Yoga and Me

In college, I remembered seeing on TV a girl
doing yoga by the sea. It was of course no
use to me, I thought, and just some exotic
calisthenics from a remote people whom
XuanZang the monk dragged his feet for many
years to visit. I would never meet them (Wrong!). It was much more profitable
for me to pour over books and pass tests.
(Maybe I was right.)

Fast-forward 20 years of passing tests,
pouring over books, and computer programming.

My health went through a makeover in the
past three years and it seemed the mind
underwent no less. Suddenly, almost middle-
aged, I thought maybe it was time to try new
things. A few months ago, a research study,
an article, and discussions with my Indian
colleagues kindled the imagination. E.g., it
was said that yoga exercised 95% muscles.  I
had to try to see for myself.

So for the past three months, I did 30
repetitions (reps) of Surya Namaskar(SN) or
Sun Salutation every morning. The first two
were the hardest. The body felt stiff fresh
out of bed and each move took effort.
Sometimes the right wrist hurt supporting the
upper body and the right toe dorsi-flexion
almost always hurt. (This was not new.
Plantar Fasciitis became my friend through
running. The causes seemed the same.) Things
started to improve from the third rep. Each
came more fluid and accurate than the
previous. The last 10 were the most
enjoyable. 30 reps in 15 minutes always left
me sweaty, energized, and ready for the day.

So are there standards to meet or measureable
levels to achieve and feel pumped about? From
what I read, one idea is to do 100 SNs per
day.  Others say 108 in a row. At my current
pace, 100 would take about 50 minutes and
would be very challenging. If I keep pushing,
someday, I might be able to cross the finish
line without fainting.

The real goal for me, however, is not a
number but the daily practice itself. I would
like to think that I am laying down a
framework now and it will be a true blessing
if I keep doing it till the end. SN, like
kimchi, seems untainted by modernity and
another real deal: it costs almost nothing
but gives back in abundance.

 

[7grizzly]

回複 '看過就好' 的評論 : Thank you for stopping by. Your blog is a great source and maybe I will pick up some new poses from you.

Over two years, I did add the Tibetan Five Rites and some breathing exercises to my morning routine. We are so blessed.

[看過就好]

真高興又一個瑜伽愛好者，很佩服你能光做拜日式堅持到現在，我本人喜歡瑜伽中的不同體式，所以除了拜日式外，還每天輪著練習體式。

[7grizzly]

Watching the documentary "Choke," my son pointed out at one point that the Jujitsu master was doing Surya Namaskar before his fight!

[7grizzly]

Thank you for visiting! Yoga may not be for everyone. There are alternatives out there. So no stress. But I think it's important to start to take regular training seriously. For motivation, there are too many bad examples around me. I was one of them but once waking up it was like the scene in the Matrix before Neo was flushed out of the human-battery farm;-)

Glad to know your success in making the borscht.

I think it's good to get kids involved in our writing activities. I write mainly for my son and, God willing, the next generations. (That's why I write in English, by the way.) They would know what their ancestors' lives were like. The writing itself might be full of errors, grammatical or not, and it's important I try my best to fix them and make the readers suffer less. But that's not the point. The point is to deliver the message about my values.

[暖冬cool夏]

I tried to learn yoga a few years ago during lunch break at the facility next to the company, but stopped after several classes, as one time I felt so dizzy and vomiting. Good to know your comments. Something might be wrong with the way I practiced.
I Would like to thank you for your 羅宋湯 recipes. I changed quite a bit though. BTW, I showed my daughter your blog (the recent "hiking" one), and her comment is "yah, his (your writing) is better than yours(mine)". ...