Plywood?
― A-Hanisi Coates (Leee), Tuesday, 21 April 2015 00:58 (nine years ago) link
i'm just going to not use anything if that option has officially been deemed non-life threatening
― qualx, Tuesday, 21 April 2015 01:57 (nine years ago) link
yah um i do yogers with mat on carpet all the time and im not dead, maybe a little TWISTED though!
― mattresslessness, Tuesday, 21 April 2015 03:50 (nine years ago) link
Yoga mattresslessness.
― Acting Crazy (Instrumental) (jed_), Tuesday, 21 April 2015 03:55 (nine years ago) link
j/k i like hard surfaces more but what are you gonna do? no patio, the park a block away is not convenient enough so my bedroom it is
― mattresslessness, Tuesday, 21 April 2015 03:57 (nine years ago) link
going on a yoga holiday in July (organised by my teacher) (obv I don't see it as hol as I don't really go on holiday - its necessary work)
she is then going on a sabbatical for six months so I will have to find someone new.
― xyzzzz__, Tuesday, 5 May 2015 11:12 (nine years ago) link
I went to a kundalini chanting event/gong bath and it was very enjoyable. Wasn't quite sure what to expect outside of the promised wall of gongs but I'm glad I went.
― Florianne Fracke (La Lechera), Tuesday, 5 May 2015 13:57 (nine years ago) link
Just came back yesterday from mine (and then went back out for London catch-up over drinks so a bloody long day). It was an Iyengar yoga retreat so worked on lots of poses (and a Pranayama intro) for up to five hours each day. Got to talk and exchange ideas with a few yogis. Besides it being a holiday, of course!
Great and worked out what I can and can't do so a home practice that I am confident with is in sight.
Got to know my teacher (we both love similar sorts of films!), shame she is moving away from London for a while (and possibly for good). She can handle a class with all abilities and I'll miss her, though I will see her in a workshop in a couple of months.
So now the task is on finding another teacher. But at least I know what a good teacher does - Iyengar has several levels of qualification and teachers have had to do it for a few years - but you tend to get tricky customers. A lot of fun to come!
― xyzzzz__, Saturday, 11 July 2015 10:42 (eight years ago) link
Got hurt at a studio while doing a shoulder stand -- thinking because I'd gotten used to placing a blanket under my shoulders, and doing it without was enough to throw off my alignment -- and in a fit of pique went on a hiatus for about a month.
Went back to the same studio, but a different teacher, and I'm enjoying it again. Looking forward to trying her Ashtanga primary series when I have the time.
And probably off-topic (because it's more ballet-related) but I now have something resembling a forward split!
― :wq (Leee), Tuesday, 21 July 2015 23:25 (eight years ago) link
ashtanga primary series damn dude
― marcos, Tuesday, 21 July 2015 23:52 (eight years ago) link
u intense
the year I practiced that series every day was amazing, I was in my early twenties and def th best shape of my life
― marcos, Tuesday, 21 July 2015 23:54 (eight years ago) link
I'm not that good at it tbh! I'm a weekend yogi at best, I have to cheat if I want to get into bakasana, my shoulders are too stiff for a forearm stand, my balance is terrible, etc., etc.
― :wq (Leee), Wednesday, 22 July 2015 00:09 (eight years ago) link
And my Ashtanga experience has been almost exclusively with an intro-level class, so who knows!
― :wq (Leee), Wednesday, 22 July 2015 00:11 (eight years ago) link
full primary is the bomb but def takes time and consistency
― resulting post (rogermexico.), Wednesday, 22 July 2015 05:49 (eight years ago) link
Did my first bakasana into chataranga today! Most challenging thing though was staying in crow because I kept slipping off my arms because of the sweat.
― :wq (Leee), Monday, 12 October 2015 00:27 (eight years ago) link
congrats!
I still haven't mastered the slippy arms problem. theoretically real ultimate core strength will overcome that but i am not there yet. more lolasana for me.
― resulting post (rogermexico.), Monday, 12 October 2015 02:21 (eight years ago) link
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/23/yoga-classes-cultural-appropriation
As someone who has practised yoga for a good couple of years I am looking at this story of the cancelled yoga class and the link above from a slightly different angle. Have black or fat women been stopped from going to yoga classes, or are they strongly made to feel unwelcome?
