Advice on yoga?

Craxiette

As I've done some meditations on the tarot cards, I've realized that it's really hard to get the most out of it without some basic training in how to sit still and concentrate. I've read the 8 lectures on yoga as well as the part on meditation in book 4...I still don't "get it".

I've tried the "god posture" with miserable results.

First of all, keeping my knees together just feels impossible for more than a few minutes, perhaps my thighs are just too big..? Secondly, keeping my back straight is even more impossible. After just a few days of 15-minutes sessions (with many disruptions) I feel I have already strained my back and I get pinches of pain hours later... I do work out fairly regularily, so I'm surprised at how much struggle this involves.

The dragon posture is perhaps better, as it is easier to keep the back straight. The problem is, this really hurts my knees and feet. But let's not give up! My next move is to get a posture-correcting "harness" (can't link to the web page because it is down at the moment) EDIT: Here is a picture of it:http://www.mynewsdesk.com/se/view/p...de-framfoer-datorn-och-i-loeparspaaret-642312 to keep my shoulders straight and a seiza meditation chair to reduce the pressure on my feet...now that HAS to work, right??

Also, I'm a bit afraid of the pranayama. I have some asthma problems and I've heard it's easy to make them worse if doing the techniques wrong. So I would like to have more clear instructions on that. I am thinking about getting this book: http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Weiser-Concise-Guide-Yoga-for-Magick-Nancy-Wasserman/9781578633784 , do you think this will be a good source for learning asana and pranayama the safe way?

There are yoga classes where I live, but they are mostly gymnastics and relaxation classes. I will however attend some hatha yoga when that class starts this autumn, to increase my flexibility.

Any advice on how I should proceed?
Please!

Debra

A good teacher is a big help.

Here's a very interesting article on pranayama for people with asthma: http://www.yogajournal.com/health/127?page=5

In my yoga school, they say the important thing is to be comfortable in mediation. It is easier to keep your chest open if you're not focused on pains in your knees and ankles.

Try sitting in a straight-back chair, feet on the floor, hands relaxed on your lap.

Aeon418

Craxiette said:
I've tried the "god posture" with miserable results. First of all, keeping my knees together just feels impossible for more than a few minutes, perhaps my thighs are just too big..?

How are you sitting on the chair? On the edge, or fully on the chair?

The god posture is easier if you sit on the edge of a chair. That way your thighs won't flatten out on the seat, and that should make keeping your knees together a lot easier.

Craxiette said:
Secondly, keeping my back straight is even more impossible. After just a few days of 15-minutes sessions (with many disruptions) I feel I have already strained my back and I get pinches of pain hours later... I do work out fairly regularily, so I'm surprised at how much struggle this involves.

A lot of people aren't used to sitting with a straight back for any length of time, so some initial discomfort should be expected. But don't try too hard to sit with a ram-rod straight back. Try pushing your hips forward a little and pay attention the to feel of how the weight of your torso shifts. Your spine should naturally transmit your weight to your hips this way. If you try to hold yourself up with your back muscles alone it's going to hurt, and that might be why you are getting pinches later on. An asana should be firm but comfortable.

Craxiette said:
The dragon posture is perhaps better, as it is easier to keep the back straight. The problem is, this really hurts my knees and feet.

If you want to ruin your knees the Dragon is the best way to do it. :laugh:

If you are determined to use the Dragon I would recommend you get a seiza bench. Sitting in a kneeling posture is easy for a lot of asian people because they have been sitting that way since they were kids, but for "chair-bound" westerners it can be like torture after a few minutes.

Craxiette said:
Also, I'm a bit afraid of the pranayama. I have some asthma problems and I've heard it's easy to make them worse if doing the techniques wrong.

Start off with a breathing pattern that is easy and within your limits. Build up very gradually over time and do not strain! You will know when to increase the difficulty of your practice by a growing feeling of "easyness".

