Wednesday, November 5, 1997
Yoga: More than a hippie relic
Yoga just may be the perfect exercise for stress relief, say
UCLA practitioners.
By Meghan Ward
Daily Bruin Contributor
If you are one of those people who still think that yoga is
sitting with your eyes closed and your legs crossed chanting, "om"
or wrapping your legs around your neck, think again.
Picture this scene: faint smells of perspiration and incense
waft across hardwood floors in a crowded, heated room. Men in
shorts and women in leotards spread their rubber "sticky" mats in
rows. The room is silent save for a few soft groans released by
moving bones and stretching muscles as bodies warm up for the
fitness rage of the ’90s.
Yoga is neither a fad nor a New-Age religion. It is a philosophy
of life based on the age-old belief that the holistic approach of
incorporating mental, spiritual and physical fitness is paramount
to living up to one’s full potential.
A wide variety of yoga styles enables everyone, from senior
citizens and pregnant women to the fittest of athletes, to find a
class suited to their needs.
The word yoga is Sanskrit for "union" because the goal is for
the yogi to connect with the "Supreme Universal Spirit," or God. As
quoted from the "Bhagavad Gita," "When the restlessness of the
mind, intellect and self is stilled through the practice of Yoga,
the yogi by the grace of the Spirit within himself finds
fulfillment."
Yoga was first systematized by Patanjali in his classical work
the "Yoga Sutras" which consists of 185 aphorisms. Until it was
published in about 200 B.C., yoga was taught by oral tradition.
In the "Yoga Karunta," Patanjali delineates the practice of yoga
in the form of eight progressive stages. The first two stages are
yama, universal moral commandments, and niyama, the discipline of
self-purification. Stages three to eight follow with asanas (or
yogic postures), pranayama (the practice of controlled breathing),
focus, concentration, meditation and samadhi (bliss).
Most yoga classes follow a similar format, varying in degrees of
duration and intensity. The average class begins with a few
warm-ups, followed by a series of standing poses and sitting poses,
and finishing with a period of relaxation.
Though different styles of yoga will focus more specifically on
one technique or another, one thing that all classes have in common
is the practice of asanas (postures), pranayama (rhythmic control
of breathing) and bandhas (the contraction of certain parts of the
body while holding postures).
Bryan Kest, who teaches Power Yoga in Santa Monica, says that is
important not to be affected by successes or failures. "Students
should not worry about how well they can do a pose in comparison to
the person next to them or compared to how well they did it the day
before," explains Kest.
Halasana is a difficult posture that involves lifting your feet
above the ground. Kest tells his students, "if your feet aren’t
touching the ground, don’t be so happy. If you’re happy about your
successes, you’ll be depressed about your failures."
"You’ll go through life up and down, up and down. ‘I have money,
I’m happy. I don’t have money, I’m sad. I can do that, I’m happy, I
can’t do that, I’m sad,’" said Kest.
Kathy Martelli, who teaches yoga at the Sunset Canyon Recreation
Center, teaches a slow, gentle style of hatha yoga for those who
could use an hour of stress relief after work or after class.
Located in the Northwest corner of campus, the Recreation Center is
especially convenient for students living in UCLA dormitories.
Sarah Palacios and Eve Wight signed up for their first yoga
class this quarter with Martelli. The class meets twice a week and
costs just $20 per quarter. Wight feared the class would be boring.
Her fears were allayed when she discovered that the class was "very
relaxing and very invigorating."
Palacios assures that, "it’s not about stretching until the
point of pain." Martelli’s classes consist of about 50 percent
graduate students and 50 percent faculty, staff and alumni.
Martelli, who works in a medical setting, explains that a lot of
people who do not like going to the doctor look to yoga as a
preventative medicine.
"One of the more subtle benefits derived from practicing yoga is
the internal massage that increases blood flow to certain parts of
the body, increasing vitality," Martelli said. "Yoga is an
excellent complement to sports like running, tennis and
football."
Beverly Otroska, a UCLA alumnus with a master’s degree in dance,
teaches a dynamic style of yoga as well as a relaxation class in
which gentle massage and aromatherapy is applied to students in a
candlelight setting.
For those looking for a more intense workout, Yoga Works in
Santa Monica, owned by Chuck Miller and Maty Ezrati, is the most
frequented yoga center in the country and offers a 20 percent
discount for UCLA students.
According to Miller, the goal of practicing yoga is
self-realization, or samadhi. This state of bliss, or oneness with
the Supreme Being, is not a static state, but one that is achieved
for moments at a time, until the mind is again distracted.
"Many of us have had different samadhis and there are various
levels of samadhi." Miller explains that as a yogi becomes more
advanced and more knowledgeable, outside influences begin to lose
their attractiveness, enabling the yogi to become more
disciplined.
Miller highly recommends yoga for college students.
"If you’re in school, there’s nothing more awesome than
practicing yoga. When I was in school, I rested better, it helped
me destress, it helped me relax taking tests and to focus better,"
Miller said.
For those students who can barely find time to do their laundry,
Miller suggests that a practice of 20 to 30 minutes per day is more
beneficial than doing a three-hour class once a week. The best plan
is to start with warm-ups called suryanamaskars (sun salutations).
If there is time, do the standing poses, then lie down and rest for
a few minutes. The suryanamaskars are good for beginners because
they work on breathing, strength and flexibility.
Miller’s advice to those who have not yet tried yoga is that
"it’s not what you think. It’s much more than that. It’s very
profound. When I first started, I suddenly felt like I had my hands
on the instruction manual for the human body. It’s very
intellectually stimulating as well as physically."
Max Strom, who teaches an immediate class at Yoga Works, agrees
that "emotionally, it is one of the best things to relieve stress.
It gives a sense of true peace and calms the mental storm that
rages within us all."
Strom names "strength, flexibility, endurance, elongation of the
spine, calming of the digestive system and improvement of the
complexion" among the many benefits derived from routine yoga
practice.
On a larger scale, Kest believes that, "right now it’s a really
important time for healing, instead of just exercising. Your
happiness doesn’t have anything to do with how you look, it’s how
you feel. Having pretty butt-cheeks is superficial. What this
planet needs is a little healing balm and a Band-aid."
The most popular schools of yoga are Iyengar, Astanga, Kundalini
and Sivanda.
Iyengar yoga pays detailed attention to the position and
alignment of each body part, especially in the standing poses.
Iyengar authored the extremely popular "Light on Yoga."
Astanga Yoga, which derives its name from the Sanskrit word,
astanga, meaning "eight limbs," has made its way to the forefront
of modern yoga culture due to its intensely dynamic nature and its
popularity amongst celebrities. Astanga classes link each pose with
a flowing movement called a vinyasa. This continuous movement
creates intense heat which detoxifies the body and renders it more
pliable. A variation on traditional Astanga is called Power
Yoga.
Kundalini yoga focuses less on generating heat and more on
breathing techniques, chanting and meditation. Its goal is to
awaken kundalini, the dormant energy at the base of the spine, in
order to increase vitality and attain enlightenment.
Sivananda yoga is a traditional system of hatha yoga which
follows a format similar to Kundalini. Sivananda yoga became
popular with the publication of "The Complete Illustrated Book of
Yoga" in 1960, complete with color photos and explanations on each
pose.
DERRICK KUDO
Although it’s been around since before 200 B.C., yoga is still
popular at the Wooden Center.