Blog Archives
Help Me Celebrate Another Milestone – Join the Bandwagon!
This One’s For Me
I hope that people who know me well will tell you that I’m generally a modest person and not really given to showing off. [I really hope…!].
Somehow, though, when it comes to me and my Surya Namaskars, that nice human quality seems to get thrown out the window. In fact, I’ve been thinking a lot about how I can claim bragging rights without sounding like a braggart, and just may be, I have found a reasonable balance.
First, the bragging. This morning, I completed – are you ready for this? – seventy-five (that’s 75) Surya Namaskars! It was during my usual one hour morning yoga class that got extended by about 20 minutes so I could complete this feat. It took me – between huffing and puffing – roughly 85-90 minutes; that’s not counting the warm-up, 50 push-ups and 60 crunches (if I’m going to brag, may as well go whole hog) that my teacher made me complete.
My average Surya Namaskar was probably about a minute long, combined with a few minute-long breaks along the way. It was arduous. And exhilarating! For someone like me, an anti-fitness geek if you ever saw one – I just feel like I have earned my badge and bragging rights. What do you say?
That’s all I’m going to say about my totally unforeseen coup. [To understand why I call it that, you may want to read this]. Except for thanking my fantastic yoga teacher for always pushing me to the limits, and helping me get this far on my “yoga journey”. I know he’s already thought of what my next goal should be. Yikes!
And This Is For You
Now, for that balance I talked about, I thought I would give you a few more resources on the wonders of Surya Namasker to make this a useful post. Through this, I also hope to entice those of you not already on the yoga bandwagon to get started already!
What are you waiting for?
For starters, here’s another great video demonstrating Surya Namaskar. The first minute goes through one entire cycle consisting of the 12 asanas (or postures), followed by a few repetitions.
:
To recap, here are the primary benefits of Surya Namaskars (and yoga in general):
- Surya Namaskar’s 12 steps (or 16 or 18 step variation) works virtually every muscle group of your body – from your head to your toes.
- Its roots are found in yoga philosophy of vedic tradition and has been designed to strengthen mind and body.
- Each organ of the body is likewise exercised. It is to be combined with specific breathing techniques to enhance the value of its practice (the video above is a great demonstration of how you should breathe as you go through each step).
- It works on spinal alignment and corrects your posture.
- It strengthens the extensor muscles of your body. [An “extension” s a movement of a joint that results in increased angle between two bones or body surfaces at a joint. For example, extension is produced by extending the flexed (bent) elbow].
- A fantastic benefit is achieving flexibility of various parts of your body.
- The fast movements between postures creates agility while improving blood circulation. Likewise, a dull brain becomes active and the brooding mind gets refreshed.
- Yoga gives you energy. When you practice during mornings, you will find yourself energetic for the rest of the day.
- It’s great for losing weight and inches all over! That alone should be enough of an incentive for some.
You Should Go For It!
Ancient yogis prescribed the practice of Surya Namaskar centuries ago for gaining optimum physical and mental health with huge benefits such as these: building muscular strength and endurance, increased all-over flexibility, spinal alignment, better breathing capacity and stamina, reduced abdominal fat, enhanced metabolism and a refreshed mind.
What other form of exercise can claim to do all this? It’s all there for the taking.
Like I said before, what are you waiting for? Go for it. And become a braggart just like me. You would’ve earned it!
:
:
Photo Credit: By http://theholisticcare.com [CC-BY-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Sunday Power Yoga! OMmmmmmmm…
Sunday Morning
On what should have been a lazy Sunday morning, I had scheduled my make-up yoga class from the one I missed on Friday. And what a class it was! My yoga teacher sent me an SMS to say he would be 30 minutes late. What he did not tell me was that since it was a Sunday, my usual one hour class would extend to two!
Here’s what he made me do:
50, yes that’s FIFTY, complete Surya Namaskars.
These were preceded by 40 push-ups and followed by 50 crunches. Now, these are not yoga postures. But what I have found is that they are very powerful yoga “helpers”.
The animated GIF above will give the yoga neophyte a good idea of the complete set of asanas/postures for one Surya Namaskar. But note that some of the asanas are shown to be simpler than they are in reality. If I had mimicked this animation, it would not have counted towards my fifty. But, it’s close enough as a demo.
A couple of helpful hints that my teacher has given me about Surya Namaskar –
- Ideally, you should be able to complete one (the 12 postures kind) in 50 seconds. I am currently in the 50-60 second range.
- The other neat alteration is to hold each posture for a few seconds. This is very tough to do, but you need to keep in mind that when you complete one of these, you actually get the benefits of doing multiple Surya Namaskars. So, for example, if you did one Surya Namaskar where you held each posture for 30 seconds, then what you gain from that one toughie would be equivalent to that of doing 15 “basic” Surya Namaskars. Cool!
The Journey So Far
In order to understand what it means for me to do fifty of these whoppers, you need to understand where I am coming from. I am decidedly not a Size Zero Kareena Kapoor who supposedly does 100 Surya Namaskars regularly. Before breakfast. (I am also not within touching distance of Size Zero, although there have been times when there has been a zero in my size, in case that counts).
Indulge me, please.
I just passed the six month anniversary of my move to Mumbai. I am about to reach my sixth month (three times a week) of yoga training/practice. When I started (and for all my life until then), I had an extremely inflexible body. Yes, you could say that – in fact, if they were giving out awards for the most stiff and inflexible body in existence, I may not have got the gold, but I surely would have won the silver or bronze. I’m not exaggerating.
On a lark (or perhaps at the suggestion of a new Indian friend), I decided to take up yoga. After all, I was in the country where yoga was conceived and created several centuries ago. Why not take advantage of being here, I told myself. One of the best decisions I made!
