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Originally Posted by ocean
Hey, I'm a Yoga teacher, and I've been through the whole "I waaaaanna" :)
I know that you know this, but Yoga is not exercise. It's not about performance, it's not about doing the poses - it's about you.
Asana is a metaphor for your life:
-How you treat yourself on the mat is how you treat yourself in life.
- You don't get something (a pose) until you're ready for it, and the progress is not linear. More practice does not equal faster results. I practice less than ever these days and am progressing faster becuase I'm practicing the right way now. Which brings me to -
- Yoga is about balancing the Nervous System. This happens through the breath. If you are not studying the breath, you are not doing Yoga, nor will you make progress in your asana.
- Yoga is about the energy body. This is accessed through the bandhas. If you are not exploring the bandhas in every pose, you are not doing Yoga, nor will you make progress in your asana.
Maybe that sounds harsh, but I've been teaching for years, and so many peopel are thinking their way into their practice. You must feel your way.
Without a spiritual mindset, and a focus on the breath and subtle body, Yoga is a good relaxation device, or a tool for improved mobility, or second rate gymnastics.
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I think this conversation originally was about the physical aspects and mental only as it pertains to making yourself get off the couch to do it, plus how sometimes it hurts.
You're absolutely right about the spiritual mindset being the true form, but sometimes people have to work their way up to that. When I first started, it was only about keeping my old body from stiffening up. In the intervening years, I've continued to grow and evolve in other ways and my yoga practise has morphed along with me.