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WHAT IS YOGIS?

But the fact that we cannot hope to emulate the Hindu poses is of little import. The salient point here is that even a few of the simplest asana, practiced daily together with a few madras or contemplative poses, suffice to produce for us truly sensational results. You will readily understand the reason for this once you know the underlying principles for their practice.

In Part II we shall discuss the exercises in detail, illustrating with charts and photographs exactly how to do them correctly. But first a word about the difference between our own concept of exercise and that of the Yogis. To us exercise means exertion—the idea is to "work up a good sweat." Western athletic games aren't play, they are competition. And whether the competition is with others or with ourselves— how fast can I go, how far can I swim, how high can I climb this time?—inevitably the result is fatigue and strain along with the pleasure. In short, we make exercise hard work.

The Yogis have a concept almost diametrically opposed to ours. You will notice many of the asanas are named for animals: the lion, the fish, the tortoise, the peacock. This is because in devising them the Yogis based themselves on close observation of animal life. They borrowed from the animal world the secrets of alternate relaxing and tensing, something all living creatures save man seem to know how to do instinctively.

Watch a kitten at play: It wakes from a cat-nap, stretches, arches its back, yawns prodigiously, flicks its tail and instantly is chasing it. Whether or not it succeeds doesn't seem to matter. Next it will leap after a fly, change its mind, flop over and with the greatest nonchalance start washing a seemingly inaccessible spot in the middle of its back. Soon it is once more curled up in a ball or stretched out leggy and limp, one open eye proclaiming that it is not asleep—just relaxing.

The underlying emphasis in all asana and madras, then, is on relaxation—one might even say repose. And while at first glance it might seem that standing on one's head or sitting in the Lotus pose is anything but restful, this is only true of the initial stages of learning. Bear in mind that the body is always first slowly prepared for each pose and that the limbering-up process, which each student pursues at his own pace, is geared in such a way as not to overtax his capacities. By the time he is ready to practice an asana, certainly by the time he has mastered it, it really is relaxing as well as beneficial. Then the profound balance achieved by the body makes it possible for the mind to soar.

Related terms include yoga health club and yoga for kids.