Yoga: Yoga History and Philosophy Discussion Thread

(Obviously not all forms of yoga) but breathing calmly and deeply while holding hard poses I would think is great training for remaining calm when in a stressful situation

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This is where I meet with myself and find joy...

Posted: 22 Mar 2021 07:45 AM PDT

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Seeking advice

Posted: 22 Mar 2021 06:43 PM PDT

Hi all, probably gunna get some mixed responses for this one. I ask ahead of time for you to only comment if you want to be constructive, not to chastise my choices.

I recently discovered some of the benefits of yoga, at the start of pandemic lockdown, just like a lot of others have.

My problem I face, is that i only ever seem to be able to take it seriously and really get into it, whilst under the influence of psychedelics. I live with ADHD and I really struggle to put time or focus into a good session. I usually find myself using muscle groups incorrectly or overdoing it and hurting myself more than helping.

When I am under the effect of a psych, I am able to fully relax my mind, body and spirit, and I believe I am achieving a meditative state that is achievable without the use of a substance for most people. However any attempts to revisit this clarity and natural form the following day, seem to fall in a huge mess.

I am not looking to seek validation for my choices, nor am I looking for a lecture on the risks. I simply ask if anyone is able to possibly relate, and pass on any advice or tips that they have found will assist in getting into the right headspace. I believe my issues with form and overworking, stem from not being in the right headspace, and wholistically believe that I am able to shape yoga into a more tailored experience that can become a part of my daily routine, instead of something I only enjoy doing once or twice a year.

Tl;Dr

Please give me tips on slowing down the speedy brain and getting into a better headspace to conduct yoga better.

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Is there a healthier way of breathing than diaphragmatic?

Posted: 22 Mar 2021 05:12 PM PDT

I was reading a book on pranayama and this is what the author said:

"Similarly, as some are exclusive chest-breathers others are exclusive belly-breathers and, although this gets less attention in the media, it is as much as an impediment as exclusive chest breathing. It makes the ribcage rigid and the heart and lungs torpid. It also enlarges and weakens the abdominal organs and makes one addicted and a slave to one's emotions, which are stored in the abdomen. If you are incapable of fully using your ribcage in the breathing cycle, you are severely limiting your vitality."

Before this caution, he was explaining how to breathe so that the ribcage got involved without the stomach. I don't know if he means to say that we have to include other kinds of breaths once in a while and not make anyone exclusive, or if there in fact one exclusive we can make but isn't the diaphragmatic. Thanks for any help.

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How do u get both sides of your body to be evenly flexible and strong?

Posted: 22 Mar 2021 07:10 AM PDT

My body is uneven. My left and right side are different in terms of strength and flexibility and my shoulder blades don't stretch out evenly. I need help with this.

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What’s been your biggest accomplishment since you begun yoga?

Posted: 22 Mar 2021 07:53 AM PDT

I feel very proud of the progress I've made on the mat and how much it affects my life off the mat. What's your biggest accomplishment since beginning yoga?

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Need help finding a routine that does not require you to lean on your hands/wrists

Posted: 22 Mar 2021 05:26 AM PDT

[Background]

Hello,

I've been practicing yoga on and off for some years and I'm somewhat familiar with it. But I have quite frustrating wrist and hand issues that keep stopping me from doing Yoga properly and I get discouraged and quit, this has been a pattern for years now. I'm a 34 year old man, a fairly muscular dude weighing 100kg, length 1,80m and I'd say about 15kg of that is overweight currently if any of this info helps.

I always followed videos from Yoga with Adriene but basically all those videos include lots of downward dog and other things that require you to lean on your wrists/hands/fists. I do not have enough knowledge and 0 education in yoga or the money to visit yoga practices so I'm having a lot of trouble figuring out a routine that does not include those kinds of poses and movements.

I simply do not have the experience for it. And what I noticed the most is that those videos usually have a logical flow to them, waking up the body and progressively intensifying and stretching the muscles in a logical order.

[Physical issues]

I do yoga because I have 2 herniated discs,3 degenerated discs, and a plethora of sports injuries that just won't heal. I have lots of tendons that are messed up and muscles that are causing pain in my shoulders, hands/wrists, knees, chest, back, arms, and so on and so forth. I've not been able to work my entire life and chronic pain has controlled a lot of my life.

[Question]

So my question here is if anyone here could help me create a routine that I could do daily or every other day with the focus on back pain(my back is very tight as well) and a focus on loosening and hopefully help heal my other muscles and tendons as well. And the main point is that it's gentle to my hands and wrists and possibly avoid straining them.

You would potentially be saving my life, I am not kidding. It's been really hard to live like this and I've always tried many things but generally I tend to injure myself even more and make things worse on myself.

Aside from Reddit, the easiest way to contact me would be through Discord, Ideally, someone can help me figure things out for a while till I can continue on my own, but just having a set of movements I could do for like 10-30 minutes a day would already be a great help.

I could imagine that you might need more information from me and I'd be happy to provide that.

Thank you for reading this <3

-edit- In addition to what has been mentioned above let me list what I have done or am currently doing myself as well.

Light exercises with 0-5kg weights (usually much less than 5) just to touch on every muscle in my body
I do some stretches like standing static stretch where I move my hips to the side and arms above my head to the left and right. That stretch where it's like I'm praying towards mekka on my knees with arms outstretched before me. And I also do the spine rotations to the left and right by slightly swinging my arms. Also stretches for my lower arms that hopefully reduce the pain in my hands and wrists.
Dry needling literally all over my body, my therapist who owns 6 practices says he hasn't had to treat some for this many years and this intensively in his entire career (jeej me)
Osteopath
Mountain biking (30 minutes on flat roads)
Walks (15 minutes is my limit due to my knees atm) trying to build it up.
I used to go to the gym to fix my back and got extremely muscular and fit till I started getting injuries and now I'm in the situation I am in now, even worse off than when I started.
Yoga ofc
Swimming whenever my body allowed it (pre corona

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Refreshments at Yoga session ?

