“the intent of this blog is to incrementally build a body of thought that works toward integrating various topics, yoga, fitness, and the arts – it’s a process…”

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Asanas (poses) “do i have to do the pose this way?” part 1: no…

Asanas (poses) “do i have to do the pose this way?” part 2: no, but…

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Part 1

i’ve a long-standing opinion regarding asanas, some will agree with it, some people won’t, which kinda proves my point about poses: though generally similar, the same name pose is uniquely different for each individual

my point isn’t regarding alignment, which should be as correct as possible for each person

nor the value of gentle safe pressing of range of motion, with “gentle safe” also defined by each person

my point is actually a pitchfork: two points 😉

one point is closer to the answer lex gillan

my recent yoga immersion teacher, gave to the question, “how many asanas are there in the world?”  the answer of course is, how many people are there in the world?

lex also pointed out that most of the really eye grabbing circus-gymnast-quality poses we see on magazine covers, are only doable by one in a million people – of which i almost asked “that many?” 😉

now this is a guy who’s been active with name-brand gurus and self-practice for decades, since the 70’s!  he’s older than me! and incredibly limber and active, so i’ll give his opinion a strong nod

i get an even stronger confirmation when viewing a short 18 minute interview done with Iyengar – it’s a DVD extra on the dvd “Enlighten Up!” i got from netflix

if you haven’t seen this short gem, rent borrow or imagine it, cause it’s good and important!  the abridged interview in the documentary is also good, but not nearly with the impact of the full 18 minute “extra”

my second point is probably easier to say via a recent comment i left on a site i like in new zealand, the yoga lunchbox

“i woke thinking about if i’d really seen your little one doing a natural cobra [on a video posted on her site], and remembering how i’ve felt for a long time now, that all the asanas are resident and ready in our bodies when we are born (as potential) ; that yoga may be 5 or 6 thousand years old, but the imprints in our own bodies, 5-6000 yrs later, pre-date anything ever written and passed down…

“i imagined a non-tv watching no-phone non-guru person in india, sitting, watching a gaggle of playing children, maybe ages 6 mths to 3-4 years, all stretching and running and bent over and crawling, and, laying prone, their hands flat to the floor by their sides, heads lightly raised to peek out at a playmate or parent, smiling, their hearts out to the world 😉 …

“someone got it mixed up, this was not originally the ‘cobra’ – shoulda been the “playful child”  😉  ”

bottomline, for me: asanas are inherent and evolved from our very being, our DNA

right above the bottomline: names given to natural postures we get ourselves into, or find ourselves in, are grounded in the times of the observer

will we see wireless-centric names pop up for popular poses?

the nano-half-twist?

though i guess upside down dog is here to stay   😉   cat stretch anyone?

to be cont’d:

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Asanas (poses) “do i have to do the pose this way?” part 1: no…

Asanas (poses) “do i have to do the pose this way?” part 2: no, but…

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• Asanas (Poses) – do I HAVE to do the pose this way? part 2: no, but… (yoga-adan.com)