What got me eventually into raw food was my muscles and posture...

Even though people doubt what I have said here many times...I promise people I have tried every type of stretching regime and hatha style yoga yet I've never seen any real gains in flexibility. I've tried these over a long period of time...

I meditate a lot and I do so cross legged and my legs still ache after about 20 minutes of cross legs just like they did 5 years ago...Nothing has really changed...

I kind of got cynical of stretching and started to look at diet...

Has anyone had any real changes in their flexibility through stretching? Because I sure haven't.

Bryan knows a lot about flexibility, hopefully he will chime in.

Have you tried Bikram yoga, a.k.a., hot yoga? I've been practicing for over a decade, starting with basic Hatha and then moving through the various methods before settling on Ashtanga mostly (which I LOVE). Began Bikram about five years ago and, comparatively speaking, it's had the most effect on my flexibility. Really cleans out your toxins too from all the sweating, which is great for your skin, among other things.

~lanie

I used to do yoga every day for several years before I was raw, and just like running (which I also used to force myself to do), it was a NIGHTMARE. Stiff, sore, aches, uncomfortable breath, just a bad time.

I went raw after being bed-ridden, so I'm still experimenting with what level of physical activity I want to work back into my life. However, I did for a month or two, go on a yoga SPREE, and the ease and the grace with which I could touch my toes nearly brought a tear to my eye. The only thing that had changed was my diet, and the increased flexibility was dramatic.

Then I just stopped because I was doing it indoors, alone, in a small room everyday... Boring...!

I've recently just started running again (about two weeks now). Side stitches regularly plagued me, I would get sore, and now my body just feels like it could go forever. =)

Raw definitely helped my body's physical ability to perform! (I can still be outstretched by many people... but at least I can stretch, and stretch comfortably.)

Hot yoga is worth a shot, too.

phantom Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I used to do yoga every day for several years
> before I was raw, and just like running (which I
> also used to force myself to do), it was a
> NIGHTMARE. Stiff, sore, aches, uncomfortable
> breath, just a bad time.
>
> I went raw after being bed-ridden, so I'm still
> experimenting with what level of physical activity
> I want to work back into my life. However, I did
> for a month or two, go on a yoga SPREE, and the
> ease and the grace with which I could touch my
> toes nearly brought a tear to my eye. The only
> thing that had changed was my diet, and the
> increased flexibility was dramatic.
>
> Then I just stopped because I was doing it
> indoors, alone, in a small room everyday...
> Boring...!
>
> I've recently just started running again (about
> two weeks now). Side stitches regularly plagued
> me, I would get sore, and now my body just feels
> like it could go forever. =)
>
> Raw definitely helped my body's physical ability
> to perform! (I can still be outstretched by many
> people... but at least I can stretch, and stretch
> comfortably.)
>
> Hot yoga is worth a shot, too.


Thanks for the inspiration...I'll have a look at 'hot yoga' too...

Komba, I've done hatha yoga for more than 20 years, and it definitely helps me.

I'm self taught from "Light on Yoga", by Iyengar. The front of the book has pictures and detailed explanations of each pose - including how to get into the pose, how long to hold each pose, and how to breathe. The back of the book refers you to the appropriate poses for each of the several lessons for beginners, intermediates, and advanced students. A chapter on yoga philosophy and another on pranayama is also included.

I started at age 36. At first, I was very stiff and couldn't successfully do any of the poses. But Iyengar is such a great teacher, really a Master to be able to convey the lessons so well in the book. It didn't take too long before I started noticing improvement.

Yoga has made me VERY flexible, it has VASTLY improved my posture, speeds my metabolism, keeps me regular, and awakens my morning mind.

I don't normally eat cooked food, but when I've done that, yoga was MUCH harder the next day, and sometimes for a few days afterward.

I also notice that after a fast, I'm more flexible. Definitely diet affects flexibility, but definitely so does yoga. Literally, I can easily do lotus position while standing on my head!

Raw food helps a person do yoga, but also, yoga helps a person do raw food by helping to develop the discipline required for a raw food diet.

