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Stupid question???
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TSR
Posted 2006-03-14 10:19 PM (#46645)
Subject: Stupid question???


this probably sounds silly , but i keep hearing about the total health benifits on iyengar's yoga.
my question is , i know hes quite old but how come iyengar looks so out of shape?
keep in mind i have yet to try this style yet hopefully i will satrt soon in a new class starting near me
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aaron
Posted 2006-03-15 9:35 AM (#46670 - in reply to #46645)
Subject: RE: Stupid question???


By most standards Mr. Iyengar is old. He is now 87. I think his body and mind are far from being out of shape. I am assuming by "out of shape" you mean, why doesn't he have lots of toned muscles, etc? I imagine the short answer to that is that he is 87. I know for a fact that his practice, to this day, is still full of vitality and he does things that my 31 year old body could never dream of doing. He still practices almost four hours every day - staying in the poses for a long time (30 minute headstand, for example). I don't believe that someone who is "out of shape" could have a practice like that, particularly when they're 87.

I think we as a people need to let go of our ideas of what it means to be in shape. My objectives when I started practicing yoga are very different than what they are today. I used to think I would be happy if my butt would just get smaller. Now I am less interested in the size of my butt and more interested in how I am feeling moving in the world. I would say that I am in better shape now because of the change in my attitude.
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Cyndi
Posted 2006-03-15 9:44 AM (#46675 - in reply to #46645)
Subject: RE: Stupid question???



Expert Yogi

Posts: 5098
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Location: Somewhere in the Mountains of Western NC		Hey, we ALL are going to get old and out of shape sometime....no matter how much Yoga you do. It's a fact of life. Besides, what's most important is how much IN shape your mind is. This is the *true* purpose of a yoga practice, it's all about your mind. The physical aspect of yoga is to assist in getting your mind in shape because one day you'll have to drop the body and move on. Remember the body is a vessel for the mind to become enlightened. A yoga asana practice is only part of it.

That's in a nutshell, there are so many aspects to yoga.
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tourist
Posted 2006-03-15 10:10 AM (#46679 - in reply to #46675)
Subject: RE: Stupid question???



Expert Yogi

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Not a stupid question, TSR. I wondered this myself. I think that genetics do come into play at some point no matter how much physical activity we do, for one thing. But I also think, from looking at photos of his recent practice, that a great deal of the larger appearing upper body is depth of his chest from so many years of pranayama. Even looking at Light on Yoga in the photos where you can see the side view, you can see how deep his chest was back then. I have noticed that people who are barrel-chested like that do look bigger.

It will be interesting to see how his first generation students age. Almost every Iyengar teacher I know is "in shape" but the shapes definitely differ. We range from thin and wispy gymnastic looking types to very athletic builds to curvy and "built for comfort." And there are a few who you would think "that person is a yoga teacher?" I don't thinkwe really know enough yet about genetics, the role of early eating patterns (remember BKS went through years of what was probably near malnutrition if not starvation) etc. But yeah - keep an eye on the visible folks like Patricia Walden and Rodney Yee et al to see what happens with them, I guess.

But yes, we do have to look at yoga than more than a matter of western style physical fitness. And after 70 years of practice, we do have to cut some people some slack
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