Yoga Health and Longevity

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

I have studied Iyengar, Desikachar, Jois, Kundalini, Bikram, on and on.

Here is my theory.
Any type of movement is good. Any type of stretching is good. Almost any type of exercise is good.

Aside from specific ailments such as bad back or pinched nerve or something like that, I think general exercise is generally good for the body.

In other words, for health and longevity, for the average person without those specific ailments, does it really matter if you do Sivananda yoga or general calisthetics? I don’t think so. I think yoga asana or taiso or pilates or any other type of general exercise would help keep the body in good shape. But will that alone not make a person live to 100. I think Mr Krishnamacharya and Ms Devi just had it in their genes to live that long. I think Mr Jois had it in his genes to live into his 90’s-- and Mr Iyengar, at least that long.

Did yoga help them live that long? Did yoga keep them healthy?

I believe yes and no.

Yoga is good for you, and it is good for your health, but it is not the end all.

So, does it really matter if you start your asana standing then go to sitting asanas? Does it matter if you do pranayama before or after the asanaa?

I don’t think so.

I think it is the practice of moving in general which is healthy.

#2

Thanks for taking the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about information and love learning more on this. If possible, as you gain expertise, It is extremely helpful for me. would you mind updating your blog with more information.

#3

My grandfather lived to 97. He drank moderately almost every day, ate meat regularly (avoided fish), smoked unfiltered cigarettes until age 65, and I am certain never did any form of calisthenics (although amazingly spry and alert to the end). My grandmother to aged 95 - 8 children and very sedentary. My father is 83, and had 4 heart attacks by my age (I’m amazed he’s still alive). None of them ever really heard of yoga, I’m sure.

But I’m not taking any chances. Yoga practice forever. With those genes, maybe I can bounce my way to 120.

#4

Senin,

if this is your belief then it is your belief and therefore appropriate for you. It works for you. It suits you. It moves you forward and fits with where you want to go as a human being in what little time we are granted.

There are, of course, other very sound ways to look at the same topic.

In the practice of Yoga the “exercise” you allude to is designed to create a sound vessel for something ELSE. It is not the end but rather a means to an end. The health of the body is required but it is not the mission.

For a person who is only concerned about the nature of their musculo-skeletal system or the drainage of the lymphatic system for example, movement is movement. However just as there are wholesome states of mind there are wholesome movements. This isn’t my opinion per se but is borne out in much of the rational thought from the fields of anatomy, physiology, and kinesiology.

With that said, I would not easily be able to state that “all movement is good”.

#5

I always wondered what yoga is about till i found this quote at Quote Ocean:
“The way you think, the way you behave, the way you eat, can influence your life by 30 to 50 years.”

#6

Hi Senin,

It is said that Amrita nectar rejuvenates your body. There are even fabled yogis who allegedly have achieved immortality, for example Mahavatar Babaji.

I don’t know, I’ll tell you within 100 years whether Amrita has made me immortal or not…

Regards

#7

Would immortality (for you) be useful on a planet no longer inhabited by human beings?

#8

The most beautiful and most profound emotion we can experience is the sensation of the mystical. It is the sower of all true science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead. To know that what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom, and the most radiant beauty which our dull faculties can comprehend only in the most primitive form- this knowledge, this feeling, is at the centre of true religiousness. The Cosmic religious experience is the strongest and oldest mainspring of scientific research. My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble minds. That deeply emotional conviction of the presence of the superior reasoning power, which is revealed in the incomprehensible universe, forms my idea of God. Science without religion is lame; religion without science is blind’.

                    [LEFT]- Albert Einstein.

Quoted by Lincoln Barnett in “The Universe and Dr. Einstein”.[/LEFT]

#9

[QUOTE=InnerAthlete;64247]Would immortality (for you) be useful on a planet no longer inhabited by human beings?[/QUOTE]

I would teleport to another planet…

#10

InnerAthlete,

“In the practice of Yoga the “exercise” you allude to is designed to create a sound vessel for something ELSE. It is not the end but rather a means to an end. The health of the body is required but it is not the mission”

What are you refering to? The other facets of yoga? Hinduism?

“For a person who is only concerned about the nature of their musculo-skeletal system or the drainage of the lymphatic system for example, movement is movement”

I disagree. Some movement might be better than others. But any type of movement is better than no movement at all.

“if this is your belief then it is your belief and therefore appropriate for you. It works for you. It suits you. It moves you forward and fits with where you want to go as a human being in what little time we are granted.”

Sorry, I again disagree. Contrary to some popular thought, your belief is not reality. Physics is physics. Jump off a 20 story building, you die, regardless of your beliefs.

So, Innerathlete, what exactly are you saying?

#11

[QUOTE=Senin;64102]I have studied Iyengar, Desikachar, Jois, Kundalini, Bikram, on and on.

Here is my theory.
Any type of movement is good. Any type of stretching is good. Almost any type of exercise is good…[/QUOTE]

Well, not quite. Read eg Iyengar:Yoga, the path to holistic health. He clearly states that you first learn how to act with the physcal body (muscles, bones…)
after you learn how to act upon the physiological body (kidneys, liver…), after you learn to act upon your mind and after you learn to act upon the spirit.

