Ashtanga Yoga in Cardiff HOW YOGA COMPARES WITH OTHER FITNESS SYSTEMS

Ashtanga Yoga in Cardiff Why do Yoga? Ashtanga Yoga in Cardiff HOW OFTEN TO PRACTICE YOGA Yoga is unique in exercise systems in that it uses primarily stretching and static holds as its method of developing the body, whereas most other systems use dynamic, contracting movement, either for cardiovascular training or strength training.

For complete fitness you need a combination of the three pillars of fitness; these are strength,endurance and flexibility. Generally to develop these three qualities you would isolate them by training separately each discipline, e.g., weights for strength, running for endurance and stretching for flexibility. Modern fitness regimes emphasis aerobic, fat burning exercises, and conditioning/strength/toning exercises, flexibility is either ignored or given lip service; for example joggers leaning against a tree stretching out their calves for all of ten seconds. Ancient Asian fitness disciplines like yoga, martial arts, tai chi, chi kung, believed in training the whole body, in a way that encompasses strength, endurance and flexibility all at the same time. Old time yogis, martial artists and natural physical culturists, would observe how animals exercised their bodies; they didnt run on treadmills, lift weights, do exercises for bums, tums and thighs; no they exercised the way that nature intended them to exercise; they lifted their own body weight and stretched out their limbs and spine.

This functional fitness gives them incredible health and fitness rarely achieved by most humans. If you want peak health and fitness then you need to follow the way of the animal and start lifting your own body weight and stretching. This is the approach of yoga in that it makes you use your whole body as a single unit so building strength, endurance and flexibility all at the same time.

Fitness instructors will often view yoga as good for flexibility and postural strength but lacking in the endurance qualities of running, cycling, swimming, and lacking in strengthening the bulk muscles the way that lifting heavy weights does. This is true to a certain extent, as a lot of gentle Hatha yoga styles do emphasize a gentle approach to fitness, using relaxed stretches and resting between the different stretches. This approach to yoga is very suitable for older people or people who need a softer approach to exercise; but yoga has many styles and ways of practicing. If you look at Ashtanga Yoga and its sibling styles of power, dynamic and vinyasa flow yoga, these yoga styles

emphasize flowing non stop between poses, and have a rhythmic aerobic, gymnastic quality about them. Doing vinyasa is a very effective way of building endurance in all the muscle groups, making you breath very deeply and sweat profusely. What does deep breathing and sweating do to you, it burns calories, and when combined with a good diet will help you lose fat. How can yoga not be good for endurance and fat loss, when practiced like this, people who say yoga does nothing for endurance have not done an Ashtanga class.

In terms of building strength many men think they need to do both yoga and weight lifting to maintain their muscles, but this is not the case, check out the physique of a male gymnast, they do not lift weights, they just lift their own body weight in different angles and positions, and they are the strongest athletes on earth. Yoga is similar to gymnastics in its strength building moves, the difference is that gymnastics develop explosive power by dynamically moving their bodies through the postures, hence bigger muscles, while yoga holds their poses more statically as this has more health and meditative values to it, hence a more slimmer toned look. Now if you want to build muscle the way that a gymnast does, you just have to add some dynamic moves to certain poses, e.g., from holding the handstand start lowering the body up and down into handstand press-ups to build shoulder strength, from headstand just keep lifting and lowering the legs for an incredible abdominal exercise, from the upward and downward dog just keep repeating the two moves for a variation of the classical pressup to build up the chest muscles.

In fact certain poses by making them either dynamic or by altering their leverage point, or by doing it on one limb (one handed vinyasa or one handed handstand press-up anyone?) yoga can become equal to Olympic level gymnasts strength, if thats what you want to develop (very, very hard but possible).

