I came across an interview with Katie Couric and Sting. She asked at the end about yoga and how he came about it. After giving her a bit of a speal on how he and his wife came across it, he mentioned that yoga probably gave him about a decade or so of his music career. And that is because his lungs are more powerful and he has more energy.
That is a pretty big call from someone to say that about yoga. I don't entirely disagree with it either although the additional 10 years is only for him to say.
I do find myself at times though (especially when driving and thinking about something deeply), that I nearly choke. I found this to be because I forget to breathe!? It sounds very silly but when I'm engrossed in my thoughts (whether it be for business or personal matters), I am on auto-pilot as a driver and don't really think of anything else. I suppose all those controlled breathing in the class actually makes us control our breathing rather than breathing out of habit.
I hope I don't forget to breathe until it's too late!!
Who am I?
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
Longer legs
As per my previous post, I am definitely longer but I had this funny feeling that my arms were getting longer quicker than my legs.
Don't get me wrong, it's all good as long as I'm getting longer but it would be better if they were all at the same speed so I don't end up looking out of proportion!?
So, I was pretty happy to hear that a particular yoga move we did yesterday added 1mm to our legs.
Grab a tie or a strap. Lie on your back, wrap the tie or strap around the balls of one foot, hold the leg up 90degrees (the other loose leg is stretched out on the floor), flex your toes of the leg that is held up towards your face (dorsiflex). Grab onto the strap and pull it down gently. Repeat 3 times.
The result? Hopefully 1cm taller in 10 days if you do it daily!
Don't get me wrong, it's all good as long as I'm getting longer but it would be better if they were all at the same speed so I don't end up looking out of proportion!?
So, I was pretty happy to hear that a particular yoga move we did yesterday added 1mm to our legs.
Grab a tie or a strap. Lie on your back, wrap the tie or strap around the balls of one foot, hold the leg up 90degrees (the other loose leg is stretched out on the floor), flex your toes of the leg that is held up towards your face (dorsiflex). Grab onto the strap and pull it down gently. Repeat 3 times.
The result? Hopefully 1cm taller in 10 days if you do it daily!
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Sting & Yoga
Having seen some changes in myself, I became interested in celebrities who do yoga and why they do it and what benefits they have found in themselves.
Probably the most famous celebrity yogi that comes to mind is Madonna. But Madonna just seems too much of an egoist to be a real yogi so I decided to research Sting instead. I went to see him in concert some years back and remember being quite taken aback by his stage presence and his calm demeanour. Back then I just put it down to yoga and didn't think much of it because I wasn't keen on yoga anyway.
The story with Sting and yoga seems to go something like this:
1. Came to yoga late in his life at the age of 38 (around 1990)
2. Wish he had done it sooner but he thinks he wouldn't have been ready (I can relate! More in terms of mentally ready than physically ready)
3. Was physically fit all his life, running etc but was frustrated that as he aged, his performance in his physical activities worsened
4. Met a yoga master and asked for something that would be physically challenging
5. Was sceptical at first because he was looking for more challenging until his yoga master said he should give it a try (I can relate!)
6. After an ego-bruising session of moves he could not do, Sting realised he wanted to do more and learn more (I can relate!)
7. Got hooked and has been doing it on a daily basis (on average) since then (I can relate!)
One of the things that struck me was that although Sting was initially worried about the practice taking a chunk of him time (approx.2hrs per day), he said he actually had more energy to do more things during the day. And he was more composed in his thoughts.
I believe what he says about this is true because I feel it myself.
He goes on to describe how, unlike running or other physical activities, he gets better at yoga as he practices more. This is also true I think because it is all due to flexibility not wearing down your joints by running etc.
He also mentions that he is stiff in the gluteus which translates to a person being stubborn. This could be that whole ki thing I was talking about before. My yoga instructors tell me we store stress in our hips hence why it's important to release it through hip-opening exercises. And Sting says his goal is to move like fluid (and thus releasing the emotional aspects that stiffen people up in certain spots??).
Sting also talks a bit more about spirituality.
Full interview here:
http://www.stingus.net/sting_the_police_andy_summers_stewart_copeland_news_comments.php?id=360_0_2_0_C
Probably the most famous celebrity yogi that comes to mind is Madonna. But Madonna just seems too much of an egoist to be a real yogi so I decided to research Sting instead. I went to see him in concert some years back and remember being quite taken aback by his stage presence and his calm demeanour. Back then I just put it down to yoga and didn't think much of it because I wasn't keen on yoga anyway.
The story with Sting and yoga seems to go something like this:
1. Came to yoga late in his life at the age of 38 (around 1990)
2. Wish he had done it sooner but he thinks he wouldn't have been ready (I can relate! More in terms of mentally ready than physically ready)
3. Was physically fit all his life, running etc but was frustrated that as he aged, his performance in his physical activities worsened
4. Met a yoga master and asked for something that would be physically challenging
5. Was sceptical at first because he was looking for more challenging until his yoga master said he should give it a try (I can relate!)
