Light on Yoga
- May 2010
- Hi Steph Simple Living Climb
Hi Steph
I just finished reading your book, it was great, and made me desperately want to leave London (which I will do soon) and live somewhere nice! I just had a question I hoped you might be able to answer.
I know you that are a fan of yoga and I wondered if you knew of any good books that will work well for climbers. I am looking to get into it and I might start at a local BikramYoga class, but it costs 9 pounds per session which is really expensive and as I dont want to do that forever I will need something to keep me going. Do you have any suggestions?
Best wishes
—
Paul
Dear Paul,
Thanks! I recommend that you go to a few yoga classes, and don’t worry that you will go forever. But it is really worth trying out the classes to start to understand what the various yoga poses are, and to get some instruction as you try them out. Also, I notice with myself that I can have a hard time doing yoga for a full hour on my own, and if you are in a class, you do 🙂
While you are trying out some classes, you might want to get “Light on Yoga” by B.K.S Iyengar. This book is excellent for great descriptions and photos of the various asanas. Even better, in my opinion, is the introduction to the book which teaches you about yoga philosophy, and is very impactful.
A lot of times, I just read the introduction when I need some food for thought, and other times, I page through and look for pictures of poses that I might be interested in trying or practicing. I think that if you take some classes, and then study this book, you will be able to start practicing yoga.
For me, the most immediate and noticeable result of doing yoga was the ability to relax into rests on climbs, and also the ability to relax my muscles while actually doing moves on climbs. Your body gets used to releasing tension in uncomfortable positions, and finding a way to rest instead of feeling fatigued. There are a lot of other benefits too, but I was amazed at how much I noticed this one when I first started trying yoga.
Good luck!
Steph
Thanks for the cool post! I haven’t read the book you suggested, Steph, but now I will! I think one of the great things about yoga, that is also one of the great things about climbing, is how it can appeal to all sorts of people: left and right brain folks, engineers and artists alike. I think it’s really cool that the writing on yoga likewise spans the whole range, from the mystical, through the spiritual and practical, all the way to the downright medical. A book that appealed to my geeky side was David Coulter’s “the Anatomy of Hatha Yoga”, which is really 50-50% about anatomy and yoga. My understanding of asanas improved dramatically after reading it, but, importantly, it gave me new insight into climbing movement as well. In a way it completed a circle for me: one half had been feeling or intuiting my way around yoga and climbing movement, and the other half was putting words to it and understanding it. I think one can get pretty far in yoga, climbing and all sorts of other things by going around that circle repeatedly…
I’m going to check that out, thanks for the recommendation!
Thankyou so much Steph! I really know what you mean about breathing and relaxing in awkward poses, thats the single hardest thing I have found in my first few lessons, but what better thing for climbing?!
Best wishes – one day my girlfriend and I will visit Moab, but not until I am a decent crack climber. We don’t get much of that here in England!
Paul
I think Bikram Yoga might work better for the climbers. So it’s the time to turn up the heat. For the uninitiated, Bikram Yoga combines the sweat inducing atmosphere of a sauna with the fat-loss and flexibility benefits of traditional Yoga. Over a 90 minute session participants will bend and perspire while their technique, mettle and stamina are tested to their fullest.
Nadine
http://www.AnamayaResort.com