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| so glad you liked it, Samantha!!! |
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| samantha77 - 2006-04-26 2:24 PM
Does this make me a yoga floozy? 
Ohh a yoga floozy! Come to butthead.... heh heh heh heh heh
Actually, I think changing teachers and styles is a good thing, so long as it's not used as a distraction. By going to different teachers you learn different things, and see things from different angles. |
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| Well, I was out of town this past weekend, and tried a class in one of the only studios in the city. I practice vinyasa flow (several years now) - what a difference! It wasn't an Anusara class per se, but the teacher's background is anusara. The pace was slower, with no real flow, and there were new poses I had never seen. No crow, camel, backbends (wheel), headstand, plow, shoulderstand as is usual in my vinyasa class, which was weird. As well, I noticed that alignment plays a big part (and trying to be 'deliberate' in the movements). I felt like a total beginner!
I might go again if I am in town again...it was different.
dwd |
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| Out of desperation last week, I went to a different studio, and the class that I took was taught by an instructor from the anusara lineage.
I must admit, I hated it; the instructor was like the posture police - adjusting here and there, and some were just minute adjustments. Perhaps it is the years of Ashtanga and vinyasa flow that I have been doing, but come on! Besides, after the class, I asked myself this question : why is alignment *so* important? Does it matter if my hip isn't a millimeter straighter in a certain posture?
So, overall, it was a terrible experience, making me feel more disenchanted and frustrated than anything else.
Is all anusara/anusara taught teachers like that?
D. |
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Expert Yogi
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| I teach Iyengar yoga, which is the style Anusara comes from. We are the original alignment police.  If your hip is misaligned consistently over years you a) will not be moving prana efficiently and clearing/strengthening the nadis on the way to purifying your body in order to move toward enlightenment (which is what yoga is about) and b) you reinforce your existing postural imbalances and encourage things like repetitive stress injuries and arthritis. The teachers who began practicing in the 60's and 70's are reaping these injuries now. Will this happen to you for sure? I don't know. There are a few marathoners, cyclists, dancers, gymnasts and other athletes who can keep doing the same thing without overuse injuries into their 60's, but not many. Good luck! |
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| Tourist,
Thanks for your reply.
However, how can the one millimeter that my hip is sticking out (or not *totally* straight) in Virabhadrasana B cause a postural imbalance or repetitive stress injury? I am not sure I see the correlation. If I sit at my desk with poor posture, or type away at my computer as I do now - won't that be more 'damaging' to my body than one millimeter of not being straight in a pose? Isn't going to yoga more beneficial than sitting on my butt all day?
What about professional golfers? Each has their own swing, their own slight posture tweak, their own grip, etc. - I believe a yoga posture, like a golf swing, is very individual. Besides, in yoga books, magazines, I never see anyone 'in perfect alignment'...
D. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
| Yes, of course there is no "perfect" alignment. We only wish! The purpose of getting as close to this ideal as possible in asana is to retrain your body so that with constant repetition and practice, you someday will not sit at your desk all day with that misalignment. For example, I could not believe my teacher wanted me to train my knocked knees to point straight. Impossible task - how could I train 40-odd years of knee-caps facing each other by standing in tadasana? How could I rotate my shins out and my thighs in at the same time? Well, I did. As much as I used to have to struggle in class to get anywhere near to what my teacher was asking, I now have to struggle to show people what my legs used to look like. Crazy, eh? I am sure my hips and knees will last 20 years longer thanks to it!
Golfers and other one sided athletes are problematic. My MIL has golfed and bowled for 40 years or so and now has an artificial hip. Of course, so do lots of other folks, but I expect that the high level golfers nowadays do lots of other work to balance their bodies. If not, I expect many of them will have problems in time. I sure see a lot of lopsided dental hygenists and hair dressers in my classes. |
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| Tourist- I agree that anusara principles of alignment theories will also help in daily life like sitting, walking or standing properly. One day after class, while talking with teacher, she pushed my pelvis back and explained this was a common flaw in how men tend to stand. It helps you keep the natural curvature of your lower spine. I find myself adjusting my posture whenever I notice it to be improper. This will have to help me in all phases of my daily life.
I am new to yoga and this is one of two styles I am sticking with for now. It is very challenging, especially being so new, but I like how technical it is. It slows me down and makes me think too much now but I am already seeing improvements and have only been through about 5 classes. I believe it is becoming more natural every time I practice. Eventually, it should become second nature. I am in a beginner class and my teacher works very close with us. I appreciate her adjusting my poses because it is easier to me to feel than understand inner/outer spiral and other technical terms that she uses. She uses the terms while making corrections and this helps it sink in. She even demonstrates her points if more people are struggling. Her minor adjustments make a big difference in the feel and physical energy exerted in each pose. I feel since I am going to practice anyway, I might as well reap the additional physical benefits also.
