First. Yoga came to us from the East and for the average Western person is something not completely clear. And so in a wrapper called “yoga” you can wrap anything, attribute to this incredible healing properties, shrouded in mysticism and leave the fog. In other words, the space for manipulation here is huge and not under anyone’s control. If you want to take classes of yoga in Lviv beware of the pitfalls the so-called fancy ‘western yoga’ has prepared.
Secondly. In its infancy, yoga was the privilege of only the highest and most educated class in India, the Brahmin sages. For them, the practice of yoga was exclusively personal, everyone consciously chose their own path of self-improvement and followed it. As for our realities, our yoga has become a mass phenomenon, fashionable, and the practice has mostly spread in groups, I would say, spontaneous, and therefore talking about some awareness in such conditions is considered superficial.
The third stone in the garden of modern Western yoga.
The majority of people from the West learn about yoga from pictures on social networks and vague stories of third parties.
And as a result, many begin to practice yoga to become the personification of these beautiful pictures with a full baggage of decorated stories (which is worth hundreds of thousands of photos in asanas with exposed buttocks and terrible hyperlordosis).
And still nothing, but in such cases not only the content of yoga practice is distorty, but also its favorable influence.
The secret is that yoga can not only heal but also break a person. The yogis themselves knew this, moreover, they actively used it. So, while some of them were engaged in the healing of their body for a long comfortable stay in meditation, others deliberately inflicted physiological damage to their body to achieve the desired altered states of consciousness. Of course, in Розумна Йога Львів studio we take all the steps to avoid any kind of injury
This is worth a little more detail.
Agree that too good is not good either. And in yoga it works the same way as in everyday life. There are certain limits where healthy biomechanics of the human body reaches the limit and gradually begins to move into pathology.
Just to clarify: it’s like the moment when a tree branch stops bending and starts to break, only it’s not a branch, but the human body. And at this moment the body is just trying to survive, and squeezes as much juice from all the storerooms.
Of course, this always has serious consequences and causes great harm. Half the trouble, if you have been preparing for this throughout your whole life, and your body somehow began to adapt, because it’s smart. But this can become a catastrophe, when such processes begin to occur from a completely unprepared person, who may not even know what is happening to him/her and why.
Impressive pictures of asanas and decorated yogic fables attract people. And in fact, behind this, often for years, hides a deformed physiology or even a clear pathology. In this sense, it is appropriate to compare yoga with professional gymnastics (with which yoga is so often associated with). You look at gymnasts, and you can’t believe in the possibilities of the human body. And you’re right. After all, these are not opportunities, they are injuries and wear and tear. At the age of 16-18, these graceful fragile dolls are already retire. Go crazy: the human body grows and develops up to 25 years, and still has better regenerative abilities than ever, and young girls are already suffering from senile sores. It is not bad to look good and impress others, but to put your life and health on it … Well, you’ve got the point.
Yes, there are many problems in modern western yoga. Including the wrong techniques of performing asanas, and ignoring individual contraindications and yoga, which has to taught to a physicist, who himself is therefore not happy.
But in this article I want to emphasize something else. Namely that the essence of yoga lies solely in the personal consciousness of everyone who practices it. And without this, yoga ceases to be yoga. No matter how well even the most ingenious yoga instructor in the world tries to teach his ward. A student will never succeed if he is not aware of what he is doing and why.
Real yoga requires awareness and intention, and only then everything else. But if these two components are present. Yoga immediately begins to reveal your natural potential and opens up new opportunities for you.
Therefore, I urge everyone who practices yoga (wherever and however they practice) to do so consciously and thoughtfully. Listening not only to their whims, but also to the needs and capabilities of their body. And when the mind overshadows the uncontrollable desire for stunning photos on Instagram. Turn to real professionals – to the masters of Photoshop. Then both the wolves will be full and the sheep will be whole.
Have a good practice!
See you on the mat in Розумна Йога Львів.
