The chapter on yogic hygene was one of the most interesting and surprising things I have read in a long time. The chapter basically discussed all the different ways people who practice yoga cleanse their body. This involved many very disgusting techniques. They would be very disgusting to write about, but I will give you an example of one of the less disgusting ones. People who are advanced at yoga used to(and I suppose still do?) be able to control their body inside and out so well that they could force their large intestine to come outside their body at which time they would hold it in their arms and clean it. Yes, this is one of the less digusting techniques.
Some of the other techniques are still used today. One specific one is what people think of when they use a Neti Pot to clean out their sinuses. Although some of these techniques were shocking, the bigger picture, and what I got out of the chapter, was that people who practice yoga religiously can control every aspect of their body. They are very focused and can single out nearly whatever muscle they wish to.
I have a Thursday night class which is over two hours long and I spent the whole time reading about yoga and a lot of the time was spent reading about this yogic hygene chapter. This is just the tip of the iceberg, however, and there is much more to read and learn about when it comes to yoga.
Oh my gosh! Never heard of anything quite like this although I've had yogi friends who've participated in ritual yoga class cleanses that involve drinking huge amounts of water and group vomitting - so curious about the other disgusting things, I mean seriously?? For the record we won't attempt any of this in our class :)
ReplyDeleteYes - lots and lots and lots can go into the practice of yoga - we are really just scratching the surface in BCIP - but I think one good thing to consider is this whole notion of the Mind/Body connection and how one influences the other. Yoga encourages a wholistic approach to wellness that is so necessary - particularly with the state of healthcare in this country.
Anyone want to open on that can of worms?? Would love to hear your thoughts...
Unfortunately I have had the pleasure of reading that chapter, thanks Kevin, and would have to agree how disgusting it is.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, it's interesting to me how American culture has selected only a minority of practices-such as the sinuses cleaning- that make up the whole of yoga. Does it make it less of an experience? Or does it manifest into a whole different form of yoga, "American Yoga" if you will... just a thought on globalization and how Americans are so good at making something their own.
On another note, I would be really interested in seeing who/where all of the extreme practices are still used. Any idea?
Yes - would also like to hear more about this (if only because I'm so curious as to what these disgusting practices actually are...) And I think you are really on to something interesting here with the Americanization of yoga - someone included a magazine article with their class journal about how many classes in the states have become competitive in nature with participants trying to out-do each other in the extremity or length of held poses - a practice which obviously can lead to injury and is contrary to some of the fundamental teachings of yoga - including acceptance, non-violence, and non-attachment.
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