Who is it that builds this perception that yoga is for fit blonde women? Obviosuly the way its reported by the media and sold has its problems - but from what I've heard of the class at that uni its open for everyone and free so that isn't part of the problem and not where I would go to use words like 'decolinised'. The Guardian is also part of it and people who have a couple of brain cells should try and separate it from the way its reported to the way it is - classes are made up of older people and many who have some form of disability. Anecdotal evidence of overheard conversation at a fkn festival and having a quick scan around the room isn't journalism.
― xyzzzz__, Tuesday, 24 November 2015 10:10 (eight years ago) link
Doing Iyengar still but taken up a yoga where we do Ujjayi breaths. its very relaxed, the teacher isn't that bothered about straightening legs all the time (she tells me to 'unlock' them). Still learning but its interesting.
― xyzzzz__, Monday, 8 February 2016 14:18 (eight years ago) link
thinking of trying a few classes
is there such a thing anymore as normcore yoga? like i dont want a hot room or rope or any high energy nonsense, just quiet calm etc
i'm not sure what to look for, there's so many types!
― Flamenco Drop (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 8 February 2016 17:31 (eight years ago) link
nb am not super flexible/athletic
― Flamenco Drop (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 8 February 2016 17:50 (eight years ago) link
Veg, Hatha's quietude sounds like it'd be your thing. Mostly holding relaxed poses for 1+ minutes.
And you don't have to be flexible when you start yoga! You develop your flexibility THROUGH yoga.
― Sofialo Ren (Leee), Monday, 8 February 2016 19:19 (eight years ago) link
thanks! looks like there's a studio not far from my house that offers asha :D
― Flamenco Drop (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 8 February 2016 19:53 (eight years ago) link
Second hatha yoga -- that's how I started
― La Lechuza (La Lechera), Monday, 8 February 2016 20:18 (eight years ago) link
Ropes etc can help get you into poses although there can be too much faffing around if the Iyengar class isn't well directed.
My current teacher doesn't use as many.
― xyzzzz__, Monday, 8 February 2016 20:19 (eight years ago) link
excited to start trying this imo
― Flamenco Drop (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 8 February 2016 20:27 (eight years ago) link
isn't hatha yoga just, like, physical yoga eg any type of yoga in which you practice asanas?
eg iyengar, ashtanga, bikram, vinyasan flow whatever all these popular schools/systems/types of yoga are just various interpretations/instances of hatha yoga? idk i could be way off
ime iyengar is the most accessible to beginners and is the most "no frills" type - no music, no hot rooms, no new agey western yoga mysticism. there are definitely ropes, blocks, straps etc but those are all just tools to make the poses more accessible to practitioners
― marcos, Monday, 8 February 2016 20:31 (eight years ago) link
Maybe I'm conflating Hatha with Yin/restorative yoga; I sort of associate Iyengar with holding Warrior for minutes, whereas what I'm calling Hatha is like holding a forward bend for minutes.
Veg, by asha do you mean ashtanga (which is a more vigorous style with arm/head balances and fancy jumping).
― Sofialo Ren (Leee), Monday, 8 February 2016 20:38 (eight years ago) link
Hatha is general yoga. The two main styles that grew off Hatha are Iyengar and Ashtanga - and both of those were taught by Krishnamacharya: http://www.asia.si.edu/explore/yoga/youtube.asp?id=krishnamacharya
Svastha is another style but way less known.
Bikram is quite limiting - you are meant to do it in a hot room and its the same sequence of asanas over and over which doesn't sound v appealing. From doing a couple of styles I'd say they all do similar things - its the emphasis on various aspects that's different. Then again different teachers in one style will teach an asana in a slightly different way as well.
― xyzzzz__, Monday, 8 February 2016 20:46 (eight years ago) link
well this place offers hatha among other things & it sounds exactly as chill & normcore as I'm looking for
― Flamenco Drop (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 8 February 2016 21:07 (eight years ago) link
Hope you enjoy it! Stretching and getting stronger are top notch physical sensations imo. I've been working on my headstand for like a year and I can finally do it without wall support. Nothing helps me shift perspective like a solid headstand!
― La Lechuza (La Lechera), Monday, 8 February 2016 22:08 (eight years ago) link
I see what you did there, Lech!
