Yoga stretches - stretched but not relaxed?

[Korpo]

Hello,

I found something about the idea that applying Yoga that only stretches but is not combined with relaxing enables wider range of movement but not necessarily better energy flow:

http://www.energyarts.com/index.php?opt ... Itemid=113

The author is Qigong instructor, so take it with a grain of salt, but he also did full-time Yoga lessons for years in an Indian ashram to learn more about their yoga traditions. Since he was taught about the 8th and 9th chakras you don't commonly find in literature at all, and published this years ago, I'd assume he got taught Yoga really well, so he might offer a qualified opinion on this.

Oliver

[iadnon]

Hi there, Korpo:

Yoga is a bunch of things that are intended to be applied together.

So, when you do a yoga practice, you must control your breathing, your mind, your body's posture... a lot of things. That helps you develop more rapid, than if you'd do a mere stretching (which it's not bad).

[Beekeeper]

Oliver, this is not really news to anyone who practises yoga. I was sent to do yoga many years ago by my doctor because I was tense. I spent three or so lessons in the beginner's class and was sent to an intermediate class. I am a naturally flexible person and always have been (as a kid I was able to do a split on the left leg the first time I tried) but I still needed to learn how to relax and it remains my biggest challenge. Having said this, I immediately responded to NEW, though I'm sure there are deep "knots" that I'll have to deal with one day.

Someone gave me a yoga magazine a couple of days ago. I read bits in short grabs. In one article, there was a holistic definition of fitness as, "robust existence, a feeling of optimal vitality and resistance, a state of alertness and awareness." (John Nelson, "Australian Yoga Life", March-July, 2007, p6). This is, in my opinion, unattainable without relaxation. The idea of relaxation permeates yoga tradition and is logically connected to relaxing the mind through meditation. Yoga, as a complete system, is also about living your dharma, that is, to live your life morally so that you discover and dissolve your negative tendencies.

Yogis also advise on energy blockages, "granthis" or psychic knots.