Ruminations on Yoga

Mike Robertson, of Magnificent Mobility, argues that "Yoga is Overrated"

I like his critique. I like that he acknowledges what is good about the system as well as identifies weaknesses. If I were to take it a step further it might be to call into question the entire notion of "Instructors" whatever the movement. Something about our society inspires us to look for systems and teachers rather than being a learner fabricating our own knowledge. Mike talks about one of the weakness being Yoga Instructors simply teaching within the parameters of the system -- cult like -- as it were. We could level the same criticism at other movement systems, martial arts, perhaps, some versions of CrossFit, for examples.



The kind of instruction we see in most dojo's resulted from the massive demand for instruction that service men in Japan placed on the martial arts schools. Standing in ranks and rows, doing calisthenics and basic movements is an industrial model of teaching. It is efficient and economical, but, is it really the best? Yet we see it time and again in our gyms, practice rooms, dojo's because it serves the profit model of these organizations.

So, when I look for workout partners, I'm looking for self-reflective, analytic, curious, skeptical--but open minded, and skeptical of themselves and what they "know". I look for someone who demonstrates that they are serious about learning. I look for persons doing things differently, or doing things with perfect form, and then I ask them about themselves and what they are doing. Now, "You can't always get what you want." So, Mike offers some tips that can help a person be an informed consumer. But, the distinction is that I, or you, have to be in control of our process. If you don't resonate with the "teachers" and "classes" available locally no big deal. With the tonnage of DVD, book, and on-line resources you can if you want it badly enough teach yourself all sorts of techniques and attend to the particular details that interest you, breathing for example.



One of the things I hate about yoga is all the blah,blah,blah. All the new age jargon and twinkly chanting music. Basically, I use the measure that runners do, if you can carry on a conversation you are not working hard enough. Shut up and get to work.

Now, if we went back to the roots of Yoga, if we went to India and sought out some masters, my money says we would have an altogether different experience with the movement system. I think the cultural, and linguistic distance that mapping a system from one culture to another introduces a lot of noise and distortion. That said, the Indian Yogi still has stinky shit and we should be as suspicious of him/her as we are of any other teacher. Being respectful of a tradition is not the same as blindly consuming it, rather, a master worth his/her salt, would despise such a stage in a learner, and would take steps to get them past it -- think of the Zen Master, the stick, and the impossible koan. Figure it out for yourself.

Foam Rollers

This guy knows his stuff!

I'm always looking for resources to learn from and this guy is amazing. I've got his blog feeding here, "Mobilitywod", but, check out his youtube channel, too.

October 23, 2010: ram: Typical week

Very busy week made it tough to keep to the schedule of alternate strength/aerobic and yoga/stretching days. Company this weekend prevents using the workout area, so activity will be walking/hiking, resuming the base plan sunday or monday.

I am not a careful yoga practitioner, but really like to stretch between the workout days. 8-10 yoga like movements at my pace, focusing on stretching my back half and rotating around my spine. It really relieves tightness and monor cricks that develop from more exertive exercise.

Started it as a young guy with serious lower back pain. Thought it would help but ultimately solved the problem by giving my wife the checkbook and asking her not to tell me where the money goes. Anyway, the two moves are a strong combination for relieving stress and muscle tension.

October 22, 2010, Sisyphus

Work-out #1

2 miles on the elliptical thingy, 1 mile on the dreadmill

3 rounds
Standing cable crunches, 160# x20
Dumbbell dead-lift, 50# 8 on a side

3 rounds
Diagonal dumbbell raises, 20# 10 on a side
Cable Push Pull, 30#,x12 40#,x10, 50#x8

2 rounds

internal rotations, 5#x10
beer pours, 3#x10

1 mile on the rower

Went down to say hello to the Crossfit crew but the room was packed, I couldn't even get in the door.

Work-out #2

Yoga. Felt pretty good today.

October 21, 2010, Sisyphus

Work-out #1

1 mile on the dreadmill, 1 mile on the elliptical thingy, 1 mile on the rower, 1 mile on the beastmaster. Blah, blah, blah.

3 rounds
Good mornings, 135#,x 10
knee roll outs, 3
Standing cable crunches, 150#, x20

Work-out #2

Row 1 mile

Back Squats, 135#x12, 185#x10, 205#x8, 335#x3, 335#x2, 315#x2, 275#x8
Ham Raises, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8

Squats felt terrible today, I couldn't get the bar seated right, my form was sloppy. No need to beat myself up.

4 rounds
Blast offs on a 18" box, 10 on a side, 5 split squats on a side

3 rounds
OHS 89# with chains, 8
Standing Cable Crunches, 150#x20

1 mile on the elliptical thingy