First of all, I wanted to thank everyone on this forum for their precious help. I hope my own experience and information will be put to good use to help others soon.

I wanted to thank you because right now my sleep paterns are all mixed up and it gave me time last night to read a lot on this board and to finally start to tapper what looked overwhelming at first. I have a thirst for information, but it's sometimes difficult to make our opinion on a subject no one has the same opinion. I found that most of you guys have a pretty straight forward and objective opinion.

I'm looking forward to build a French resource on the Web to help pass the information to French speaking people.

My question for this post might be a little off topic. I've been interested to personal development and the law of attraction for a couple of years already and I think that it's what leaded to raw food. Now, not long after starting to eat raw, I started being even more interested in those subjects. I haven't thought about meditation and yoga before but now those subjects look like the right continuation of my journey to grow better.

However, information in this field seems overwhelming too, and there is so much different types of yoga practices or meditation. I would like to know what type do you practice and what are good sources of info on the Web or in books.

I'm the type who like to be a 100% in a subject when I decide it's good for me. For example, I switched raw overnight and I'm glad I did. I'm sure when I'll find the practice that seem to fit with my beliefs I'll get into it a 100%.

Thanks a lot in advance

I hear you. Remember what yoga means: Union. If you believe (perhaps) that there is an energy or 'god' in everything....then it doesn't matter WHAT you choose to give full attention, love, and union to. So, there are formal yogas (like hatha's) and formal meditations of various kinds (TM, etc). My suggestion is to read The Power of Now, and let me know what you think. If you wish to practice a formal meditation, then find a good studio nearby. I'll check my library and recommend some books tonight. Power to you!

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

I practice a physical form of yoga called hatha yoga and also sometimes a more specialized form of hatha yoga, called Ashtanga yoga. I practice physical yoga primarily, but not only, for the physical benefits.

I was fortunate to have some very good yoga teachers when I first began my yoga practice. Now, I am not able to attend classes with such good teachers but having had the foundation of good teaching early on has really helped me. While I would prefer to attend classes with excellent teachers, right now that isn't possible. Having good instruction when you begin is a very big help throughout your life... It has held me in good stead to this day.

Some useful links:

[www.dmoz.org]

[yoga.about.com]

I also practice a form of meditation called Vipassana. I would recommend the place where I learned:

[www.dhamma.org]

They have courses in France. See [www.dhamma.org]

Some other useful links:

[www.buddhanet.net]

[www.dhammaweb.net]

I hope this helps.


Lee

my advice would be to sample the smorgasboard of yoga styles until you find a style and an instructor that suits YOU, because its all just many paths to the same destination... i've tried and loved lots of different yoga styles, although i found a perfect fit for ME with the ashtanga style (1) because i had an amazing instructor (2) because the power/yang/"masculine" style suits my personality (3) because the rote nature of it (its the same series of postures practiced in the same order every time) allows it to become a moving meditition once the sequence is committed to bodily "memory" (eventually you get on the mat and you just start moving through the postures without thinking about what comes next) and (4) because it allows/forces you to get away from the "crutch" of an instructor and just get on your mat and do your personal practice, on your own, tapping in to your inner voice rather than the voice of your instructor. once you learn the series, you don't have to shell out $12-$20/class anymore, in fact you will find that you make the biggest gains hacking away at it on your own.

david's right, "the power of now" by eckhart tolle is an excellent read. i also REALLY benefited from "loving what is" by byron katie -- for me this was really where the rubber met the road... it took the principles of the power of now and showed how to apply them directly to your thought processes, it really helped me connect to it viscerally vs. just intellectually.

i've got a bunch of guided meditation mp3s that i enjoy that i could send you via email, and some lectures about meditation practice too that i've found helpful. if you pm me your email i'll send those along.

I practice some wierd combination of Theravada Buddhism, Zen and do some yoga, but we don't have time for me to explain it!

So I usually point people to this site:

[www.audiodharma.org]

There is a 5 week vipassana (insight) meditation course here.

[www.audiodharma.org]

(I actually recommend the bottom one since I've done it before and it's not missing any files).

Though vipassana meditation comes from the Buddhist tradition, it need not be viewed as any kind of religious commitment. The meditation objects in vipassana are the breath, body, and the the objects of your mind (thoughts, feelings, and the mind itself) You're just getting in touch with those things.

