Here is a yoga side bend - never strain! Move in and out of a yoga pose slowly and with feeling to unleash your energy and to uplift your spirit.
In recent years, the practice of yoga has exploded in the United States with an estimated 20 million Americans now practicing yoga as I shared in a recent blog post.
Yes, in urban areas such as metropolitan Washington DC where I live, you can find yoga studios and classes on practically every street corner. And, articles about yoga's benefits and who practices yoga appear weekly in the mainstream press. As such, you would think that we would be seeing numerous people walking around feeling energized, flexible, and serene.
Yet, I have observed that people in my social circles who attend yoga classes do not seem to be gaining the maximum benefits from their yoga practice. And, it's not uncommon to hear about yoga injuries. Why? In my not always humble opinion, I believe that more people have adopted the intense forms of yoga such as Power Yoga, Hot Yoga, Iyengar Yoga, rather than the gentle form of Hatha Yoga that I recommend and practice myself.
Many people who practice rigorous forms of yoga often push themselves hard to feel they are getting a "workout." They practice yoga practice more like a form of old school calisthenics consisting of rapid repetitions which tend to leave a person drained rather than energized and refreshed and, also more prone to injury.
Basic to basics, I say! In his classic yoga book, Yoga: 28 Day Exercise Plan which was first published in the late 1960s, the late yoga author Richard Hittleman touts the myriad benefits of a gentle and slow yoga practice.
He explains that yoga is a "highly plesasurable experience" and that its "movements are performed in relaxing, slow motion with very few repetitions, no strain should ever be felt...Throughout the Yoga practice session we attempt to fix the consciousness fully on all movements of the exercises and not allow it to wander. We become totally involved in what we are doing. You must feel what is happening in your organism, especially during the holidng periods; learn to feel the stretching; become the stretch and do not run away from it; feel the stimulation; feel the release of energy within you, feel the relaxation..."
When you practice gentle, slow hatha yoga in the way Hittleman suggests, you will notice feeling revitalized and uplifted with at the end of your session. As I have said repeatedly in past blog posts, I truly believe that "slo focused mo' is the way to yoga! Hittleman's yoga philosophy is classic and beneficial to all would-be yogis. You can read Amazon reviews written several months ago that share the benefits of greater energy experienced by people who practice yoga the slow yet powerful Hittleman way.
Yours for feeling refreshed and revitalized with a slow, gentle yet powerful yoga practice.
Laura Venecia Rodriguez, the Beginner's At Home Yoga Coach
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