This fact was born out to me when several years ago when I was teaching at a well known gym, there where a couple of personal trainers who where very big muscular guys, clearly very strong when it came to lifting weights. One day they decided to try my yoga class, they had obviously been told that this was not the usual form of gentle yoga, and as I took them through the standing poses and forward bending poses, they where struggling a lot with their hamstring flexibility, and taking pity on them I decided to make the class do some strength based yoga poses. Thinking that the personal trainers would find it a relief to do something they could do. I proceeded to go through the boat, peacock, side crow and handstand poses, and although these are not advanced arm balances, most people cannot do them for quite some time, I thought these guys would be different, with all their bulging pecs and biceps these simple yoga holds would hold no challenge for them. With great satisfaction I watched how these big

strong guys could not do any of these poses, I was shocked, and I think they probably where when they saw this skinny yoga guy holding his own bodyweight with ease. Of what use is having big muscles if you cannot lift your own body weight.

Let me be clear that I am not against weight lifting or aerobic exercises, or any other form of exercise, all exercise is good for you, and if you wish to combine yoga with aerobic and weight lifting exercises you need to pat yourself on the back as your fitness levels will skyrocket, but if like most people, you do not have the time or the energy in practising several systems, then you only need practise yoga to get a complete level of fitness. Emphasize what you wish to develop, i.e. long held stretches repeated 3-5 times will develop the most flexibility, lots of vinyasas and holding postures for a short period of time like 5 breathes, will develop aerobic fat burning qualities, lifting, static holding, and dynamic moving your whole body weight will develop strength and muscle tone. For best results practise all three ways on different days to get all round fitness.

Aaron Cousins www.AshtangaInfusion.com

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Gymnastics and Yoga

Posted February 11, 2013 by yoginivalarie in Uncategorized. Tagged: brain entrainment, crossfit gymnastics, crossfit over 50, in the flow, in the zone, longevity, martial arts, meditation, neuro-linguistic programming, traditional hatha yoga, yoga massage loganville, yoga over 50, yoga shala loganville. Leave a Comment

I am now a CrossFit Gymnastics Trainer.

The program was very rewarding, and enlightening. With 40+ years of Yoga experience, I have long been able to point out the differences between those physical poses that are labeled yoga and those that are clearly gymnastics. This course has solidified that position while filling in some particulars. Yoga and Gymnastics have similar roots. They both share a physical culture that, at its beginning, included diet, exercise, hygiene, and natural approaches to manage or cure disease. Also from their beginning, the first demarcation is Yogas inclusion of mindfulness practices. The physical practice of Yoga, or Hatha Yoga, is deeply rooted in Kalaripayattu ancient Indias combat warrior training and internalizes / spiritual disciplines. Coupled with Yoga Massage, this practice is a holistic mind/body approach to overall health and wellbeing. Along similar lines are Shaolin and Wudang, or the external and internal Asian martial and mindfulness practices. Both are in contrast to the origins of Gymnastics (from ancient Greece), which began as athletic feats performed for both exercise and amusement; with no internalized / spiritual protocal. Over the years, Yoga has become infused with Western gymnastics. So that what many today may consider to be yoga is actually a very physically orientated athletic skill. The most prominent difference is in mentality .. literally. Gymnastics is an athletic skill, a true sport, whereas Hatha Yoga is a physical discipline that leads to mental and selfmastery. The next difference is the approach to discipline: external or internal. For example, Gymnastics has an external, equipment orientated approach with its inclusion of apparatus (vault, floor exercise, uneven bars, pommel horse, balance beam, parallel bar, and rings). Whereas Hatha Yoga is more internally orientated with flexibility and mobility gained through bodyweight exercises. Additionally: -Yoga emphasizes flexibility, static strength, stamina and mindfulness, -Gymnastics emphasizes pulling, pressing and dynamic acrobatics. In short, Yoga has handstands, splits and planches, but goes a step further with mindfulness training. For example, Yoga further emphasizes being in the zone, brain entrainmenttechniques, and neuro-linguistic programming. Is there crossover? Absolutely. Or perhaps innovation would be a better concept here. Historically, Yoga is the oldest body and mind conditioning program we know of, and it is in a constant state of flux or growth. Many contemporary Yoga practitioners and instructors have gymnastics, tumbling, acrobatic and cheerleading backgrounds, so that they bring those elements to their Yoga students. However, it is when the mindbody connectivity is ignored, and the practice becomes more a skill than a lifestyle, that it is no longer Yoga. As such, many of the Western Yoga styles are more gymnastics than Yoga; such as American Vinyasa, Power Yoga, and Hot Yoga (Bikram). Again, when one minimalizes or subtracts the philosophical framework of Hatha Yoga, so that its objective is no longer meditation and breathing exercises, then it becomes either a stretch class or a modified gymnastics class. With that said, as a 54 year old woman who does CrossFit, I am often asked about my ability to do such a physically demanding exercise about my energy level, and about my diet. My quick and very accurate answer is: If I didnt do Yoga, I couldnt do CrossFit. My traditional Hatha Yoga practice has given me longevity; or the endurance and stamina to do CrossFit. But its more than body/physical. For example, after the first day of the CrossFit Gymnastics course, more than a few folk went out to eat

