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Yoga for life | ||||||||||||
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Writer | |
Sivil Baker | |
Date | |
2002-03-02 | |
Count | |
2778 | |||
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| I first came to Hongik Yoga a little over a year ago. I'd been interested in yoga but had never really tried it before. Yoga is really popular in the States these days, with over 20million practitioners. I'd wanted to try yoga but didn't know of any places in Korea that had yoga classes. Then a friend invited me to come with him to Hongik Yoga, which was near my house, and try it out. What first impressed me with Hongik Yoga was the blend of Hatha Yoga with traditional Korean medicine and philosophy. Many of the exercises during the warm up and cool down come from traditional Korean forms. In addition, the teachers are very attuned to each member's own constitution. Even though the practice has grown dramatically the past year, I still know the teachers always have time to discuss any physical problems I am having and will offer special poses or exercises to do at home. After a few sessions one of the teachers took my pulse to diagnose my constitution. The teacher asked me if I'd had any major surgery recently. I was surprised because I had had collarbone surgery several months before but had not told them about it. The teacher said my body had not recovered from the surgery and recommended some breathing and other exercises to do at home. As the year progressed I found myself becoming more flexible and getting more energy. After spending two months in Peru and the U.S. where I had neglected my practice, I was shocked to find out how "inflexible" I'd become when I started yoga up again. Luckily, I regained my strength and flexibility after resuming yoga for a month. Yoga is not easy. Many people think that yoga just involves easy stretching, and are surprised when they attend their first class. Yoga involves strength, stamina, flexibility as well deep concentration and breathing. Some poses are hard to hold and usually by the end of class most students are out of breath. Yet the class always ends with a lights-out rest which relaxes and reinvigorates the body. After class most students feel refreshed and energized. Yoga is an ancient practice with its roots in India. It can be practiced anytime and anywhere but you should not do yoga after eating a heavy meal. While yoga can be practiced at home, I find the hands-on instruction of yoga class to be essential to my practice. Very often my alignment is not correct for a pose and I can rely on the teachers to spot this and correct it. A class also introduces new poses and variation that I wouldn't do at home. Finally, I find I push myself harder in class by holding poses longer and making my stretches deeper. The main reason I do yoga is because I believe it is the best all around exercise for long-term health. My father-in-law, who is 60, plays racquetball for one hour every day and is in excellent cardiovascular shape. Yet his body is stiff and inflexible. I see many older Americans who get injured or can't do the things they used to do because their bodies are stiff. I believe that doing yoga regulary will help me enjoy my life to its fullest even in old age. No matter where my life takes me, I plan on doing yoga for the rest of my life for optimum spiritual and physical health. * Sivil Baker: She is working as a professor at the department of English and English Literature in Yonsei University. She says that she is living a stress-free life in Korea thanks to yoga and natural Saengshik(raw food). Her husband Todd Hull also takes saengshik everyday. They meet every weekend;due to their job location, they live apart for week days; and practice yoga together. They are real yoga-devotees. |
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