Here is the thing, but don't tell anyone, I started yoga because I thought the men looked really good in class AND because I believed I would look really good if I did yoga, you know? all peacefull, and beautiful, and elegant and centered, and tanned, and I would have a real gorgeous boyfriend.
Funny thing is, all of those things came true rather quickly and even my modesty went out the window!, but then I found there was more to yoga, I found the silence, I found out that there is no you and me but rather we are one, and began to understand all of this in a somewhat deeper level, although I am not nearly enlightened yet.
I know that some of you out there have been practicing for a long time, can you remember what was the thing that got you to get to a class for the first time? Was it looks? was it that it was just offered in the gym? was it to relieve stress? do you have a really interesting sweet story?
Very, very curious here...
I was burgled and though it might be good for anger issues,(more profound irritation than anger actually) which it was. Now if I ever find the guy I'll teach him some yoga and assist him into a deep DEEP Kapo,
ReplyDeleteWow, that is a very bright outcome from a set back... and yes!, if you find him I will do the video while you assist him into kapo :-)
ReplyDeleteI took an intensive class during the summer time at Riviere College (in NH) to get some liberal arts out of the way between Sophomore & Junior years in college. I wanted to focus more on my studio painting classes during the school year.
ReplyDeleteSo it was interesting that my first exposure to mild asana came along with reading about history & theory, not to mention meditation practice. Class met for two, three hour sessions per week. About half of each class was spent doing asana and then meditation. The rest was spent discussing the reading, our papers etc.
So... it was for college credit, studying something I felt might be interesting.
(I got an A.)
That is a really cool story L, and That is interesting that it came with history and meditation, what a nice way in...
ReplyDeleteIt was a very gradual slide in... I didn't exercise in college really, but I do remember that I bought a book on yoga & would practice standing on my head, against a wall.
ReplyDeleteI joined Crunch gym at age 27 and started taking a few yoga classes here in there, amidst all the cardio. I think I started taking led primary there, usually twice a week at night, around age 32/33... Mysore style didn't start til 38 though.
It is fascinating to me how fast you developed your practice, and it is also really interesting how we GET to it... you got to it by starting in a gym, so did I... I guess there is something to be said for those yoga gym classes after all.
ReplyDeleteFunny that you were trying the headstands from a book that early, it was totally your destiny!
Actually I learned most of the poses of primary from the Beryl Bender Birch, "Power Yoga" book :). What got me hooked on Astanga was the jump backs. I taught myself how to jump back & through without dragging my feet by using blocks. I'd practice at home & move the blocks into position under my hands for each vinyasa. I got the feeling of clearing with props, and then eventually learned how to do it without props during led class.
ReplyDeleteCrunch USED to have an excellent yoga program before it was sold to Bally's. They had a ton of Jivamukti teachers too, back when most of their staff was Astangi based, before the big, brouhaha.
Paul Dallaghan used to teach vinyasa there & was my fav vinyasa teacher. Isn't that funny? Paul at Crunch!
I think there's no reason why everyone should have be super serious about yoga. There's all levels appropriate to peoples' different personalities & needs. Gym yoga CAN be good... A lot of it isn't. I think vinyasa teachers who practice astanga themselves are usually the best.
Paul? really, WOW, when I think of Paul I think of Thailand... that is incredible! you had him when he was at Crunch??? Wow!!! that is funny indeed.
ReplyDeletewhen you say brouhaha do you mean as in the Spanish term "bruja"? cause THAT would be funny, but maybe you mean something else.
I totally agree with you on the no need to be super serious, whatever works is my philosophy...
hi Claudia
ReplyDeletei've written about it in my blog. i practiced first at home with a book, inspired by a childhood friend who practiced all his life. then my acupuncturist encouraged me to start and there were classes in my gym in South Beach. my muscles felt aerated so i wanted to do it more and found ashtanga teachers.
cheers,
Arturo
The first time I took a class with Paul, @ the Lafayette St Crunch, he put some Irish music on and danced a little jig. I went on a yoga trip to Ireland with him that was me, Paul, another Irish expatriate living in NYC, and her ten or eleven year old niece who we picked up in Dublin. That was August, 2001.
ReplyDeletebrouhaha:
* hubbub: loud confused noise from many sources
* a confused disturbance far greater than its cause merits
I'm referring of course to the dissolution of their Astanga program and the big walkout.
I had been diagnosed with tendonitis and i was a musician then and it was wreaking crazy havoc on my life. Within 6 months of practice 3 x's a week ( iyengar style) all symptoms were gone, and then later got hooked to ashtanga when I thought it was time to move on from Yoga when I moved to New York. The mood of NY was making me more aggressive, thought maybe it was time for a martial art but then a friend told me i should try a jivamukti class. Got hooked to that for a little while but got tired of the celebrity vibe and was curious where david life and sharon g got their main inspiration from, researched thier backgrounds and stumbled upon Pathabi Jois.. the rest is history.
ReplyDeleteoh and boodiba, before i ended up at a studio, i too got a little help from Beryl Bender tapes/books. her husband was a bit creepy in those books but I dug her explanations. they were really clear.
ReplyDeleteHi Nycashtangi, nice to meet you, I did not know you had a blog... hmmm... will be reading now :-) very interesting how you swirled around and found it. I guess prior to now it was not so advertised, it was more of a secret. I am curious about the BB tapes and cripy husband now.
ReplyDeleteArtuuuurooo... thanks for your commment, interesting how you describe that your muscles felt "aereated", love the word, I will look at your blog to fish your whole story :-)
ReplyDeleteWhat's funny is that I have no idea why I decided to sign up for the class I first went to in Philadelphia in 1989. Yoga was not trendy at that point, so I had only a vague notion of people stretching in leotards. But I thought it might help relieve the stress I was feeling in grad school. How could I ever imagined how it would end up?!
ReplyDeleteTo this day, I can't think of what inspired me, yet it was such a lucky and fortuitous decision!
Hi Brenda, thanks for your comment, I also find it very intriguing how yoga seems to "chose us" rather than us choosing it... it must have been quite a different scenario back in 89, and yes quite a lucky encounter.
ReplyDelete