This image is from the article I'm linking to, really!
I have had some great experiences with meditation. I have also had some terrible experiences
meditating. But this article suggests
that I should have been having a much better time. Maybe I'm doing it wrong?
In Steve Perry’s Matador series, Emile Antoon Khadaji
kicks off an interstellar rebellion against a corrupt government using nothing
but non-lethal weaponry (primarily a fancy dart gun with poison that paralyzes
victims for six months) and his mighty Zen kung fu skills. He becomes The
Man Who Never Missed, waging a one man war on a single planet, incapacitating
close to 2400 troops without creating one fatal casualty. The plan all
along is for Khadaji to inspire revolutionaries to go out and topple the
“Confed”, and soon enough his name cried out in street battles and uprising
across a dozen star systems.
But all along Khadaji has fought with a worldview that
holds life precious- ahimsa, anyone? He carries the weight of robbing
thousands of people of a half year of their lives as some kind of karmic debt
that he can barely hope to repay. As the blood starts flowing in the
streets during the uprising he uses his resources to ship the kinds
of non-lethal weapons he had used to revolutionaries everywhere. Crates
of dart guns, tranquilizer darts, and gas grenades that cause immediate vomiting
and diarrhea start showing up at every hot spot. Khadaji knows that not
everyone will accept these non-lethal approaches, but he can at least offer
those he inspired the option to overthrow the Confed without tumbling down a
karmic sinkhole. Overthrowing a violent government leaving behind no
bodies, just sleepy soldiers with messy pants? What a great notion.
What you see above, however, is the reality of street
warfare, specifically Aleppo in the middle of the Syrian Civil War. Could
all these noble concepts of non-lethal rebellion possibly work in a real life
situation? Every day in the news lately there has been discussion of new
US Secretary of State John Kerry’s decision to send non-lethal aid, meaning
food and medical supplies, to the Free Syrian Army. His fear, quite
justified, is that any advanced weaponry sent may end up in the hands of
al-Qaida elements of the Syrian revolution. But what if the United States
airdropped literally hundreds of tons of non-lethal weaponry into the Free
Syrian Army zones? Would a mountain of tasers, tranq darts, tear gas,
stingball grenades, (dubiously non-lethal) rubber bullets, bean bag shotgun
shells, flash-bangs, and a hundred thousand flex cuffs make a difference in an
environment like this?
“So one of us found a series of people doing yoga naked.”
Skepticism crossed her face. “Men or women?”
“Both, but mostly women.”
Skepticism continued.
“I see.”
“So the weird thing is that it is actual yoga, and the
models are really fit. It’s not like a
stripper watched a yoga video and did a bunch of awkward postures.” Truth be
told, there are a ton of those on YouTube as well. I continued, “and the cool thing is that
because everyone is naked you can really see the body dynamics at work and the
muscle groups working together.” We
practice a type of yoga that spends a lot of time discussing whole body
integration in postures.
She still wasn’t convinced, but was getting there. Mrs. Yogi is versed in the benefits of
naked yoga from our mutual Friend-Who-Shall-Remain-Nameless, who practices in
the altogether most of the time. When we
took a class together once he looked at me and said “I don’t remember the last
time I did yoga with my pants on, I wonder if I’ll be okay?”
I grabbed my I-Thingy from the side table and said “here,
let me show you.”
“Wow, they are real people,” she said.
“I know!”
“And look” she said, “you can really see how she does
that (only ¼ of the way into Yoga Teacher
Training and don’t know the name of that posture) by the movement in her (really need to work on the anatomy homework
so I can remember these muscle groups).”
From Asana Exposed
“I know, and you can’t see that muscle group move in yoga
pants, but here you can see how the whole posture comes together,” I said.
So there you go- naked yoga. Not for everyone, not for me (at least not
now), but a way to be in the practice and better appreciate the practice of
others.
For a great blog about the topic see Asana Exposed over
on WordPress. There are also a few
studios that specialize in naked yoga- the FAQ for Austin Naked Yoga is
particularly good. Namaste.
In an earlier post I talked about
the mixed messages I felt when I first saw the "Yoga by Equinox" and asked why on Earth
anyone would do yoga in their underwear. Since then I have learned sometimes
yoga in your undies is just the best way to go.
Since starting yoga teacher training
I have built up a short daily practice that follows a very specific routine for
days that I wake up at home (ie, not in a hotel on a business trip). Every day I do a series of Sun Salutations, starting with one on Monday, two on Tuesday, working up to seven on Sunday. Sounds pretty straightforward, but this is what it really looks like:
Wake up around 5:30, hit snooze several times
Get up, walk carefully down the hallway while the cat
shows his love for me by trying to trip / bite me
Put heavy socks, sweatshirt, and old jeans over
whatever I slept in the night before
Go down stairs, turn on computer, start coffee, feed
cat
Drink glass of water and cup of coffee while reading
nerd blogs and Yahoo! News
Roll out yoga mat on living room floor
Take off heavy socks, sweatshirt, and old jeans and
throw them into a chair
Do Sun Salutations in whatever I slept in the night
before, usually my undies
Usually I remember to check to
see if the blinds are closed. Usually.
Sometimes people ask about yoga, particularly certain
postures (downward dog?) and immediately associate what happens on the yoga mat
with the ability to turn oneself into some kind of twisty sex god.Sorry, it’s just not true.I’ve been studying one particular form of
yoga for two years now and so far no one has taken me to a dark temple where I
am taught the wonders of the sexual body by a four armed, blue skinned
goddess.It’s even a tantric form of
yoga, but not an orgy to be found.Mrs.
Yogi has been studying for over a decade, and unless she is hiding something
there does not appear to be a scroll of secret ancient yoga sex moves (although
I am sure I will come up on a lot more internet searches now that I have used
the phrase “secret ancient yoga sex moves”).
Having said that, yoga helps you feel comfortable in your
body, increases flexibility and muscle tone (particularly core strength),
encourages steady breath, allows you to appreciate the beauty in others, and can add to an overall sense of ease and calm for
the day.Read into that what you will.
Post Script: While looking for an image for this post I came across a few funny additions.Maybe there is a reason so many people confuse yoga and sex. It's a shame none of the articles talk about love.