A simple example: paschimottanasana is a good remedy against depression.

#12

I quoted a few times Hatha Yoga Pradipika:

http://www.yoga-age.com/pradipika/part1.html

Scroll down to ASANAS:

"Asanas are not just physical exercises. They induce biochemical, psycho-physiological changes etc. Asanas act even upon the body cells.

#13

I disagree that movement is better than no movement… that depends on your reason for existing. Attainment of Samadhi, is more my aim than worldly enjoyment, and concentration on the physical body will not automatically bring about higher states of consciousness. I prefer stillness to activity.

Physical movement should be carefully planned and performed to achieve maximum benefit while expending minimum amount of energy(BTU/Callories)… this can be done by performing complex asanas that stretch many body parts at once such as Gherandasana, to the full range of motion, in a structured and logical flow. just as it is more efficient to multiply numbers rather than add them hundreds of times, or to write a book using scholarly vocabulary rather than elementary vocabulary to convey complex information, so too is movement that is optimized superior to the random and unstructured variety. A computer runs better when operating an optimized algorithm, and so too does the human mechanism. When one moves in the most efficient manner, they become more like Lord Shiva who does everything in the absolute, perfect, optimized, and ultimately efficient way.

Physical movement is also useful for rescuing a being who’s life is in danger, in this case the most efficient movement is also most prudent.

Eliminating superfluous movements will reduce the amount of food one needs to eat, leading to shorter digestion time/preparation time, and therefore allowing more time for meditation, pranayama and asanas.

#14

[QUOTE=oak333;64554]A simple example: paschimottanasana is a good remedy against depression.[/QUOTE]

So is a good jog.

#15

jogging can be bad for the knees and one could trip or cut their foot on a sharp object, it makes the breathing fast and shallow and heartbeat is elevated. In yoga one can control the excitation and relaxation of the breathing and only needs small space to practice. Yoga can be done even in outer space by immortal beings as is mentioned in the vedas.

One needs allot of space to jog, and the entire track must be inspected before use. One can get attacked by a dog or wild animal (they always bark and growl at the fast moving), or one could get hit by a car. Women have been raped while out jogging durring early morning and dusk. In nature trees will have to be cut to clear a running track, as the eye could be poked by a treebranch. Songbirds will fly away, the ground will tremble all creatures will be afraid. It disturbs the shanti of other beings. A yogi does not need to run to, from, or around anything. Even if attacked by a tiger a yogi need not run away, they can attain samadhi by meditating at the time of death, so running is a unnecessary ability for a yogi. Running can effect ones longevity in many undesirable ways.

#16

You’re joking, right?

#17

I am not joking, yoga is a better exercise for longevity than running. I have never known any old runner without a knee brace. My friend was running on the beach and stepped on a jaw bone in the sand and cut his foot badly, he can not even walk properly after that. One can safely simulate all positive effects of running in a controlled environment through yoga and pranayama practice.

30–79% of runners will receive an injury, where an injury is defined as a musculoskeletal ailment of the lower extremity or back, causing a restriction of running for at least one week. The average runner strikes the ground one thousand times per mile, thus they are highly susceptible to repetitive stress injuries. The greatest possibility for injury in a running foot occurs when it strikes the ground. When wearing shoes the impact comes to the heel (knee, hip, or Achilles tendon injury), with no shoes it comes to the ball of the foot (possible stress fracture).

#18

No, not the running part, this part
"the entire track must be inspected before use. One can get attacked by a dog or wild animal (they always bark and growl at the fast moving), or one could get hit by a car. Women have been raped while out jogging durring early morning and dusk. In nature trees will have to be cut to clear a running track, as the eye could be poked by a treebranch. Songbirds will fly away, the ground will tremble all creatures will be afraid. It disturbs the shanti of other beings. A yogi does not need to run to, from, or around anything. Even if attacked by a tiger a yogi need not run away"

Can you show that yoga is empirically better than calisthenics, pilates, feldenkrais for health or longevity?

#19

Yoga can be done as a calisthenic exercise, and is superior to traditional calisthenics such as sit-ups which are bad for the lumbar and push-ups which make a disproportionate body. Repetitive exercises which do not utilize the full range of motion, discourage flexibility in the long term. With increased flexibility comes the ability to avoid injury and care for ones self into old age. Many people get injured with palates because of the use of weights. I do not know about feldenkrais.

#20

apart from asana and dhyana, i love sweating. i walk a lot (hill mode) jog a little 7mins, in my room (machine) after every minutes the pattern of breath changes, nice to watch, sometimes i find, i walk in a furious/maniac, mode. but the most i enjoy when after 45mins some divine energy engulfs my whole body, i walk very slowly like a zombie, my breath very fine, thin, my sweating stops. the sensation of body and limbs becomes null. i dont carry on much, i dont surrender, i sit down, in padmasana. but, as i sit the zombie sensation melts back to natural, but It lingers.

my point is to revive the sensation mentioned above in my static state, it’ll be a dynamite. except yoga forum, no one will understand, i guess.