― Sofialo Ren (Leee), Monday, 8 February 2016 22:18 (eight years ago) link
Hathayoga as a general term describes any physically-oriented form of yoga (as opposed to e.g. seated meditation). That said, in the US a class described as "Hatha Yoga" would typically be expected to be less physically vigorous than e.g. Vinyasa or Power yoga and require less experience linking breath and movement. Good place to start imo :)
― Larry Elleison (rogermexico.), Monday, 8 February 2016 23:23 (eight years ago) link
thx rog!
― Flamenco Drop (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 9 February 2016 00:17 (eight years ago) link
I was pondering on the drive home how successful yoga practices would be if there wasn't a semi-bastardized conceptual framework overlaid
"Hey, want to go to a meet-up in the park and do some stretching and strength exercises?"
yoga is good though, imo
― μpright mammal (mh), Tuesday, 9 February 2016 00:33 (eight years ago) link
i have all kinds of digestive weirdness and weird aches & i thought some stretching might help over time
plus i really need the breathing/meditation for relaxation
i'm a mess rn lol
― Flamenco Drop (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 9 February 2016 00:56 (eight years ago) link
i don't have a regular practice right now because my life is crazy but i did have one for a number of years, basically on/off since 2001, yoga is amazing. even now when i do like 20 minutes at the end of the day, i'm astonished by how much physical/mental/emotional tension is released after just a few asanas
― marcos, Tuesday, 9 February 2016 14:43 (eight years ago) link
Some poetry from Patanjali: http://www.asymptotejournal.com/special-feature/patanjali-vibhuti-pada-the-chapter-of-dubious-glories/
― xyzzzz__, Wednesday, 24 February 2016 21:32 (eight years ago) link
^^^ v yogic
― davey, Wednesday, 24 February 2016 22:01 (eight years ago) link
TS: Kino MacGregor vs. Briohny Smyth
― Sorry To Be The Bearer Of Bad Poos (Leee), Monday, 21 March 2016 21:47 (eight years ago) link
short answer: your mom
― map, Monday, 21 March 2016 21:48 (eight years ago) link
i just finished my 3 week intro to yoga workshop with a hatha instructor & i loooooved it. me & four other ppl, mainly seniors. super chill & GREAT
instructor is nice & normcore and not scary like the last instructor i tried. she has a deep well of yoga knowledge, v friendly & funny
doing thurs night classes starting this week, space is a buddhist temple (!) - v excited
― Flamenco Drop (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 21 March 2016 21:56 (eight years ago) link
beforei found the workshop i tried a hatha class & the instructor was like an snl parody, weirdly passive agressive & would stare into your eyes & say I LOVE WHAT I DO in a way that seemed like she did not at all
the class was cool but she just made me feel v stressed, glad that i went back to the drawing board & found someone more my speed
― Flamenco Drop (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 21 March 2016 21:59 (eight years ago) link
yr situation sounds v rad. especially temple access. i am trying to do a lil youtube yoga at home, i got derailed when it turned into Xtreme Cardio Crunch Workout. i was really looking to roll around more instead of do slo-mo cross-fit
― bloat laureate (schlump), Tuesday, 22 March 2016 02:12 (eight years ago) link
i learned ujaiyi breath :D
― Flamenco Drop (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 22 March 2016 03:18 (eight years ago) link
Yes that's what I'm doing in Svastha yoga, which I try to use in my Iyengar class sometimes. Just that deeper engagement with breath and movement earlier on - in Iyengar the breath usually comes later.
― xyzzzz__, Tuesday, 22 March 2016 07:35 (eight years ago) link
Real question is how do you do with mula bandha?
― Sorry To Be The Bearer Of Bad Poos (Leee), Tuesday, 22 March 2016 17:08 (eight years ago) link
i had to google it - they havent covered that
― Flamenco Drop (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 22 March 2016 17:45 (eight years ago) link
basically a kegel. at which I rule.
― mom tossed in kimchee (quincie), Tuesday, 22 March 2016 23:44 (eight years ago) link
Tighten the muscle you'd tighten to stop peeing mid-stream. At least that's what I found when I googled it after my female yoga teacher was unable to give me a good answer.
(uh, i realize now that this is a super-late answer, but I'll leave it in case anyone else wonders. Or if someone knows this my answer to be wrong and can correct me)
― gradually louden lots (Øystein), Tuesday, 29 March 2016 14:01 (eight years ago) link