Posted: 22 Mar 2021 07:23 AM PDT

Hello! I work at a non profit and we partner with local studios to hold yoga sessions for our donors every so often.

I'm curious - when you attend a yoga session, do you expect refreshments? What kinds of refreshments do you like/want?

In the past, our organization has served mimosas, but I'm rethinking many of our past procedures. We also need to be Covid conscious, so I don't think open beverages are a great idea.

Would love your thoughts. Thank you!

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Coping with depression and losing my yoga practice

Posted: 22 Mar 2021 09:16 AM PDT

Like for many, 2020 was a pretty brutal year for me. I'm susceptible to depression, anxiety, and eating disorders as is, but with subsequent job loss, total isolation, and just general sadness at the state of the world for the past 12-15 months, I've been hitting new lows in lots of ways.

Before COVID, I had just really started working out. I'd do about 4 days a week of HIIT and a yoga practice for 3. I don't know what drew me to yoga, but it's something I've always wanted to do for years. Yoga always represented sort of the antithesis of who I was in a way. While an intense practice, there's a center of self-love, compassion, and a state of zen I really don't have in my daily life. I've always aspired to live more of a yogic lifestyle as a way to just re-wire myself to be more authentic and not the anxious New England cynic I've always been. If that makes any sense.

I know it's a bit TMI lol, but when I first began going to classes, I felt actively closer to who I want to be, in a way. Although my first trip in the yoga studio resulted in me going in the wrong room which was a 90 minute heated class lol. But just the energy and vibe spoke to me. The chanting and music and all of it really made me fall in love with the practice. But then COVID hit and I stopped going and stopped working out entirely. I did some life coaching in the meantime which helped, but then could no longer afford it. So a year later I haven't really worked out in a year, let alone practiced yoga.

The past year has mostly been me on my couch or me doing grad school or searching for jobs. I really have no motivation. I do eat better than I once did, I began Weight Watchers and eat mostly plant-based, so I've seen some weight loss but still struggle with body image. My eczema flared up for the first time since I was a baby due to COVID stress, so when I'm outdoors my skin can get irritated. It's just been hard. I've often felt hopeless and out of depth, and losing my yoga and meditation practice has been kind of a bummer. I think what I loved most was the community. And honestly I need people to speak to and give me feedback. I'm still brand new to yoga in a sense and often don't know if I'm doing poses correctly, for instance.

I've tried YouTube and just don't like it. I don't know why. I don't enjoy sitting on my living room floor and staring at my desk wondering if I should be doing work. Or have my dog kind of just panting the whole time because he wants attention. Yoga with Adrienne is fine, but again, not totally the same. There's others I like, I love Brett Larkin's kundalini but I just don't feel inspired or motivated. I guess I sort of feel empty. But I'd like to find joy in my yoga practice. I'll be 26 this year and for as long as I can remember I've always wanted a really solid yoga foundation as my core workout, and to be able to practice with a partner one day or do acro or really transform my body (which is just so scrawny besides a little gut right now). And as I hit my mid 20s I feel more and more like I'm losing time to really transform my mind and body and become who I want to be.

I'm not sure if this is a question as much as it is a vent. These days I try to go easy on myself. I try to say "as long as you get out of bed, don't eat like garbage, and get two hours of work in; that's okay." But at the same time, I wish I could make myself do a daily practice. I wish it could be an integral center to my life and have joy in it. In some ways, this time off did allow my body to recover from some pain ( daily HIIT was causing pain, I still have some knee discomfort too lingering). But also, I'm kind of back to square one. It's always a bummer not having yogi friends my age to talk to or a studio to be around or just a joy in the practice. So again, I know this is long, I guess I just wanted to express myself somewhere and see if anyone had input.

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Wide-legged forward fold problems

Posted: 22 Mar 2021 01:19 AM PDT

Hey yogis,

I've been doing yoga every day for a few months now and I really love it and have felt so much more flexible and healthy... but I just cannot do a wide-legged forward fold at all.

I can't fold forward whatsoever when I sit wide-legged. I'm fine with being patient and focusing on breathing, but I don't even feel a stretch and I'm not sure what muscles are stopping me. It really just feels impossible to fold forward, not painful or uncomfortable but just impossible. Any movement forward is just me arching my back rather than folding from the hips.

I've been doing this stretch almost every day for 6 months and I'm still just sat at 90 degrees! Any idea what's causing so much tightness and if I can do some poses that will 'access' these tight spots? Also anything that may be causing so much tension to begin with? I sit a lot for work but I run every other day, walk an average of 15k steps a day, cycle, and since home office I've been doing hula hooping breaks! So I'm pretty active to counter the desk job.

Also I've tried sitting on a block and that didn't do anything apart from making me knees feel like they were locking back a bit too much?

Any help would be really appreciated. Thanks! :)

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What is a Jeevarasam?

Posted: 22 Mar 2021 03:37 AM PDT

What is a Jeevarasam? I heard sadghuru talking about this thing to drink water from it? when I google it there isn't much info about it.

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Monday, March 22, 2021

Yoga: Yoga History and Philosophy Discussion Thread

Yoga: Yoga History and Philosophy Discussion Thread

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