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| Also-Drishti- Wouldn't it be better for you if you did sit at your desk with good posture versus how you mention you sit now?
Not trying to be cynical, just discussing a point. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
| Hector - funny that you use the word "technical." I think if I heard that description before I started yoga, I would not have liked it - that is just the way my mind works I guess. But yes, I practice Iyengar yoga, which is the basis of all the alignment in Anusara (although they use different words - we don't use the "spirals" etc.) I found that all the details my teacher talked about really helped answer so many questions I had wondered about while trying to practice on my own. For example, I found I could reach my feet easier in a forward bend if I hunched my shoulders, rounded my back and softened the backs of my thighs. Was this the right thing to do or was my goal to get my torso on my thighs? What a relief and delight to go to a class where I was told to do pretty much the opposite of that and the reasons why  I have heard many people say they don't want all the technical stuff, they just want to do the pose. One coworker actually called my teacher "mean" and I am sure it was because she wasn't allowed to simply show off her natural flexibility. Of course there is benefit in just doing the poses however you can and I am told that as beginners especially, we are protected by our own good intentions, but I think our bodies will thank us in the end (and mine already does!) when we learn alignment.  |
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| And I like the word "technical", it gives me something solid to latch on to, when dealing with something so amorphous as yoga. Technical concepts that involve an attitude or feeling -- that's what it is about Anusara that draws me in. Maybe there's a better word than "technical" out there, one that doesn't connote something devoid of spirit. That's probably why Anusara's so filled with all that "flowery" language that seems not to be for everyone: metaphors that attempt to apply "soft" principles (feelings) to "hard" concepts (the physical body). For me, it's totally great, because that's the way I've always operated, prewired that way, I guess. For other people, an instruction such as "open to grace" or "inner body bright" will have them completely clueless; "how do I DO that??" will be the first question on their minds, after maybe just "HUH??!". Personally, I think it's more about "how do I BE that?", and then just letting the intention to be so initiate the physical action involved. But then again, that's just me.  |
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| Just returned from my anusara class today. After our initial relaxation and during our basic standing series our teacher really seemed to be stressing shoulders down and back.
She also was stressing the inner/outer spirals of our arms and legs. She then got very “technical”(for lack of a better word) and had us do exercises to practice these techniques alone. (One was standing close to the wall with a block between our legs while doing forward bends) I felt her leading us towards something. We had a small class so she could really give a lot of individual attention which was great.
She then paired us up and had us do box pose against the wall and after more instruction had us doing handstands against the wall. (I was very leery of this because I have a weak left shoulder from surgery a couple years ago) I was totally surprised, that with proper alignment, there wasn’t near the strength needed to hold this pose that I believed it would take. I guess doing is believing and trust in an excellent teacher also helps.
After class was over, she apologized for it running long. Everyone thanked her because we were all fascinated! Great experience!
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| hate to abduct this thread.. but everytime I see it's title in the list of threads... I always have to look twice.. it reads- "Thinking about trying Anus"
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
| OK - I changed the main title. I'll do the others later |
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| "However, how can the one millimeter that my hip is sticking out (or not *totally* straight) in Virabhadrasana B cause a postural imbalance or repetitive stress injury? I am not sure I see the correlation."
I guess I just lucked out that my original yoga teachers (10 years ago) were Iyengar style alignment obessives. Not that I knew who or what Iyengar was.
Those tiny adjustments still lead to "AHA!" moments for me today. They show you things your body can do, they show you things you didn't know your body was doing and they show you things your body resists doing. I guess I should said they show me, since I don't know about anyone else...
If you have another opportunity to take a class with specific alignment, maybe think of it as an opportunity to let go and experience new sensations? In my practice, those adjustments are the keys to long and short term improvement. The tinier ones are usually the most surprising imho.
Or, maybe Yoga serves a different purpose for you. It's all good. Namaste! |
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| I've been working with a woman who is a long-time Anusara practioner in her 2nd year of teacher training as well as a student of another kind of anatomy-focused yoga. She is really amazing. She has taught me so much about my asana practice. One class with her brought precision and awareness to some poses that I have been doing everyday. I take class from her a week and then do 3-ish Jivamukti classes a week bc I like me some fierce vinyasas. Her class and her adjustments really strengthen my Jivamukti practice. Heck, since I have been working with her, my posture has gotten so much better when I walk down the street. |
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Anusara?
