Sunday, November 6
A wonderful Saturday:I can say that yesterday I had a wonderful day. I went to fill in( a one hour session) for a yogi who could not perform her duties due to a minor health problem. The event was a full day meditation retreat under the title “ Motivation and Personal Leadership: the secret to success”.
The organizers were the Kuwait Meditation Center of which I am a member. This center had finally become officially open to public after years of performing their limited practice in Kuwait. The place was the Marina Mall hotel, and it was my first visit to that hotel. But man I liked what I saw. The place that intrigued me the most was the vast sea front. And the beach spot that was given to the organizers to perform a Yoga session was just perfect. Add to that the excitement of being a yogi for some of which are already great yogis. It was awesome.
And it was full of surprises as well.
First, I met one of my best friends (I only have four) whom I haven’t seen for a very long time.
Then, as I was making my rounds to check the poses I realized that one of my students was my Ayenger yoga instructor in Kuwait, actually the first Ayenger Yogi in Kuwait. This Austrian, rather fit and strong elderly( bless her heart) who spent most of her life practicing yoga was never in terms with me about some modification to enhance meditation using some Raja Yoga
techniques like music, scents and mantra. She was more into using the power of nature. And this made me nervous a bit because after going on my own as a yogi I used all these techniques that she did not approve of. And I was going to use them during my session yesterday, so you can imagine the state I was in.
Anyway; it ended unexpectedly; she came to me and told me that she had the best meditation session in her life and that she is really proud of me. And you can imagine how exited I was to hear that from her, because I’m only her student and will always be. What I learned from her had far exceeded the meditation techniques, teachers always leave a definite mark on you.
I also enjoyed group meditation which I have not done for a while due to some reason or another.
The group, the place and the cool breaze, all made my day, yesterday.
Name::AyyA
From::Kuwait
I AM WHO I AM AS I ARRIVE AT YOUR DOOR WHETHER I COME OR I GO IS NOT UP TO ME FOR I HAVE LOST SIGHT OF ALL DESIRE "Walled Garden of Truth",Hakim Sanai
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7 Comments:
interesting to say the least
so.. whats the 1st thing u tell some1 who has no idea how yoga "works" but would like to give it a go?
wow! I love yoga, I wouldn't say I know all about it but it does make me feel great, way to go =}
Temetwir
Ok here are some tips:
1-Never start practicing yoga alone with “DVD’s” or video tapes, it is very dangerous.
2-Search around for yoga classes given in your area, and try every one of them and see what fits you best. You will know the effect that each yoga class has on you from the first session.
3-The most important thing to look for when trying these sessions is the right teacher who explains the procedure well and makes rounds in the class to fix the wrong postures. If the teacher just perform her move and did not do the rounds, you know you are in a commercial class no matter what are the instructor’s qualifications.
4-Don’t worry about the stiffness of your body, it takes time to make your muscles flexible, but the positive mental effect should be felt from the first session.
5-Power Yoga is not the Yoga I’m talking about, it is a type of Aerobics/Yoga.
Here is a linkif you are interested to know more.
Spont
:)
Shopa
They call it telepathy my dear ;)
Waiting for your e-mail.
ayya i copy pasted the tips onto notepad heh
ok thing is back in q8 i work out (weights) BUT whenever i have the time i get into 'steps' sessions too, u know the stuff thats for an hr and is like a routine u learn for that hr (beats cardio).. u guessed it they dont really mix, and i know i cant stick to one gotta do the 2
is yoga the same, u need to stick to it alone?
Temetwir
Yoga is specially recommended for those who do weight lifts and cardiovascular work-out; you can add it as routine once a week in your schedule. The reason I recommend it is because all other exercises tend to strain your muscles and contract them and that is why you feel pain after each session. Yoga works differently on your muscles; it works longitudinally which is the opposite of any other exercise. So a combination of the two is excellent if you have the time. I do not recommend Steps though, from my personal experience, Steps/Aerobics can be very dangerous on you legs/feet joints; any wrong movement could cost you a lot.
ayya
once a week :/ i was thinking around 5 times, interesting.. i know where ur coming from abt the steps but its not really that big an issue (almost 2yrs and over 20guys and no injuries mn el steps 7amdelah)
now that u mention it i remember the group before us would always do a stretch AFTER the session, mostly laying down and it was more of a pose than a stretch .. if the yoga 'circle' is small in q8 maybe u know the 'trainer', 6alaal the lebanese guy (el lebnany elwa7eed ely esma 6alal heh)
Stretching after an Aerobics class is not the same as Yoga. In each yoga class you will have to perform poses which could be strenuous and need a lot of endurance through which you have to do a lot of proper breathing, it should also include breathing sessions. All this should work to prepare you physically and mentally for the last session which is relaxation. Now this last session which should not take less than 20 minutes is the most important part. I have written about it months back under different titles of whichthisis one, but you can skim through Nov., Dec. 2004 to see more if you are interested. Hmmmmm you just gave me the idea of having those articles under a separate group on the side bar of my blog, I will have to think about that.
The problem with Yoga community in Kuwait is that it is not well organized. Most of the tutors in clubs are Aerobics instructors who treat yoga as stretching exercises which is wrong. And their time is about an hour which I don’t see how you would get a full benefit from a one hour session. I personally need 2 hours/session; 30 min standing postures, 30 min sitting postures, 20 min breathing session, 20 min relaxation and the rest is spent in between for explaining and fixing postures. This is done for the starters. As for the advanced I add more time to standing and sitting postures since the advanced ones have developed more endurance to stay in a pose longer.
And btw; once when I was working for one of the health clubs I was forced to squeeze my session into a one hour session, I was not happy about it nor were my regulars who complained to the management and that was one of the reasons that made me stop working for clubs. If you can find a free lancer, I think this would be your best bet. There are many in Kuwait but unfortunately I do not have their contact numbers.
As for why I recommended one session/week: as a starter your body is not prepared for a different type of exercise, so once a week should be sufficient enough and then you can increase that as your body becomes more adapted to them.
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