Walking after Practicing Yoga

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

I’m fairly new to Yoga, about a month and a half in. I also train martial arts.

I have martial arts classes on Monday and Wednesday (Brazillian Jiu Jitsu and JKD).

I do yoga for an hour 2 days a week on Tuesday and Thursday. With my schedule it is easiest to fit in walking for 45 minutes after yoga on Tues/Thurs.

My martial arts instructor mentioned to me that it is probably a bad idea to walk after yoga cause all your joints are loose? However my Yoga instructor only mentioned that it probably isn’t a good idea to do heavy cardio after yoga.

To my reckoning, it seems like walking is such a basic facet of existence that a little jigglyness in the joints won’t hurt me, but I wanted to get a few second opinions.

When I get my mental self control in check with my desires I’m going to eventually migrate to walking 45min to an hour in the morning, every morning.

Thanks for any help and suggestions.

BTW the class is at 5:00 pm, and thats pretty much as early as I can get off work so walking before Yoga isn’t realistic for me.

Thanks again

#2

My friend, if your joints are too loose to walk afte an hour of yoga then you are likkely takign something other than yoga or taking yoga from someone who has insufficient training to mentor the wellbeing of her/his students. I personally, no offense intended, would be more concerned about you taking martial arts relative to yoga than I would you walking.

While I was not privy to the entire chat between you and your martial arts instructor it appears, based on your sharing, that said person has no knowledge of yoga whatsoever. Again no offense intended.

Yoga is just as much about stabilization as it is about mobilization. The premise that yoga is to loosen anything, to flexibilize this or that, is assumptive and incorrect. Yoga is to mobilize that which is “stuck” and should be mobile AND to stabilize that which should be stable but is not.

Assuming you are taking a Yoga class in a safe discpline with a well trained teacher then you may walk as much as you like. If you are not, then you are likely not to be able to walk anyway :slight_smile:

#3

no offense takin and I appreciate your knowledge.

My instructor is very knowlegeable in the schools of martial arts that he knows. Even during our conversation he was open that his experience with yoga was from a limited student nature.

Your comment about yoga being about mobilizing what is stuck and shouldn’t be makes alot of sense.

My teacher has been practicing since 1994 and began teaching in 2001. I’ve never felt like I couldn’t walk after a practice, but I was just wondering if there was something I was missing.

In your opinion was the comments of my Yoga teacher…about not doing any intense cardio (like running) valid or invalid? Obviously it would help to know why he said it and I’m going to ask him tonight.

May I ask, in general, what your concerns about the relationship between martial arts and yoga? I’d be intersted to know what factors I should be aware of when mixing and matching these disciplines.

Thank you.

#4

Cardio after yoga, cardio before yoga, cardio at all, depends on the context in which the comments are offered and taken. So I could not say.
Additionally, there are factors or variables that would make an answer simply that, “an” answer rather than “the” answer.

From the perspective of the central nervous system I would prefer not to do an intense workout after a productive, well taught yoga class. However if my yoga class is simply an hour of time where we jump around and do things with the body then there is no reason not to do “cardio” after. My yoga definition, and thus my yoga practice, are much broader so once my nervous system settles I’d liek to keep it there until life intrudes once again.

As far as the martial arts and yoga I was, in part, using that as an analogy. The point was that cultivating the fighting force and cultivating the yoga force, while both involve the body, the breath, the balance, they are more apart than yoga and running. At least in running there is no force cultivation, as far as I can tell.

But it is not a matter of good or bad but merely different. And frankly my limited study as a younger man with Taki Kimura is not enough for me to claim a wisdom around the martial arts to break it down further.