I like to recommend that people do this course, as it's taught, without skipping ahead, week by week. Working with a breath builds a foundation to work on other meditation objects step by step, so that's an important focus. It's also common to most meditation practices.

There's no commitment to any beliefs in meditation, so no need to worry if it "fits." The only commitment is to do the practice. If anything the practice allows you to look at your own beliefs objectively and see if they are benefitting you. Many people carry beliefs around that don't even fit their own lives!

There's lots of other good stuff to listen to on this site if you listen to one file and want to hear more.

-DaveK

I practice independently and reap huge benefits just by doing a bit in my bedroom nearly everyday. I was also fortunate enough to have some great teachers and a great foundation from my teenage years. If you are curious, scope out some of the studios in your area--and definitely TALK with the instructors to see if they are offering what you need to advance your journey.

I do think having a bit of a professional guidance, or even learning some new poses I couldn't find on the internet, would be helpful to me right now. But the same thing could be said for an old argument about prayer, do you prefer to do it alone? at church? through your works?

hi

i do ashtanga.

when i first started out on my yoga path, i simply went to the library,
took out yoga videos and it was ashtanga that resonated with me.

good luck on your journey
dc

I do Iyengar, which is focused on body alignment. You begin with simply learning how to sit and to stand, and how to hold your body upright, extended and strong. Yoga prepares the body for meditation -- "the body is a vessel for the breath."

i recently got turned on to this amazing website:
[www.yogatoday.com]

the liver cleanse kundalini class rocked my house! i was solidly buzzing 24 hrs later! here it is: [link.brightcove.com]

shane Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I do Iyengar, which is focused on body alignment.
> You begin with simply learning how to sit and to
> stand, and how to hold your body upright, extended
> and strong. Yoga prepares the body for meditation
> -- "the body is a vessel for the breath."

I am interested in Iyengar yoga and the concept of body alignment and breathing but I noticed from their web sites [www.bksiyengar.com] that some of teachers and students look very old and wrinkled. Maybe a combination of raw food and Iyengar yoga may work great.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/28/2008 10:16AM by madinah.

Here's an excellent site on the 112 meditations of Tantra Yoga:

[www.otantra.net]

madinah Wrote:
I noticed from
> their web sites
> [www.bksiyengar.com]
> tm that some of teachers and students look very
> old and wrinkled.

I think Iyengar is 90. I wonder how many 20-year olds can get their bodies into those poses? I agree about the combo of yoga and raw being a great one. But I don't think Iyengar does the raw food diet.

I prefer Vinyasa. There's nothing like starting out the day with early morning Sun Salutations.

The yogi teach body alignment breathing with little attention to raw food, the raw foodist are primarly focused on the food. what we need is a complete approach to life including every aspect.

both yoga and a raw food diet are about making the unconscious conscious. in that way they are complimentary, as the more practice you have being conscious in one aspect of your life, the more doors start opening to consciousness in all aspects. most people don't give much thought to their breath OR what they eat.

the complete approach will not be handed to us on a platter. there is no book, no guru, who will/can/should say "do this and this and this and your life will be perfect". its perfect already, and we are all perfectly (and hopefully joyfully) creating our own approach to awakening.

madinah said:
"The yogi teach body alignment breathing with little attention to raw food, the raw foodist are primarly focused on the food. what we need is a complete approach to life including every aspect."

Each person needs to find their own way. The Buddha said “Be a lamp unto yourself. Work out your liberation with diligence.”

and

“No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.”

I am open to the possibility that my path is not the same path others should walk. I know people who are in shape and happy and don't eat the way I do or practice yoga as I do or meditate how I do.

I am extremely happy and grateful that I have found this way of eating and that I have a regular yoga and meditation practice. I do know many people who could benefit from both. To those who are interested, I am enthusiastic. But, I'm not evangelical about it.

I don't need or want ONE way. Each of us needs to figure out the way that works for each of us.

IMO.

Lee

[www.dhamma.org]

It's true that we're making our own path.

The law of attraction brought me the raw food diet and the raw food diet is opening the doors for yoga and meditation in me already.

I'm glad I'm alive in such an exiting life!

I just can't get over the feeling of, how more and more every day, I feel ALIVE. Compliments of raw food, yoga, and myself. =)