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Yoga | ||
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Yoga
Yoga is a popular form of exercise taught
throughout the world.
It addresses balance, stretching, strength-building
and relaxation.
If you are already quite fit and want to become more supple, then yoga is an
ideal choice.
Not so fit?
If you are unfit, overweight, not supple and sedentary, then yoga is perhaps
not the best starting place.
In lieu of patience and relaxation, beginners are apt to force the stretch
and this may result in injury. Straining and exerting are unwise if you are
out of shape.
Start mild
Qigong and tai chi for health are a wise starting place for the unfit.
Although the exercises are notably challenging there is virtually no risk of
injury.
Your body is gently coaxed into suppleness without forcing an outcome. More
earnest stretching comes later...
Fear blocks Tao by warping our perception. It sends us guiltily into the
past or anxiously into the future, rather than letting us relax into the
present.
(Wolf Lowenthal)
Be patient
Once the required standard of fitness has been reached in qigong, we offer
students the opportunity to study Taoist Yoga (tao yin).
Tao yin
Tao yin refers to a wide selection of stretching exercises designed to
improve circulation and boost the flow of oxygen within the body. It is
commonly referred to as 'Taoist Yoga'.
The stretches work the legs, back and psoas in particular.
Mild stretches
Taoist Yoga is a gentle way to exercise the body:
• Simple to perform
• Easy to learn
• Improves balance
• Stress-relief
• Meditation exercise
• Encourages a calm mind and composed emotions
• Energises
• Does not strain the body
• Strength-building
• Emphasis is placed upon allowing rather than forcing
• Improves skeletal alignment and poise
• Low-impact
• No exotic/strenuous postures
• Can be practiced by most people
Releasing rather than forcing
The aim is to relax into the release the muscles, rather than force the
body. In order to further release muscular tension and aid flexibility, the
body is sometimes massaged during the stretch.
It is encouraged to lengthen naturally. Typically the same exercise is
performed a few times to enable a fuller release.
Freedom from tension
Modern living leads to most people accumulating unwanted tightness in their
muscles. This limits their range of movement. Common causes:
Too much sitting
Repetitive activities
Insufficient exercise
Straining/forcing the body
Sport
Dehydration
Poor sleep
Stress
Tao yin exercises are an
excellent way to free the body and mind from
tension.
Sedentary lifestyle
Many young people begin to lose their flexibility in their 20's and 30's and
seldom regain it.
The main problem is laziness. There is no point in lying/being overly tactful
about this...
Sitting
Sitting for lengthy periods of time is bad for the body.
It causes muscles to tighten, circulation to suffer, the eyes to become
fixed and the mind to dull.
The legs, lower back and shoulders typically become weak, tight and
often quite painful. Tao yin stretching slowly reverses the problem.
What is
the difference between Taoist Yoga and the various forms of hatha yoga (Iyengar,
Ashtanga, Bikram, Vinyasa etc)?
In real terms, the approaches are quite similar although there are
differences.
Both use semi-static postures.
Both employ specialised breathing.
Both are designed to harmonise and strengthen the body.
Forcing
Hatha literally means 'willpower' and has the connotation of the mind
dominating the body. Taoist Yoga adopts a much milder approach; patiently
encouraging release rather than forcing a stretch.
It combines patient relaxing with gentle self-massage. If a yoga posture
proves to be too challenging or uncomfortable, try an alternative posture.
Cross-training
Usually, tao yin is practiced alongside qigong and tai chi. By combining
stretching and movement, the body receives a varied, comprehensive workout.
The relaxation that arises from qigong aids the body in tao yin stretching.
This then facilitates a greater range of internal massage during tai chi
practice.
Different to qigong
Taoist Yoga serves a similar purpose to qigong but accomplishes the outcome
through different means.
Qigong movement has more in common with tai chi and serves as a building
block for tai chi form (e.g. the arms are only lengthened to 70% of reach,
whole-body movement predominates).
Tao yin is primarily concerned with releasing, self-massage and breathing.
Youthfulness
Flexibility and aging are related concerns. The Tao Te Ching introduced this
insight; advising that young things are pliable whilst the old and dying are
brittle.
It is essential that tai chi students have a balanced workout; and this
should involve an extensive stretching regime. Suppleness will make your
body last longer and improve your quality of life.
Eligibility
In our syllabus, Taoist Yoga is offered to class members who know the basic
strength-building exercises:
Qigong exercises
- ba duan jin
- moving qigong
- reeling silk exercises
- stretches & joint work
- full circle qigong
- qigong development
Psoas work
Leg stretches
Page created
18 March 1995
Last updated
24 March 2022
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