"yoga is the ability to direct and focus mental activity" - Patanjali Yoga Sutra 1.2
"Yoga is a holistic system that affects multiple variables simultaneously. There are hundreds of different tools in the yoga toolbox that can be combined in an almost infinite number of ways" - Timothy McCall, M.D. : Yoga as Medicine
Hi friends, today I received an email question from a male reader that I thought I would share with you.
Question: Is there any place for weightlifting, treadmills, elliptical, etc. in the world of yoga? Because the impression of yoga is that it's all about stretching, flexibility, breathing, etc - to the exclusion of all of this other bodybuilding stuff. - In other words, is it true that if yoga were "east" and bodybuilding were "west" then do we go by Robert frost's poetic line "East is east, west is west, and the twain shall never meet"?
Answer: Yoga means union. The West understands Yoga as a discipline of the body whereas the body is only part of the equation, it is a discipline of the mind; when the body is freer of tensions and fit (purified from within) through all the 8 steps of yoga, one has more ability to feel positive, contemplate life from a 'higher', more compassionate perspective. Practising physically trains you to concentrate, and has enormous benefits that many athletes or weekend warriors find improve their mobility and so on, as well as heal from (and prevent) injury therefore Yoga is an inclusive system that says follow your bliss, mindfully and moderately and be happy. I hope this answers you- it is certainly a huge topic - I have several blogs which go into other aspects
Question: so in other words if one is an athlete or bodybuilder or such, yoga is a compliment to their normal training routines. It adds an edge to their weightlifting, or cycling or whatever they normally do. Is that what you're saying?
Hope this is useful...om shanty shanty shanty
Rana
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