6. After an ego-bruising session of moves he could not do, Sting realised he wanted to do more and learn more (I can relate!)
7. Got hooked and has been doing it on a daily basis (on average) since then (I can relate!)
One of the things that struck me was that although Sting was initially worried about the practice taking a chunk of him time (approx.2hrs per day), he said he actually had more energy to do more things during the day. And he was more composed in his thoughts.
I believe what he says about this is true because I feel it myself.
He goes on to describe how, unlike running or other physical activities, he gets better at yoga as he practices more. This is also true I think because it is all due to flexibility not wearing down your joints by running etc.
He also mentions that he is stiff in the gluteus which translates to a person being stubborn. This could be that whole ki thing I was talking about before. My yoga instructors tell me we store stress in our hips hence why it's important to release it through hip-opening exercises. And Sting says his goal is to move like fluid (and thus releasing the emotional aspects that stiffen people up in certain spots??).
Sting also talks a bit more about spirituality.
Full interview here:
http://www.stingus.net/sting_the_police_andy_summers_stewart_copeland_news_comments.php?id=360_0_2_0_C
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
karma
I attended a class with one of the male instructors the other day. He is an older, fit gentleman and his classes are always a bit tougher than the others. I'll call him Mr.Tall for ease of reference.
We started off with cat-cow (on all fours where we drop the belly arching the back on an inhale and then curving our back towards the sky on our exhale) stretches and then were told to lift our right knee out to the sides on the neutral pose. We were then told to stretch out the leg and hold it up, level to our backs. This may sound easy but it's surprisingly difficult!
Mr.Tall is a no-nonsense instructor who takes the practice seriously and believes in going that much further when one thinks he/she can't go on anymore. So, as the class was moaning and groaning in pain(?), Mr.Tall told us to breathe in and breathe out to that area of the leg where we were feeling it. I was trying to breathe air into that area not knowing exactly how I was suppose to breathe into an area of the body.
Mr.Tall then said the Ki (prana or energy) goes to the place that we think about. As I was shaking like a leaf, what he said stuck with me.
As I drove back after class, I wondered if that is why, when one focusses enough about something, it usually happens. Such as the example of The Secret; Law of attraction, positive thinking etc. When I ask for a spot in the parking lot of the shopping centre (and I am a regular there since that's where I park to go to yoga), I usually "ask" for a spot. Same level, same area albeit it may be a few spaces further or closer than I ask for.. And funnily enough, it usually happens (98% of the times). Of course I freak out and just tell myself it's a coincidence because otherwise, it proves the whole point about how powerful the "thoughts" can be (I am talking about conscious thoughts because I don't know anything about unconscious thoughts. That would be Freud's field of expertise.)
So, today I thought about the whole energy thing again and something clicked in me. I wonder if that's where the concept of karma came from. As an example, a person does bad things and hurt people, the "victimes" then collectively have negative thoughts about this person (anger, sadness, spite, revenge etc) thus sending negative energy to that person. And with the massive force of negative energy, something bad eventually happens to this person....
I wonder if anyone agrees.. ??
We started off with cat-cow (on all fours where we drop the belly arching the back on an inhale and then curving our back towards the sky on our exhale) stretches and then were told to lift our right knee out to the sides on the neutral pose. We were then told to stretch out the leg and hold it up, level to our backs. This may sound easy but it's surprisingly difficult!
Mr.Tall is a no-nonsense instructor who takes the practice seriously and believes in going that much further when one thinks he/she can't go on anymore. So, as the class was moaning and groaning in pain(?), Mr.Tall told us to breathe in and breathe out to that area of the leg where we were feeling it. I was trying to breathe air into that area not knowing exactly how I was suppose to breathe into an area of the body.
Mr.Tall then said the Ki (prana or energy) goes to the place that we think about. As I was shaking like a leaf, what he said stuck with me.
As I drove back after class, I wondered if that is why, when one focusses enough about something, it usually happens. Such as the example of The Secret; Law of attraction, positive thinking etc. When I ask for a spot in the parking lot of the shopping centre (and I am a regular there since that's where I park to go to yoga), I usually "ask" for a spot. Same level, same area albeit it may be a few spaces further or closer than I ask for.. And funnily enough, it usually happens (98% of the times). Of course I freak out and just tell myself it's a coincidence because otherwise, it proves the whole point about how powerful the "thoughts" can be (I am talking about conscious thoughts because I don't know anything about unconscious thoughts. That would be Freud's field of expertise.)
So, today I thought about the whole energy thing again and something clicked in me. I wonder if that's where the concept of karma came from. As an example, a person does bad things and hurt people, the "victimes" then collectively have negative thoughts about this person (anger, sadness, spite, revenge etc) thus sending negative energy to that person. And with the massive force of negative energy, something bad eventually happens to this person....
I wonder if anyone agrees.. ??
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