Hope you don't give up on it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/22/2008 12:56PM by suncloud.

sitting cross-legged asks for flexibility in strong muscles that take a long time to stretch. the back thighs, back of the pelvis, inner thighs and hip rotators


you may already know these tips...

when sitting cross-legged:

- if knees are not level with or below the hips sit on the edge of a cushion or rolled blanket

- rolled blankets under the knees relax the inner groins so when you take that support away, the knees drop further

- pigeon pose and baddha konasana (bound angle pose) are excellent hip openers

- anatomical structure may inhibit this kind of movement. in such case, vajrasana (sitting on heels), or virasasna (sitting between the heels) may work better


however, that you have the desire and discipline to meditate is actually the goal of hatha yoga, so imo, you are already there

try bikram yoga

Before I started yoga, my body was very contracted. I could not sit cross legged for any amount of time in the simplest of yoga poses. It took me 2 years of yoga to get into full lotus, and after doing yoga for over 8 years, I can sit comfortably in it for 20 minutes if I start cold, but if I do a yoga practice first where I open up my hips, I can sit in lotus for much longer.

Stretching won't get your hips open. What opens your hips is consciousness and letting go. When I first started yoga, I couldn't feel my lower back or move the vertebra in the lower back. I was totally unconscious there, that is I had no feeling there and no ability to move muscles back there.

As I opened up my hips and did my yoga practice, muscles began to let go, and I acquire more feeling in my lower back and hips, to the point that I was able to let go of some of the contractions there and move muscles there.

What helped me in my process was to remove all chair out of my living space. I sit on the floor when I use my computer and when I eat. At home, I only sit on the floor.

What has been shared with me is that from sitting in chair all of our lives, and having somewhat sedentary lives, our hips have become contracted and do not move in all possible dimensions. It took me a long time to release the contractions and to train my hips to move in various directions. Go out and watch how professional dancers move their hips and their lower backs or how they roll their spines like a snake, and try that. What you might find out is that you can't even begin to get your body to move like that. The nerve pathways are relatively dead because of non-use, and it requires you making the effort to use those nerve pathways to get some movement.

At the same time, there are the contractions that need to be released. This requires more body consciousness, and this also takes practice.

As you play with this, you can do this without putting yourself in pain. If you are trying to move your hips and they are locked down, going past the comfortable movement will cause further contractions, and forcing a contracted muscle to move will result in injury.

Rather than looking to stretch a tight muscle, see if you can soften them and let go. This make take some time, perhaps years like it took me.

I have a book called The Genius of Stretching, I cannot remember the author's name. It explains how to improve flexibility by using tension. Tense the muscle, then while tensing, stretch. I use the concept when I hurt something at work, and it really helps me to heal almost instantly. You could use this concept while doing yoga, and see if it helps. I know that I used to do a lot of yoga and found it relaxed me but it also sometimes hurt, like I overstretched something. And certain places which had been injured would not relax. Using the Genius of Stretching method, I could do things I haven't been able to do in years, like the splits. Although at this time I haven't been doing yoga on a regular basis, I've done a few poises now and then and found the method to make it easier. The Genius of Stretching is really an inspiring book. I recommend it to anyone interested in alternative healing.
Bonni

can't say enough about yoga: It has made me more flexible physically and mentally and emotionally! Just start slowly - enjoy it, don't force it. It took me a year of gentle practice to un-knot myself after years of distance running
to the point where I could go deeper into the practice.

Yes, yoga has been a life changing practice. I see a teacher about once a year who monitors my physiological and emotional responses to certain exercises and gives me different practices to do. I also do Kabat-Zinn's MBSR techniques which include some yoga practice. Through the latter I have particularly learnt to go slow, find the current 'edge', breathe into it etc. and, most importantly, relax in between poses.

Wies, you mention 'unknotting' after long distance running. I am a hobby runner myself and have found tremendous benefit from a teachnique called Chi Running, that enables gentle, injury free and ergonomic running. Maybe its of interest to you, disregard if not.

geeeeez
i'm inspired

) you said it la veronique...inspirational!!!:O)))

humble, sincere gratitude all those that added to this question...as one who has not "touched their toes" in past adulthood, and suffers with scar tissue from various deviance, i am edging closer these days...with the benefit of all of my various lifechoice improvements...but glowing comrades, the five mins just shared with the above threads will help me shift myself to the next level...beginning with turning off the laptop n departing for dreamland now)

SUNYUM YOGA

After a debilitating back injury, at age 41, I began to practice Hatha yoga. For over thirty years daily yoga has proven itself to me, to be an effective and safe method of self-help-health for regaining and maintaining flexibility, strength and vitality !__!

