Comments on: Aren’t We Forgetting Something?

By: Kirk Story

Kirk Story — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:53:47 +0000

I took a yoga class in the winter term of my senior year at Oregon State. Being bombarded with engineering courses, I figured yoga would be a great way to meet women. Wrong!
I have practiced Buddhist meditation and have studied with a well known Buddhist scholar who had taught courses at Princeton, Stanford, and eventually- the University of Montana. I have sincere appreciation for eastern philosoph, so I should have know better than to take a yoga class to meet good-looking, flexible women.
So, for the guys out there. If you try to go down the same path as me, here are a few pointers. Don’t let tight yoga pants fool you, I’ve found that the ladies attend yoga to relax and search for inner peace. Don’t make eye contact with people when your doing the poses. Also, don’t expect small talk after the class. When the session is over, you’ll be lucky if the instructor is still in the room by the time you’re finished tying your shoelaces.

By: Leslie Mann

Leslie Mann — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:30:14 +0000

I have always wanted to try yoga but have never actually taken the opportunity to do so. I too am looking forward to visiting a Yoga Ashram while in India and attempting first-hand the poses and breathing it involves. Meditation can be a tricky thing for many people, especially those with short attention spans. Relaxing the mind, body and ultimately the soul is a much more intense and challenging feat than it sounds. For many, concentration in pure silence, with only breathing to focus on sounds like torture but it can be a truly rewarding experience if you let it. “Yoga is realized when identification with the fluctuations of the mind ceases.” I think for many people, ceasing the fluctuations of the mind is a daunting task and even impossible for some to ever do. Like Jenna commented, it’s certainly not for everyone, but certainly something everyone should try at least once in their life. I doubt I will ever realize the type of relaxation and peace that Jenna has with Yoga but I am definitely ready and willing to give it my best shot.

By: Matthew Perez

Matthew Perez — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:26:22 +0000

As one of the few guys who have practiced yoga on numerous occasions, I have to say that I did enjoy it. The controlling of one’s breath and the combination of strength and balance required in it always seemed so calming to me. After reading this blog, though, I had no idea how similar Patanjali’s 8 limbs are to the tenets of martial arts. In Taekwondo, I was taught that the most important thing in martial arts is control. Learning to show restraint, be observant of one’s surroundings, withdraws the senses, and concentrate were essential to improving. These improvements were made through postures, the control of energy, and meditation.

Ultimately, yoga and Taekwondo are similar in that they both emphasize becoming a better person through a combination of philosophy and exercise. Although I admit that I took yoga as simply a way to improve my flexibility, it is interesting to know that the two are more deeply connected than I realized.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 01:44:34 +0000

Here’s what we should all be striving for:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2482/3592960452_16bbf96918_o.png

By: Jeff

Jeff — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 01:25:30 +0000

So Jenna,
As an MBA student, have you figured a way to make money from your love and practice of Yoga?

If you do, then have you found Patanjali’s Eight Limbs or are you suffering Asmita and Raga?

I say this in jest because I have relatives and friends who practice as well, but I don’t think they have ever learned it to the depths that you have. They like many respondents on this blog have been subjected to the physical side with the stretching, the music, the soothing voice, but not the spiritual side.

I too look forward to visiting a Yoga Ashram when we visit India.

By: Catherine Kristensen

Catherine Kristensen — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 02:19:30 +0000

I was so excited to hear at our last India meeting that we will be visiting a Yoga Ashram while we are in Delhi. That had initially been mentioned as a “maybe” activity and I am glad to hear it has made it to our official itinerary. I am sure some of us will love it and and some will not, but I think it will be great exposure to the spiritual side that is so lacking in Western practices.

Danielle - your comment about the chick flick prevalence was too true! I had to laugh when a friend recently told me about a classmate TEXTING during Yoga class. Wrong venue! Yoga has almost become this buzz-word - like it’s a new posh thing to do. There seems to be so much emphasis on what studio you go to, what you wear, who you see, who sees you, etc instead of the focus being on how you feel afterwards and how your poses improve over time. Very few people practice individually, which shows you how much of a social activity this is, rather than the reflective activity it should be.

I admit to being someone who was initially drawn to Yoga because of its emphasis on flexibility. I studied ballet from age 3-22 and Yoga was a great way for me to continue to maintain the flexibility I had developed over the decades. As I have been exposed to different teachers with different methods and emphases, I see how varied the yoga realm is. I have grown and now see the value in both the physical strength as well as the psychological/emotional calm it can bring.

By: Danielle Steussy

Danielle Steussy — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 19:39:22 +0000

I know a little bit about the roots and origins, and yes, I have taken a couple yoga classes. I loved the breathing and I felt completely relaxed by the time class ended. It was the perfect ending of a stressful day.

Although I understand the purpose of yoga from Jenna’s perspective and the way it is taught in India, I have never really seen it practiced that way in the United States. To me, I have always felt like yoga was just another exercise class in which I could stretch and breath a certain way for an hour. Furthermore, as Emily stated quite well above, it has absolutely been commercialized in the United States. It’s been a fad and has been exploited. Just watch any chick flick these days and you’ll most likely see a crucial scene to the movie taking place on yoga mats.

Furthermore, yoga has been capitalized is has been used to make exorbitant amounts of money. Yoga classes are extremely expensive and thus unaffordable and inaccessible to many people.

All of this seems to contradict the original intention of the way yoga was supposed to be practiced. I’m sure that many people could say that statement is a bit exaggerated, particularly for people who practice it religiously by themselves. However, it is difficult for me to take yoga seriously given the portrayal and my exposure to it in the United States. I’ll be interested in seeing the differences in how the culture impacts the practice of yoga when we visit India.

By: Jordan Wente

Jordan Wente — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 07:23:18 +0000

It was really interesting to read a little bit more about yoga and its history. I agree yoga is one of the best things you can do for your body and mind. The euphoric feeling you get when you walk out of a good yoga class is hard to match. It gives you such an alive feeling as if your body is in complete harmony. On my previous trip to India I had the opportunity to visit an ashram. I have also had the chance to practice yoga while I was in India. It was quite a different experience than taking a class in the western world. Not only did I leave feeling wonderful it was also one of the best cultural experiences I have ever had. I recommend you seize the opportunity if ever you have the chance.

By: John Barry

John Barry — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 08:11:20 +0000

It seems to me like Yoga is just a painful way to practice Zazen - Zen meditation. Without flexibility Yoga is actually not the most pleasurable experience. The one thing that Yoga obviously has going for it is the practice of deep meditative breaths. At its core, Zen Buddhism is really about one thing above all others and that is focusing one’s attention on one’s breathing. I credit Zen with helping me to adjust to some of life’s unforeseen downturns more than anything or anyone else. Clearly, Yoga has proven influential in many lives, much the same way Zen was in mine. Just one more case for the innate wisdom in eastern philosophy.

By: Tim Lynds

Tim Lynds — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 06:14:45 +0000

Yoga and other eastern spirituality practices have intrigued me for quite a while because of their spiritual components. While I have only tried yoga twice and did not really like it (partly because it was Bikram or hot yoga and partly because I was out of shape), I know there is something real to it. As evident above, many people really get into yoga and experience true benefits beyond the physical. Sometimes I wish I had the time, the patience, and the motivation to really push myself into a practice like this and experience what these people are experiencing. Maybe one day I will try again.