4 ms·

Yeah, I understand that Yoga means something different to you, but what it means to you isn't at all what we're talking about. It's kind of like the word "hack

by dguido 15y ago

Yeah, I understand that Yoga means something different to you, but what it means to you isn't at all what we're talking about. It's kind of like the word "hacking", which to the mass market refers to the activity of taping two batteries together with an LED or making proper use of placebos. Sucks, right?

kamaal 15y ago
Well frankly speaking if you remove the spirit of Yoga and restrict it to merely acrobatic and gym sessions kind of a regime. I would advice you better go with the actual gym and aerobic exercise. You either need to adhere to things in their true spirit or just do some thing else. Also the title in this article is highly misleading. Yoga won't wreck your body. Rather it will take you a level higher. Like the Buddha! It will let you ponder on the deepest meaning of your existence. Its very sad that its being marketed in America this way. Some time back I read somewhere that meditation is being marketed as 'hallucination'. That is by taking narcotics and dangerous intoxicants! This is really sad.
- ramkalari 15y ago
  I'm an Indian too and have attended classes under atleast 3 different schools of Yoga. Let's not beat down the schools which focus on asanas. If you do an intense study of Iyengar Yoga, you would understand that it is a fantastic system with the attention to details that is hard to find elsewhere.
- dalke 15y ago
  "Yoga won't wreck your body." So those people whose bodies were wrecked doing yoga - and several specific examples were given in the article - I assume they weren't doing yoga? Sounds like the Fallacy of the True Scotsman to me. Those Christians who steal, they aren't really Christians, right? Those Jews who let men and women mix in the synagogue, do they "adhere to things in their true spirit"? And so on. Those who claim that there is a true way walk a dangerous path.
  - CharonP1 15y ago
    >I assume they weren't doing yoga? Exactly. As pointed out by the OC, Yoga is about ridding the ego and assuming awareness. "those people" were not practicing that at all, but rather the exact opposite. They were pushing themselves to do things they were not ready to do in the spirit of ego (or "I should be able to do this by now."). >Those who claim that there is a true way walk a dangerous path. This is true, however I believe it to be misapplied in this case. You could also say "That person eating an orange, how can you say he is not eating an apple? Is there not more than one way to eat an apple?"
    - jtheory 15y ago
      Generally: words are defined by how people use them. They are not defined by history, or by experts, though experts may attempt to keep the meaning pure (often with limited success). Shared definitions are what enable communication; we don't have a choice in the matter if we want to communicate. When you say "apple", virtually no one will think "citrus fruit, orange color" etc. We generally agree on what an apple and orange are. If you say "yoga", however, and 80% of the people listening to you think of flexibility/twisting/poses/etc., you can't say "you're all wrong; I'm more expert than you". It's frustrating when words and concepts are diminished and twisted in the process of greater adoption, but it's very common.
      - dalke 15y ago
        On top of that, the entire article is about how yoga (in the form it's most often done in the US) has the "potential to inflict blinding pain" and in teachers (in the US) the lack of "deeper training necessary to recognize when students are headed toward injury." The reason people do yoga (as it's most often done in the US) is because it appears to: "lower your blood pressure, make chemicals that act as antidepressants, even improve your sex life." Once you take out the "as most often practiced in the US" then the entire article is of course null and void. But since it's premised on differences between the US and India, like how Americans more often sit on chairs than on the floor, that's of course to be expected. If you use another definition for "yoga", then you take away the bad parts, but then you also take away the attributed good parts. How do you know that the "pure" form of yoga is better at lowering blood pressure, etc. than the US form of the same? What's the cost benefit analysis? As the essay rightly points out, yoga as it's taught in the US rarely includes the negatives. Apparently from various others in this thread, there are no negatives for yoga done right. Is this because every injury is attributed to not doing it right, or to the lack of good statistics on the matter? I presume both.
tatsuke95 15y ago
You must be a "hacker"! In my world, if you tell someone you're "hacking", they assume you're breaking into a bank, or changing your grades in the school computer.
- capisce 15y ago
  Are you aware of the name of this forum?

by dguido 15y ago

kamaal 15y ago

Well frankly speaking if you remove the spirit of Yoga and restrict it to merely acrobatic and gym sessions kind of a regime. I would advice you better go with the actual gym and aerobic exercise. You either need to adhere to things in their true spirit or just do some thing else. Also the title in this article is highly misleading. Yoga won't wreck your body. Rather it will take you a level higher. Like the Buddha! It will let you ponder on the deepest meaning of your existence. Its very sad that its being marketed in America this way. Some time back I read somewhere that meditation is being marketed as 'hallucination'. That is by taking narcotics and dangerous intoxicants! This is really sad.

ramkalari 15y ago
I'm an Indian too and have attended classes under atleast 3 different schools of Yoga. Let's not beat down the schools which focus on asanas. If you do an intense study of Iyengar Yoga, you would understand that it is a fantastic system with the attention to details that is hard to find elsewhere.
dalke 15y ago
"Yoga won't wreck your body." So those people whose bodies were wrecked doing yoga - and several specific examples were given in the article - I assume they weren't doing yoga? Sounds like the Fallacy of the True Scotsman to me. Those Christians who steal, they aren't really Christians, right? Those Jews who let men and women mix in the synagogue, do they "adhere to things in their true spirit"? And so on. Those who claim that there is a true way walk a dangerous path.
- CharonP1 15y ago
  >I assume they weren't doing yoga? Exactly. As pointed out by the OC, Yoga is about ridding the ego and assuming awareness. "those people" were not practicing that at all, but rather the exact opposite. They were pushing themselves to do things they were not ready to do in the spirit of ego (or "I should be able to do this by now."). >Those who claim that there is a true way walk a dangerous path. This is true, however I believe it to be misapplied in this case. You could also say "That person eating an orange, how can you say he is not eating an apple? Is there not more than one way to eat an apple?"
  - jtheory 15y ago
    Generally: words are defined by how people use them. They are not defined by history, or by experts, though experts may attempt to keep the meaning pure (often with limited success). Shared definitions are what enable communication; we don't have a choice in the matter if we want to communicate. When you say "apple", virtually no one will think "citrus fruit, orange color" etc. We generally agree on what an apple and orange are. If you say "yoga", however, and 80% of the people listening to you think of flexibility/twisting/poses/etc., you can't say "you're all wrong; I'm more expert than you". It's frustrating when words and concepts are diminished and twisted in the process of greater adoption, but it's very common.
    - dalke 15y ago
      On top of that, the entire article is about how yoga (in the form it's most often done in the US) has the "potential to inflict blinding pain" and in teachers (in the US) the lack of "deeper training necessary to recognize when students are headed toward injury." The reason people do yoga (as it's most often done in the US) is because it appears to: "lower your blood pressure, make chemicals that act as antidepressants, even improve your sex life." Once you take out the "as most often practiced in the US" then the entire article is of course null and void. But since it's premised on differences between the US and India, like how Americans more often sit on chairs than on the floor, that's of course to be expected. If you use another definition for "yoga", then you take away the bad parts, but then you also take away the attributed good parts. How do you know that the "pure" form of yoga is better at lowering blood pressure, etc. than the US form of the same? What's the cost benefit analysis? As the essay rightly points out, yoga as it's taught in the US rarely includes the negatives. Apparently from various others in this thread, there are no negatives for yoga done right. Is this because every injury is attributed to not doing it right, or to the lack of good statistics on the matter? I presume both.

tatsuke95 15y ago

You must be a "hacker"! In my world, if you tell someone you're "hacking", they assume you're breaking into a bank, or changing your grades in the school computer.

capisce 15y ago
Are you aware of the name of this forum?