The college life is often characterized as a time of relaxation, serenity, focus and joy. OK'maybe not'but there's a chance you can experience these feelings during exam times or any other prolonged stressful situation that happens in our crazy college lives.
Stress is a part of life, but we don't always realize it is associated with the tighetning of muscles in our body. With relief of muscle tension can come the relief of stress, hence the appeal of yoga'a series of poses that stretch and work normally out of reach muscles to relieve tension, restore body functions and relax the mind.
Yoga is a comprehensive practice connecting breathing with body consciousness and meditation. As a reputable approach to curing common ailments, yoga is steadily making its way into the Midwestern forebrain.
More and more people want to learn about their role in easing pain and stress through relaxation methods, and practicing yoga has taken different forms all over Madison'in health clubs and studio series, on VHS and DVD programs and on bookstore shelves across the city. Lucky for us, a small subculture of yogis and students were willing to share information and helpful hints.
Raja yoga'physical and mental restrain' was first described in the book \The Yoga Sutras of Pantanjali."" Patanjali, a grammarian, philosopher and physician, lived in the third century B.C. He developed Raja yoga as one of four main paths of yoga. His work is at the root of many common American yoga practices today. In ""The Yoga Sutras,"" Patanjali defines eight limbs of Raja yoga, one of which is Hatha yoga'the physical asana, or pose.
Since the physical aspects of yoga are tangible to the larger population, most beginning students regard Hatha yoga as simply ""yoga."" The other branches, however, involve moral and spiritual ideals such as nonviolence, truthfulness, morality, purity and the like. The poses provide increased levels of relaxation, flexibility and a sense of focus and clarity. However, with regular practice, the poses may open a person to spirituality, even if that was not their original intention.
""For me, what it does is open me up to spirituality,"" said Jerry Landau, a former chemist and yoga instructor with over 20 years of experience.
Landau recently started a morning class and therapeutic yoga series at the Quarry Arts Center in Madison. According to Landau, yoga often encourages people to seek the their original religions, but for some, the practice of yoga is enough of a spiritual base. Yoga is considered a philosophy, not a religion. Many believe that yoga began with Hinduism, but one may observe many aspects of the eight legs Raja philosophy throughout the teachings of many different religions.
There are dozens of styles of yoga that one interested in learning the practices may choose from. Of these, Ashtanga, Iyengar, Kripalu and Hatha are commonly practiced in studios and health clubs. Derivations and compilations of these styles are available in books and on tapes.
The phrase ""mind-body connection"" is somewhat ambiguous, but it's useful in yoga as the basis for all poses and the key to synchronizing breathing techniques and movements. Ashtanga yoga demonstrates these ideas and throughout the practice students coordinate poses, stretches and transitional movements with the two parts of the breath'inhalation and exhalation. Coordinating the body with the mind is fundamental to all sports and activities, but distractions make it impossible to concentrate on the link between the physical and mental.
""[Asanas] take so much concentration that you have to focus on your body. You can't zone out like when you're running and you can't do the poses correctly unless you really think,"" said Tammy Beran, a UW senior psychology major who spoke as sweat poured down her face.
Beran also said she felt extremely relaxed after attending a strength and flexibility class based on yoga, which is currently offered at the UW-Madison Natatorium.
So where does the relaxation and body-mind connection start? In the case of yoga, the answer is arguably the body. The body is the most tangible place to start looking for your strengths and weaknesses and this leads to acceptance of personal limitation, said Aubree Saia, certified Ashtanga instructor and founding owner of Jewel in the Lotus Yoga.
""When you know your limitations, you can work with them. You can keep the strengths and work to let go of weaknesses,"" Saia said.
Generally, one can expect to feel relaxed, focused and clear-headed after a yoga session.
""I feel like I'm walking on clouds and my mind is off all of the things it was on when I walked in [to class],"" said UW-Madison senior Elizabeth Baur. ""I feel more energetic around the house after classes.""
A person's goals will largely shape the effectiveness of yoga practice.
According to Landau, it also depends on one's limitations and constitution. In addition, a good teacher can make all of the difference. You have to feel comfortable with your teacher and the real benefits come from working with a teacher who lives the practice. That is when the experience moves beyond a mundane level of activity.
Saia agrees that yoga is more than exercise and relaxation techniques.
""My life is yoga,"" Saia said. ""Being a mother, being a friend. Anything I do in life can be translated back to yoga. Anything I do in yoga can translate to life.\
