike that gets the most use. He goes off on trails and roads that lead to trails and has a great time. In the summer we usually get some time at Whistler mountain, and if you watched the Olympics, you'll have an idea of what great off road stuff they have to ride on there. He was still going strong at 40, but at 56 he likes the quieter life. Mountain biking, a little trekking, a little kayaking, a lot of ballroom dancing and of course, FINALLY yoga.  |
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| Pain is your body telling you that you are injuring it. Discomfort in the middle (belly) of a muscle usually means that you are building muscle. Discomfort in or near a joint usually means that you are injuring yourself.
Forget no pain, no gain. No pain, no sprain will work far better, especially if you plan on living a long time and want to continue yoga.
If you are doing Astanga, be especially caerful that you do not stress your knees. |
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Tourist
Yes, mountain biking is the way to go.
Just bought a 5" travel Giant X0 this year.
Gonna stick to riding that for a while.
Jimg
I like the quote at the bottom of your post.
That is the belief I have been cultivating since seeing David Williams.
So, that is how I am going to practice.
That quote alone convinced me to buy that book.
Thanks |
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| So, I asked Manju Jois today about David Williams stance on no manual adjustments.
This is what I got out of his answer:
If you study with the same teacher, they will be able learn your body and can make a more educated adjustment. They should be pushing towards correct alignment. Each time they make an adjustment you get a little closer to correct alignment.
The person that was adjusting me the first night was a teacher that had attended his week long training. So, I am wondering if my soreness is due to the fact that she didn't know where I am in my practice, but she still felt the need to adjust me. It felt like she was pushing me into correct alignment, not towards correct alignment. Not to mention I had never been past Marichyasana A before and the first night we went through the entire primary series. When he mentioned pain (as I wrote about in first post) maybe it was directed more towards sore muscles because of holding a pose, not pain because of pushing yourself to far.
I was also a little confused about LED classes. I feel that long smooth inhales and exhales are key to practicing yoga. Yet, in a LED class when the teacher calls the poses I am only breathing as long as they allow. Manju said that group or LED classes are just a tool to teach the sequence. He encourages students to have a home practice so they can progress at their own pace.
His answers made since to me.
I am glad I got the chance to practice with him so early in my yoga journey. He seems like the real deal. |
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different philosophies?
