What works better than Coffee? ...And some other questions

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

I usually can only grab about 6-7 hours of sleep a night and I can’t really increase this. I often wake up tired and I need coffee. I’ve heard that it is very bad for you. Is this true?

Without coffee, how do you get yourself going in the morning?

I study Ninjutsu and my sensei recently suggested some Yoga postures (correct term?) to correct a painful back that has been plaguing me for years.

The thing is that…it worked…I haven’t had a sore back in close to a year.
In addition, I feel a hell of a lot more flexible and I’m just more agreeable…sometimes even giddy after doing Yoga (people have commented). I actually find the whole thing enjoyable which I never would have guessed if you told me I was going to stretch… To top it all off, I’ve lost a ton of weight and I feel great…I haven’t changed my eating/exercise habits other than to add yoga so I can only assume that it’s responsible.

I usually do the “postures” before going to bed at night for about a half hour - a hour depending on how much time I can grab. Recently I’ve been scrounging about 5-10 minutes to do it in the morning and I’ve noticed that it has helped me wake up somewhat…but I still need coffee.

The postures I’ve been doing are a shoulder stand, head stand, back “arch” (hands and feet on the ground, stomach stuck up in the air), a weird one where you balance on your forearms and swing your feet over your head, as well as a few general stretches which are similar to the ones I’ve done in athletics over the years.

Are there any specifically designed to give energy/alertness?

I understand that there is allot of meditation/concentration involved in Yoga. Is there anything specific I should be thinking about or concentrating on when doing the yoga?

I’d like to improve my balance and I’ve already seen an improvement but does anyone know of something that could help more?

Embarrassingly enough, I often find that I’ve got gas now that I never used to get. I can’t really see how yoga would do it though. Any connection?

Can someone recommend a good illustrated book for beginners that is easy to follow? I’d like to go for instruction but I don’t really have the time.

I understand that there are different types or stiles of Yoga. What are the different types? I’m more interested in a muscle building/pain relieving/ happy making stile if anything even remotely fitting that description exists.

As far as breathing, the instruction that my Sensei gave me was to “breath deeply through the nose, filling the lungs from the bottom to the top, then breath out through the mouth” Is this correct? Anything I should be doing differently?

Thank you for your time.

#2

Answers from Mukunda:

Q. “Are there any specifically designed to give energy/alertness?”

A. Do the sun salute first that is yogi’s coffee. Optimal is to do gradually increasing time and speed. start w ith 6 times through in 6 minutes then increase to 12 times in 10 minutes; then to 18 times in 12 minutes; then to 24 times in 15 minutes for stability. By that time you will find natural endorphin production is balanced and need for stimulants diminished.

Q. “I understand that there is allot of meditation/concentration involved in Yoga. Is there anything specific I should be thinking about or concentrating on when doing the yoga?”

A. Concentrate on the feeling of the breath as a wave, see my book for more details under wave breath (ujjaye).

Q. “I’d like to improve my balance and I’ve already seen an improvement but does anyone know of something that could help more?”

A. Need is for strength in the abductors and hip rotators see my book for anatomy of asana. it will give you many ideas of poses mostly doing joint freeing series #5-7 will tone these muscles the best.

Q. “Embarrassingly enough, I often find that I’ve got gas now that I never used to get. I can’t really see how yoga would do it though. Any connection?”

A. None that i know. mostly this is due to diet and irregularity in eating and bowel functions.

Q. “Can someone recommend a good illustrated book for beginners that is easy to follow? I’d like to go for instruction but I don’t really have the time.”

A. Structural Yoga Therapy covers all the basic poses simply and leaves room to expand when you are ready for more understanding of what is going on when you do yoga.

Q. “I understand that there are different types or stiles of Yoga. What are the different types? I’m more interested in a muscle building/pain relieving/ happy making stile if anything even remotely fitting that description exists.”

A. Also listed in my book in the introduction. all styles will do what you wish if you persist.

Q. "As far as breathing, the instruction that my Sensei gave me was to “breath deeply through the nose, filling the lungs from the bottom to the top, then breath out through the mouth” Is this correct? Anything I should be doing differently? "

A. The lungs do not fill like a glass of water. they fill simultaneously from the center. the motion is created by the diaphragm which moves down as you inhale and up on exhale. Yogis focus on the natural wave of the diaphragm not the imagery. Imagery is fine and will be helpful but physical action is due to diaphragm not imagery which can lead to confusion.

Best is not to mix martial arts and yoga is not a combination that works well together. Yoga is from Indian tradition and incompatible with japanese or east asia culture when one studies them deeper, i.e. at the energy level.

#3

I never drink coffee (just don’t like the taste) but I’ll go through periods where I’ll drink enough Mountain Dew in a day to kill a small horse. It’s been my experience that the only thing better than caffeine to wake me up in the morning is to abstain from it completely. That way I’m able to fall asleep faster, sleep deeper, and wake up much less groggy as a result.

So once again as the new year rolls around I’m swearing off the Dew.

Orion