Muscles only contract or relax, they cannot push bones. For example: to curl the arms toward the body, the biceps contract: to extend them, the triceps contract. Ordinary everyday movement does little to stretch tight muscles. While resisting gravity, to keep the body balanced and stabilized, our compensating muscles can spend a lifetime in contraction. Constantly contracted muscles stiffen into bundles of muscle tension and tight knots that perpetuate congestion, fatigue and poor posture. The structural weakness this creates leaves us vulnerable to sickness and serious injury -__-

Yoga postures, asanas, were scientifically designed to thoroughly stretch the tight muscles and strengthen the weaker ones that give us flexibility, strength, endurance and correct postural alignment. Eventually we learn that we have to exercise our gift of free will, because every day it will require some voluntary effort and plenty of self-determination to practice yoga. Being self disciplined actually means to become a devoted disciple of one’s Higher Self. Without self-determination, the physical cravings; lust, anger, greed, attachment, false pride or other perplexing distractions will predominate -__-

We must keep our priorities in their correct order. Just as we plan our meals ahead, we can develop a ‘plan of action’ that will give us enough time for daily yoga. Take the time to warm up thoroughly. Go for a walk, run, dance or do an aerobic work out, for at least 10-20 minutes. Eventually, as the endorphins phase in, the bone joints will move easier, as if they’ve been oiled and the muscles will feel much more like stretching. Begin slowly just a few minutes a day. Increase your practice when you feel ready for more. Be compassionate, take it easy and enjoy self rejuvenating, pain free yoga ~__~

On busy days we can save our hard earned gains by fitting in a few postures here and there. On other days, take plenty of time for patience and endurance. Be sure to do yoga before any strenuous exercise, as it helps prime the cells to receive oxygen and nutrients. And do light yoga after exercise to remove lactic acid accumulation -__-


Sunyum: Conscious, Sensory, Whole-self Awareness. Simultaneously monitoring all five senses (sensation, sight, sound, etc.) keeps our attention in the body - in the now - where past and future, dissolve and disappear. Sunyum awareness helps us maintain correct posture as it aligns and strengthens our most important central core.

Stand up and plant your feet in two parallel lines, anchor the toes, tighten the legs, tuck the tummy and squeeze the butt. Lengthen your spine and pull the back of the neck back. Inhale! lift the sternum, expand the chest and roll the shoulders back down and apart. If a part of your body begins to demand attention, back off until Sunyum sensory, whole-self awareness returns. With whole-self awareness, inhale a long, slow, deep breath; keeping the glottis open, squeeze your muscles and stretch everything everywhere -__-

Beginners and the advanced alike, although at different levels of flexibility, experience the same painful limitations. Remember rule number one: Listen To Your Body !_! If you’re in pain during yoga, you’re pushing too far too soon. Every day we must re-define the edges of our physical limitations. You know, yoga feels good and is a pleasure to do when we stretch into the Sunyum comfort zone today, not agony for tomorrow. Please, do not forget; yoga won’t work as a pain tolerance test or punishment. Define strain not pain. Make getting
more flexible - more fun ^__^

Eventually the ‘priceless’ benefits of doing-daily-yoga became my top priority. I have to either get my yoga in earlier or consider eating less. So, if it has not been done by evening dinner, I can delay my meal and use that time for my more important, home yoga practice ‘__’

Caution: the stomach must be empty or discomfort will occur. Do not eat any food from two or three hours before doing yoga. Eating a raw foods alkaline diet can help one enjoy muscle stretching and make enough progress to inspire daily practice °__°

To avoid self-competitive-injuries, always stretch the most difficult, sensitive or tightest side first. During yoga practice use caution and moderation around injuries. Pain draws the attention from Sunyum (the whole self) to the part in complaint. Be gentle and kind, stay alert and breathe deep. Very carefully stretch everything into Sunyum, that nurturing, loving and peaceful place, where unity of opposites can harmonize ~___~

pAL

The wise -_- meditated Today -__-

The healthy - eat Alkaline live foods -__-

The strong – worked-out 3–5 Days a week -__-

The flexible – practiced Hatha Yoga Yesterday -__-