During those first few classes, I could see my yoga teacher mentally asking himself whether I would ever be able to complete a yoga pose correctly. In spite of his and my doubts, he persisted and I persevered. Thank goodness!
Over the past six months, the flexibility of my body has gradually, but visibly, been developing. Unbelievably so. Who would have thought I could do 50 Surya Namaskars in one sitting! Not me. I simply must celebrate this milestone. Somehow.
The Right Teacher Can Make a Difference
It would be so unfair of me not to give due appreciation to and for my teacher. I totally lucked out with him! About a week or so after I had moved, I asked a friend if she knew any good instructors. She knew of one but had not been impressed. One day, she sent me a phone number she found on some random advertisement. I called them and they recommended a freelance yoga instructor. This person – the first I called – is my current yoga teacher. That’s what I mean when I say I lucked out. Totally.
In yoga, as with everything else in life, it’s so important who your teacher, or preacher, or just friend with good advice is.
I still remember Ms.Britto from fifth grade English. She had a reputation and a half! She was supposedly the toughest, most brutal and cruel teacher that existed. Guess what? She was the best one I had. I learned so much! But more than that, I owe much to her for my love of reading, writing and English. I still remember how she looked – with her stiff and straight backbone, how she taught (meticulous!) and how she would take no crap from her students (I think she would have flunked me for this bad sentence). Anyway, I was petrified, and therefore I worked my a** off (she would definitely flunk me now).
Okay, where was I going with this? Oh, yes. My yoga teacher – he’s superb. A young man who has been doing yoga since he was five and laments that he is from a family with no interest in the craft – he has certainly been a boon to me.
The difference is huge when you have a teacher who not only has depth in terms of knowing each yoga position, but can demonstrate each perfectly, explain what you are doing wrong, what muscles you should feel stretching as you are going through the postures, and how to incrementally enhance your movements. Not to mention, pushing you to the limits! So, I am very grateful to him for the incredible value he has provided. [If anyone from Mumbai is serious about learning yoga, I will be happy to forward your contact info to him if you drop me an email].
"Suryathon" - Students doing 108 Suryanamaskars to raise money for a campground
And Next?
Now, undoubtedly, my next milestones will be about continually increasing the numbers. But I must also work on perfecting the postures. My teacher says I am about in the 90% range with achieving the correct Surya Namaskar. So, I need to continually improve each position until I get it absolutely right.
The fact that I am even thinking like this is testament to the positive physical and mental differences that I can see and feel.
You see, when I started learning to do the Surya Namaskar, the 3rd & 10th posture (see picture to the left) where you bend and touch your forehead to your knees was a challenge. Of the jumbo variety. My stiff body would cooperate only up to a point – where my upper body would bend and there was still about 70 degrees to go before my head and knees could meet. That would be a distance of about two feet or more. With my teacher’s encouragement (“You can do it“, “I’m sure you can do it“, “Tomorrow you will do it”), I progressed until, wham, I was there!
You know what he did next? He said, “Now, your chin must touch your knee“. Then, he said, I want your nose to not be seen from the side – it needs to pass between your knees“.
Now, he says – “I must not see your face when I watch from the side; it must pass completely between your knees” followed by “Hold that position for 30 seconds…1, 2, 3, 4, 5….“.
These latter two describe my current Surya Namaskar “stage”. Mine!
The body is your temple
A great lesson that I have learned through this adventure is this – Never take your body (or your mind, for that matter) for granted.
The exalted Gautama Buddha is to have said –
To keep the body in good health is a duty… otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.
What’s so fascinating about this is that, hey, it appears to be all up to us! Why do we keep forgetting this fact?
So, have I convinced you about the awesomeness of yoga? I would be delighted if I can motivate even one of you reading this to get on the yoga bandwagon with me.
Let’s assume that I succeed. Then, here are a few pointers for you, based on my experience –
- Find a good yoga teacher, one that comes with a well-recommended referral (or just luck out like I did!). Plan B should be to go to Amazon and get yourself a yoga DVD which has been reviewed as 4 stars or more.
- The journey is gradual; don’t expect overnight results. But, wow, when you start seeing and feeling the incremental results, they will amaze you.
- Do it for the journey, not the outcome. Ever read George Leonard’s Mastery? Love the Plateau – that’s what I am talking about.
- Your mind will benefit, not just your body. This move to India has not been stress-free for me (!). Yoga has added a great deal of value, given me a sense of joy and removed a whole lot of crap from my mind.
- Finally, to stick to the plan, it’s pretty much all in your mind, i.e. how determined are you to make this fabulous journey?
:
As for you young and cocky ones who think you have all the time in the world to get going, do you know what my one and only regret is? That I didn’t get started sooner. India may have given the world yoga, but for heaven’s sake, I didn’t need to move to India to get started!
After all, the world gave it legs; in the US alone, yoga is practiced by 1 in 10 Americans today, in this $6-7 billion (yes, that’s b) industry that is growing at the rate of over 20% a year!
:
So, I conclude with these final words. Bragging rights aside (I did earn them, no?), as I write this post a couple of hours after my grueling Sunday morning session, I can in all honesty say this: My mind and my achy, newly flexible body are – at this very moment – feeling simply sensational.
It’s all been so worth it. And I would love for you to experience this heady feeling, too. Not just once, but on an ongoing basis (it’s a journey, remember?).
:
:
:
IMAGE CREDITS
Animated GIF “Suryanamaskar”: By Camino (269703) (Educasitio http://caminocosmico.com.ar/) [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons
Diamond Mountain, Arizona Photo: By Diamond Moutain [CC-BY-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Suryanamaskar #3/10 – By Marcocarvalho (Own work) [CC-BY-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Lady doing Yoga photograph:By MyA (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons
The Yin and Yang of Life Anywhere 