5 Things I Learned From Practicing Yoga For 8 Months

[Gabriel Antonio]

This was in 2015. It was life-changing. Not only did I find a great community of friends there; I also learned how to live life. After all, yoga is sorta like a lifestyle. 

 

1- Your Breath is Your Gauge 

Here is the thing: if you do not have control of your breath, you are probably doing too much. Gotta slow down. Take child's pose and FUCKING REST. However, you gotta still be in control of your breath. You do not lose it. Like when you are resting in child's pose, the breathwork continues. 

 

2- Growth is Not Always Pleasant 

But here's the thing: brute force will not get you any closer to growing yourself. At least in yoga. Softness is the new strong, as a teacher of mine once said. I see a lot of people in yoga who are COMPLETELY neurotic. It's like so "goal-oriented": I GOTTA DO THIS POSE... However...... 

 

3- Yoga is not about poses 

We get stuck in form... in the materialistic mindset (as Leo always says)... but that's not what life is supposed to be about. It's like the pose "Crow". A lot of people desesperately wants to take their feet off the floor, but they end up fucking their wrists because of that hahaha... great job, Ego! HAahahaha... 

4- Are you feeling energized? If not, CHILD's POSE! 

So... continue talking about the fact that people are neurotic... Here is one good question to ask yourself in any situation you are in: Is this a good or a bad discomfort? 

In yoga:
Good discomfort: Muscle discomfort
Bad discomfort: Joints 

Good discomfort grows you. It is no use going to a super-advanced and vigorous yoga class if you haven't got the basics down. 

 

5- Correct Effort

A teacher of mine used to say: For this class, set the intention of "using as little effort as you can." Because one of the things I found in yoga was how much I use muscles that are simply not needed. Haha... It is like I am working on my hip rotator, but I am also frowning my face. 

This same teacher used to say: When you are practicing yoga, your face should like as if you were sunbathing in a beach in Brazil. Hahahaha... So... quit that frowny face. As Leo puts it, when you are meditating, your face should look like a baby, without any tension whatsoever. 

 

The really bad that happened to me was that I got so passionate about yoga that I took it to the hardcore levels and ended up falling on my ass (a.ka., backsliding). Seriously... in January 2016, I was in one of my most lucid periods of my life in which I was TRULY appreciating the present-fucking-moment. However... BOOM! I crashed into a HUGE depression and psychotic episode. My life turned upside down... I went from heaven to hell. And I attribute this ego backlash to my own neurosis of "having to feel good all the time." Guys, you probably will not believe in me, but yoga can be better than sex. I feel more connected to the people that I practice yoga with than sometimes in sex. 

But, anyway, the backsliding was necessary... I needed to go back to my homecountry, solve some DEEP-ASS family and psychological problems, and educate myself more on psychological principles (for example: I would have not found actualized.org if I was feeling super-good all the time... that depression was needed to actually find more Knowledge)

Now... I feel pretty good actually... because I got tools... :):):)

 

[cirkussmile]

Please tell me you meditate

[Gabriel Antonio]

@cirkussmile Not really... I used to be very into Buddhism at that time. I have experimented with the Do Nothing technique, which is really cool... it is a lifestyle also... Anyway, I am attending a vipassana retreat in February, so that might be a turning point... 

Yoga is a meditation in a way... 

[cirkussmile]

6 hours ago, Gabriel Antonio said:

@cirkussmile Not really... I used to be very into Buddhism at that time. I have experimented with the Do Nothing technique, which is really cool... it is a lifestyle also... Anyway, I am attending a vipassana retreat in February, so that might be a turning point... 

Yoga is a meditation in a way... 

If you want to self realize, yoga exercise alone will never take you there. Yoga is good because i enables one to sit more in meditation

I highly recommend starting a daily meditation practice. Vipassana will suggest 2 hours daily but that's to much for most. If you can do 30-60 minutes every day you will be amazed. And I'm not kidding. 

Much love

[d0ornokey]

which yoga? and where do i learn 

[Thinh]

Thank you @Gabriel Antonio for your post, really good insights from practicing yoga. And this is my opinion on meditation and yoga: I think yoga is like dynamic form of meditation and meditation is the static form of meditation. It's really interesting. Because there is a strong connection between your body and your mind so when you do yoga or meditation it affects on one side of the equation. The best balance is based on you so only you can know what is good.

[Gabriel Antonio]

@cirkussmile

On 12/24/2017 at 11:50 PM, cirkussmile said:

If you can do 30-60 minutes every day you will be amazed. And I'm not kidding. 

I have done several meditation challenges. Last year I committed to doing 4 hours of Do Nothing every single day. It turned out to be more a contemplation practice than a meditation itself. I feel like yoga can be a spiritual practice per se. Sure, you can see it as "gym yoga", but if you see how every pose is actually a reflection of your own mind, and how the physical struggles you are having actually are deeply connected to mental and even spiritual issues, this completely changes how I see yoga. It ends up being a practice for spiritual purification. 

 

On 12/25/2017 at 2:32 AM, d0ornokey said:

which yoga? and where do i learn 

I took classes at Yoga One in Santa Rosa, California. They used to have at least a $100 monthly plan of unlimited classes. I tried about 10 different teachers, and I really liked two of them. Both of them had a mixed practice, so it wasn't Hatha Yoga or a specific type. These two teachers that I actually liked used a lot of their intuition to guide the classes. When you take a yoga class with a GOOD teacher, you will feel it. Conversely, you can quickly spot westerners who simply do not get yoga. For example, if you go to a class and the pace is VERY VERY fast and the poses are done unmindfully, then you can discard that, because it is bullshit. 

So, I'd recommend taking various classes with many teachers until it clicks and you go to a class and you go like, "YES! This is the one!" >> that's how to know you have found the right class for you. 

