This morning, I bumped into an old gym mate and was inquiring about the other long last gym buddies. With a smirk he told me how few of those gym mates had given up on weight training and were doing yoga instead. According to him yoga was just a passing fad for current fast-paced lives and actually didn’t really help. He went on to doubt the efficacy of yoga and its benefits. Here are some of the allegations he labeled against yoga which I would like to share with you.
According to him yoga is not for everyone and doesn’t offer a comprehensive way to get fit. For someone like me who has spent years, exercising in the form of jogging, weight-training, cardio workouts, cycling, swimming, playing active sports, dancing, etc, and finally settling for yoga, this statement came across as very absurd. Little did he know that yoga is the most holistic form of living. In fact, yoga is the only exercise (i.e. if one categorizes yoga as a form of exercise, though yoga is actually a way of life.),that works not only on one’s external and physiological body, if done the correct way, but also promotes the well being of mind, emotions and spirit. More so, it’s only yoga that can be done by all age groups and with any fitness level.
This friend told me how yoga had caused injuries to many practitioners. It should be noted that any physical activity done in a wrong mode is bound to cause injuries.
He went on to assert that yoga doesn’t help in cardiovascular health and weight loss. I beg to differ again! There are many poses and sequences which help tremendously for not only weight loss but also an array of other health ailments. On further clarification, he cited an example of how yoga doesn’t develop the muscle- bearing strength needed to help fight osteoporosis. I had to make him realize that that in Yoga, the practitioner uses one’s body weight which is the most ideal weight to develop strength to fight osteoporosis.
The tone of the entire argument sounded more like his own distorted views on yoga, rather than based on facts. It would have been appropriate if this guy had done his research on the studies by various medical schools and universities across the globe that have proven the benefits of yoga
However, during this friendly banter, it got me thinking if this is the common fallacy among people about yoga? Does it have something to do with yoga teachers who are the brand ambassadors of this beautiful science? I realized that part of the problem for this distorted and wrong perception is because yoga teachers are not qualified enough to teach this subject. Actually, lack of qualified teachers is the main cause of injuries in yoga practice. That’s why I follow the Iyengar way of yoga, which in my experience is the most precise and scientific form of yoga. In fact, Iyengar School of yoga qualifies a yoga teacher only after years of intense and accurate training. If only one learns yoga under a qualified and experienced yoga teacher, then such misconceptions of this beautiful all pervading subject can be cleared. Yoga then becomes not just a passing fad but truly a holistic way of life!
Yours truly,
Vikram
http://www.metronirvana.com
According to him yoga is not for everyone and doesn’t offer a comprehensive way to get fit. For someone like me who has spent years, exercising in the form of jogging, weight-training, cardio workouts, cycling, swimming, playing active sports, dancing, etc, and finally settling for yoga, this statement came across as very absurd. Little did he know that yoga is the most holistic form of living. In fact, yoga is the only exercise (i.e. if one categorizes yoga as a form of exercise, though yoga is actually a way of life.),that works not only on one’s external and physiological body, if done the correct way, but also promotes the well being of mind, emotions and spirit. More so, it’s only yoga that can be done by all age groups and with any fitness level.
This friend told me how yoga had caused injuries to many practitioners. It should be noted that any physical activity done in a wrong mode is bound to cause injuries.
He went on to assert that yoga doesn’t help in cardiovascular health and weight loss. I beg to differ again! There are many poses and sequences which help tremendously for not only weight loss but also an array of other health ailments. On further clarification, he cited an example of how yoga doesn’t develop the muscle- bearing strength needed to help fight osteoporosis. I had to make him realize that that in Yoga, the practitioner uses one’s body weight which is the most ideal weight to develop strength to fight osteoporosis.
The tone of the entire argument sounded more like his own distorted views on yoga, rather than based on facts. It would have been appropriate if this guy had done his research on the studies by various medical schools and universities across the globe that have proven the benefits of yoga
However, during this friendly banter, it got me thinking if this is the common fallacy among people about yoga? Does it have something to do with yoga teachers who are the brand ambassadors of this beautiful science? I realized that part of the problem for this distorted and wrong perception is because yoga teachers are not qualified enough to teach this subject. Actually, lack of qualified teachers is the main cause of injuries in yoga practice. That’s why I follow the Iyengar way of yoga, which in my experience is the most precise and scientific form of yoga. In fact, Iyengar School of yoga qualifies a yoga teacher only after years of intense and accurate training. If only one learns yoga under a qualified and experienced yoga teacher, then such misconceptions of this beautiful all pervading subject can be cleared. Yoga then becomes not just a passing fad but truly a holistic way of life!
Yours truly,
Vikram
http://www.metronirvana.com
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