My advice would be to ignore alternate nostril breathing techniques for a while. To get started try something simple like breathing slowly and naturally through both nostrils while mentally saying, ""The breath flows in", "the breath flows out". After a bit of practice you can substitute this for counting numbers or even a mantra. But go slow.

Craxiette said:
So I would like to have more clear instructions on that. I am thinking about getting this book: http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Weiser-Concise-Guide-Yoga-for-Magick-Nancy-Wasserman/9781578633784 , do you think this will be a good source for learning asana and pranayama the safe way?

That's the book I was going to recommend. Buy it!

Aeon418

Dr David Shoemaker gave a talk on asana and pranayama in his regular Living Thelema segment on the Speech in the Silence podcast. You might find it useful.

The Living Thelema bit is about 50mins into the podcast.

http://speechinthesilence.com/episode-11-sol-in-scorpio-year-106

Craxiette

Debra said:
A good teacher is a big help.

Here's a very interesting article on pranayama for people with asthma: http://www.yogajournal.com/health/127?page=5

Yes, it would be great to have a good teacher, I haven't found any yet though, so I'm stuck on self tutoring

. Thanks for the link, that is a good article. It is interesting to note that out of necessity I've discovered some of the techniques she mentiones on my own (I'm terrible at remembering to bring my inhalator) such as breathing only through the nose and the extended paus before inhaling. I will definitely try out those excercises!

Aeon418 said:
How are you sitting on the chair? On the edge, or fully on the chair?

Aeon, I do sit on the edge of the chair, but I still don't manage to get the weight shifted onto my hips -I never realized but maybe I need a heavier butt and lighter tits?! :laugh:

My back is naturally too much curved with my hips tilted slightly forward (like a duck), so I don't think pushing them even more forward is going to do the trick. I feel a bit stupid, no matter how much I try shifting the posture, if I don't have anything supporting the back, there is almost immediately a pain inbetween the shoulderblades, I'm hoping the "posture-harness" will help me get rid of that.

Aeon418 said:
If you want to ruin your knees the Dragon is the best way to do it. If you are determined to use the Dragon I would recommend you get a seiza bench.

Yup, definitely getting a bench!

Aeon418 said:
Start off with a breathing pattern that is easy and within your limits. Build up very gradually over time and do not strain! You will know when to increase the difficulty of your practice by a growing feeling of "easyness".

My advice would be to ignore alternate nostril breathing techniques for a while. To get started try something simple like breathing slowly and naturally through both nostrils while mentally saying, ""The breath flows in", "the breath flows out". After a bit of practice you can substitute this for counting numbers or even a mantra. But go slow.

Phew! 'Cause the nostril techniques make me nauseus, panicky and short of breath after about two rounds... :-S Seriously, how can this stuff be so damned difficult??

Aeon418 said:
That's the book I was going to recommend. Buy it!

Ok! I just went and ordered it!

Craxiette

Aeon418 said:
Dr David Shoemaker gave a talk on asana and pranayama in his regular Living Thelema segment on the Speech in the Silence podcast. You might find it useful.

The Living Thelema bit is about 50mins into the podcast.

http://speechinthesilence.com/episode-11-sol-in-scorpio-year-106

Yes, I did. Thanks!

Always Wondering

Craxiette said:
I feel a bit stupid, no matter how much I try shifting the posture, if I don't have anything supporting the back, there is almost immediately a pain inbetween the shoulderblades, I'm hoping the "posture-harness" will help me get rid of that.

Don't feel stupid. As westerners we have never been trained to do this stuff. Where as in the east many begin as children. I have a posture harness also, not as nice as yours. I couldn't begin to breath well while I was hurting and I was hurting because I couldn't breath well. That meant for me, yoga bolsters, blankets rolled up, and anything else that worked. I have issues and found the idea restorative yoga was just what I needed. It is so far away from gym yoga. I can't tell you how wonderful it is just to have little corner sanctuary where I can support my body into the correct position instead of forcing it.
I haven't fallen to sleep or gotten distracted; and the stronger I get, the less support I need.

http://www.amazon.com/Yoga-Medicine-Prescription-Health-Healing/dp/0553384066

This book has a chapter on Yoga for Asthma with contradictions, special considerations and modifications. It is a fairly large book but covers everything from anxiety to obesity. It is westernized, but no more so that your typical yoga class, I love it. If you think you might be interested in more restorative type practice it has plenty of info, with a chapter on stress and yoga also.