I do not really recommend learning all by yourself, because you will probably mess things up, if you do not have someone to guide you. 

Currently, I practice yoga only when I need to ease off a tension in a specific body part. I have been practicing a lot of Pranayamas (breathing techniques) with a friend who went to a 15-day Osho retreat. It is AWESOME to learn how to breathe correctly. 

But anyway... just don't take a yoga class at a gym... cause the chances of being a neurotic yoga is very high... Kundalini Yoga is very interesting for consciousness work. You can activate your Kundalini energy there. If you do not have the opportunity of using psychedelics, Kundalinin yoga can give you a lot of highs just by using your breath. It is quite remarkable. 

 

On 12/25/2017 at 4:41 AM, Thinh said:

I think yoga is like dynamic form of meditation and meditation is the static form of meditation.

Totally... I get deeply connected to myself when I am doing yoga. I turn inwards, as Leo puts it. And a lot of us are so disconnected from our body that before attempting a meditation practice, we should focus on releasing all the pent up energy we have accumulated in our body. 

 

BTW - I should have written about the interconnection of each reason between yoga and real life. For example, if you are working too damn much and you are actually losing your energy, you should take a strategic break (child's pose) before continuing. So... you could take some relaxing breaths before continuing with your activity. 

Anyway... I am writing too damn much hahaha... Well... the thing is: after a while you start to embody the practice of Yoga to other areas of your life. It bleeds into areas you'd never expect... And you start seeing that Life is a yoga practice in a way. If you are doing everything very unconsciously, you will suffer. If you do it with attention and always checking in with yourself to see if you are feeling good with what you are doing, then... you have begun to expand your practice off the mat, as a teacher used to say. 

 

[Thinh]

@Gabriel Antonio It seem very true to me, as I notice and as I observe people I realize that the true master is the one who can bring his mastery into his mundane, day to day life. And I really like this mindset. 

[Gabriel Antonio]

19 hours ago, Thinh said:

the true master is the one who can bring his mastery into his mundane, day to day life

Awesome! Totally agreed

[Dragallur]

@Gabriel Antonio Amazing, those are the types of posts that this forum needs!

[Cjaryo]

I'll probably get into yoga later in my life. I didn't know that there were so many areas to get insights from it. I think that periods of depressive episodes can help people to get in touch with their root issues that they had not greatly developed. I hope that you use your memories of peace from 2015 to power what you do in 2018.

[Gabriel Antonio]

On 28/12/2017 at 7:07 AM, Dragallur said:

Amazing, those are the types of posts that this forum needs!

Hehehe, thanks man  

 

On 28/12/2017 at 11:08 AM, Cjaryo said:

I'll probably get into yoga later in my life. I didn't know that there were so many areas to get insights from it. I think that periods of depressive episodes can help people to get in touch with their root issues that they had not greatly developed. 

Once you get the hang of Yoga, insights starts pouring in every time uou practice it. You begin morr and more to directly experience that the inside is what really matters. 

« If it feels good, it will look good. »

 

On 28/12/2017 at 11:08 AM, Cjaryo said:

I hope that you use your memories of peace from 2015 to power what you do in 2018.

Thanks! Totally! I am not so immature as I was. I got experience and tools to navigate through life and work on my consciousness with stability.

 

??

[star ark]

Perfect timing, I bought a yoga mat and borrowed a few books at the library just 2 days ago. Honestly I'm struggling to just stay balanced doing the tree pose which my book consider the 2nd easiest pose!

Long way to go for me, this is quite the inspiration. Thank you for sharing.

[Faceless]

Yoga is good for the body and can be fun. 

Stretching, strengthening, and breathing is good for the body, which can be quite calming. 

But that’s it. 

[Gabriel Antonio]

 

On 12/29/2017 at 9:13 PM, star ark said:

Perfect timing, I bought a yoga mat and borrowed a few books at the library just 2 days ago. Honestly I'm struggling to just stay balanced doing the tree pose which my book consider the 2nd easiest pose!

For total beginners, I strongly recommend taking classes with a teacher. The chances of you screwing things up are too high... After you get the hang of yoga, then you can do it solo. 

 

On 12/29/2017 at 9:19 PM, Faceless said:

Yoga is good for the body and can be fun. 

Stretching, strengthening, and breathing is good for the body, which can be quite calming. 

But that’s it. 

If you are talking about "gym yoga", then you might be right. But reducing real Yoga to that is not right. It is a lifestyle, really. Sure, it focuses on the body, but I feel like people underestimate how much pent up energy is built up in the body. Yoga was much more important than therapy for me. A lot of repressed memories were stored on the hip area, for example. And, plus, you can also see the relationship between body and mind. For example, when you are mentally clear, you feel more flexible naturally. If, on the other hand, you are too rigid in your mind, then you will also have a hard time with doing the poses. 

Definitely, Yoga is not the end-all-be-all. There are other tools you can use to self-actualize, but it is damn an awesome tool. 

[RawJudah]

@Gabriel Antonio Yoga is brilliant but I don’t think it has anything on meditation. They are both completely separate things, both very good for the body and mind, but try meditating after some yoga. 

[Michael569]

On 23/12/2017 at 1:28 PM, Gabriel Antonio said:

5- Correct Effort

A teacher of mine used to say: For this class, set the intention of "using as little effort as you can." Because one of the things I found in yoga was how much I use muscles that are simply not needed. Haha... It is like I am working on my hip rotator, but I am also frowning my face

oh man, ..this is so true, I didn't realise how much I've been doing this. Probably a habit from the gym. Been focusing too much on ego-drive and too little on the spiritual experience. Thanks for posting this, I needed to hear (read) it !