Quote:
Originally Posted by Azure
Why is it a dumb post? Yoga as a physical exercise is an amazing addition to any exercise program. But most people have a hard time committing to to studio classes because of everything 'else' that is associated with it.
EDIT: I should mention I don't really care if you do yoga to relax your mind. I just know from experience that when you suggest yoga to someone who wants to work on better posture and flexibility they instantly put up a wall because when they go to the yoga studio, they are met with instructors that aren't so much concerned about teaching better flexibility, but instead try to convince them that they should meditate.
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Because Yoga as a practice at its root is a combination of body, mind, and breath. All three together create the practice, if you take away just one aspect away then that’s not yoga. If you want to just take the physical aspects of yoga and do them that’s fine, but it’s like saying I’m going to go play hockey without staking. When you remove a critical aspect of it you aren’t really performing the whole action.
Really what I think it comes down to is insecurity and comfort levels of people. They are fine with doing the poses but when the teacher asks the class to perform a few om’s it’s foreign to them and they get uncomfortable, and instead of embracing the unknown and new they dismiss it as stupid or unimportant because they are insecure. I know because I used to be the guy who thought that way. Finally I just let go of my hang-ups surrounding everything ‘else’ and now my shavasana (the meditative mindful pose) is probably the most difficult and rewarding part of my practice.