afterwards. I went home. There, I ate a quiet/non-rushed meal, took a long hot shower, ate again, meditated, then went to bed early. In doing so, I allowed myself ample time to eat in quiet, linger in hot water, sit peaceful to ponder the days activities (focusing on my breath, on how my body felt, and on healing and recovery), then in bed by 10pm to assure a sound nights sleep. Could I have gone out to eat with my course comrades? Sure, but my mind and body would have been short-changed the necessary mindfulness to process the days events. After all, mindfulness is about more than just knowing ones own body and mind, its about acting on that information accordingly. Which brings us back to the primary aim of traditional Hatha Yoga, which is the discovery, creation, maintenance, and storing of the vital lifeforce energy. A practice that involves physical exercise, mindful breathing, focused mind, chanting/prayer, and diet. And that is exact why, time and again, we read about how Yoga eases anxiety, eliminates addictive behaviors, soothes tension and the pressure accumulated from daily living, keeps the ego in check, creates a positive self-image, and helps guide the mind in considerate and wholesome pursuits (aka: tuning-in, being in the flow, etc). Granted, these are my preliminary thoughts fresh from taking the course ideas that will assuredly blossom as I take what I learned to both my CrossFit box and my Yoga Shala. In fact, during the course I drew up this little chart: Yoga strength, flexibility and agility, muscle coordination vitality, longevity rings, bars, vaults, floor pads, mat or rug, small pillow parallel bars, beams, trampoline comforting tools (not hard) prone to injury emphasizes recovery and healing focus and perseverance Mindfulness, stress reduction, relaxation diet and hygiene Think of it this way: Yoga will enhance your physical / sport / athletic program. It enhances martial arts, gymnastics, CrossFit, organized and casual sport activities, while promoting health, recovery, healing, and maintaining strength while recuperating from injury. In all, Yoga creates and maintains suppleness and flexibility, alleviates stiffness and soreness, increases concentration and focus which are all essential for any exercise routine. So for me its not a matter of comparison so much as a natural compliment. Live Deliberately! Coach Yogini Gymnastics strength, flexibility and agility, muscle coordination

Ashtanga yoga and gymnastics

Some sports train juniors into top athletes, while other sports enable adult hobbyists to stay fit. In team ball games, ice hockey is the serious sport while floorball is the sport of choice for

amateurs. Many schools and companies have a floorball field reservation for their students or employees. In martial arts, wrestling trains young professional athletes while krav maga, kickboxing and various schools with Japanese names train adults. For gymnastics, the closest matching adult sport is Ashtanga yoga. Yoga covers those parts of gymnastics which are realistic for adults, and which are not better trained at gym.

Flexibility exercises - included in Ashtanga Yoha Static strength positions - included in Ashtanga Yoga Pulling and pressing - better trained in gym Dynamic acrobatics - out of reach for adults Many static positions are part of both gymnastics and Ashtanga yoga, with different names: Handstand is Navasana Vinyasa Out Frog stand is a fundamental preparatory exercise for plance and handstand. Kukkutasana andMarichyasana B Vinyasa Out are more difficult variations of frog stand. Planche is called Mayurasana Headstand is called Muka Hasta Sirasana A Going to Navasana and back to the ground is called a V-up in gymnastics. Split is not part of Ashtanga Yoga, but Supta Parsvasahita is close.