I found it dovetailed very nicely with the Weisner book.

Also,
http://thelema.org/publications/bp.html
Bundled issues of the Black Pearl 1-4, page 18 has an article on meditation I found very helpful. It's called Give Yourself A Break.

AW

Bhavana

I am thinking you need to modify your poses/postitions for comfort. So many people think you have to do yoga perfectly and go all the way for it to "work" - but the most important thing is to benefit without being uncomfortble and hurting yourself. If you feel pain and discomfort, you are doing something wrong, or pushing it too far before your body is ready. One should feel wonderful after doing any yoga positions. Attend a beginners or serenity-type yoga class, learn as much as you can, and talk to an experienced teacher.

Craxiette

Always Wondering said:
Don't feel stupid. As westerners we have never been trained to do this stuff. Where as in the east many begin as children. I have a posture harness also, not as nice as yours. I couldn't begin to breath well while I was hurting and I was hurting because I couldn't breath well. That meant for me, yoga bolsters, blankets rolled up, and anything else that worked.

Thanks for the encouragment, AW

. I haven't got the posture-harness yet -it's so popular the company selling them is simply swamped with orders! I don't think it will be a miracle cure, but I think it will be useful in how to "tell my spine" what a straight back should feel like -I don't think it even remembers anymore!

Medical yoga sounds very interesting! Perhaps I'll give it a go after I make it through Weisner...if I have too many projects at once I end up doing none of them

@Bhavana,
yes I agree wholeheartedly that the most important thing is not to injure myself, this is why I revised my practice already after day 3, when I noticed my back was starting to pinch even after practice. I now wait for the posture-harness and the seiza stool to arrive in the mail before I continue with more than just five minute experimental sessions. I don't feel I need to do it "perfectly", but I do think I will injure my back if I cheat and sit with a bad posture from the beginning.

Always Wondering said:
Also,
http://thelema.org/publications/bp.html
Bundled issues of the Black Pearl 1-4, page 18 has an article on meditation I found very helpful. It's called Give Yourself A Break.

Yup, the Inner Critic and I know each other VERY WELL :laugh:

. It's not too bad though, I've tried really listening to it and asking it what the stress is all about, and it turns out my Inner Critic is just really worried (not without justification) that if I don't achieve fast progress (in whatever I am doing), I will get bored and tired and quit doing it. And the I.C. feels this is such a waste, as it prevents me from achieving anything more than surface-results. So whenever I hear the critical voice telling me "oh my god, I can't believe you are not doing better than this you lazy cow!" I calmly respond that "Don't worry, I will do my very best to continue practicing until I get better". -It really helps! :surprise:

Always Wondering

Craxiette said:
Yup, the Inner Critic and I know each other VERY WELL . It's not too bad though, I've tried really listening to it and asking it what the stress is all about, and it turns out my Inner Critic is just really worried (not without justification) that if I don't achieve fast progress (in whatever I am doing), I will get bored and tired and quit doing it. And the I.C. feels this is such a waste, as it prevents me from achieving anything more than surface-results. So whenever I hear the critical voice telling me "oh my god, I can't believe you are not doing better than this you lazy cow!" I calmly respond that "Don't worry, I will do my very best to continue practicing until I get better". -It really helps!

I hear you. I don't how many times Aeon418 has had to remind me a pyramid gets built one brick at a time.

The funny thing about yoga/union for me is that it doesn't feel much like GOing as ritual does. Yet I haven't felt better in years in either mind or body. It's sneaky that way.

I skimmed the asthma chapter and it suggests to be aware of any throat constriction that might trigger an eposoide. Also everything that Aeon418 already said. As usual. :laugh:

AW