Practicing Yogasanas will always leave one feeling fresh and rejuvenated, regardless of where one does it. Nonetheless, are you practicing your Yoga the correct way? Did you know that a slight mis-positioning of the knee during the Warrior Pose can cause one to have knee problems when practiced over a long period of time? This is where an experienced Yogasana guide becomes important. S/he will be able to detect the mistake in ones posture while doing an Asana and correct it. We have had many Yoga students who practiced Yoga on their own suffer from injuries due to bad Yoga practices. Some suffered from the misalignment of the spine, stroke, constant nose-bleed, fall injuries etc. This is why it is important to enrol yourself in a proper Yoga school. Find out if the instructors know their stuff. Nowadays, anyone who is flexible enough to do the Asanas can open a Yoga school. However, not all instructors know about the anatomy of man and how Yoga actually works on the body, mind and spirit. While Yoga is a good stretching exercise that has great promise in the improvement of well-being, when wrongly practiced, can also bring about undesirable consequences. Each practitioners state of health is different and it is important that the instructor KNOWS what the students needs are. Therefore, the idea of having BEGINNER, INTERMEDIATE and ADVANCED classes never quite synced with me. This is the reason why the system of Yoga I have devised and introduced does not classify our students into these three groups. Why? To classify students into these three groups basically means just one thing - the goal of Yoga is nothing but to be able to practice extreme postures! This is actually the most notable misconception about the practice of Yogasanas. To mix students of different levels of flexibility, in my opinion, can serve as an inspiration for newer students. Furthermore, for every asana, there are various versions of difficulties. The instructor can offer the students the different levels of difficulty for each asana for them to choose according to their flexibility. The main role of the instructor during class is to maintain a good rapport with the students. For the instructor to KNOW the students capabilities, level of flexibility and health condition is very, VERY important in Yoga practice. There may be certain Asanas that are NOT suitable for some students at all. For example, a high blood pressure patient should NEVER practice Kapalbhati and must avoid Sirshasana. Some HBP patients can practice these only when the experienced instructor deem fit, but generally, they should not be practiced without professional supervision. Ive known of cases whereby HBP patients were taught to practice these in other schools, and what else could this lead to but a stroke? So, the practice of Yogasanas isnt merely a stretching exercise. It can bring about therapeutic effects on the body, but when practiced wrongly, can also bring about undesirable results. Make sure you practice your Yogasanas the correct way and let us all enjoy the moment of experiencing how amazing the human body and mind are. Love and light, Genevieve.
Posted on: Sun, 10 Aug 2014 18:00:34 +0000