Yoga

[loreta]

I have the Hittleman's book since many years, it is very interesting. You don't have to be perfect, just try every exercise the best you can and if at the beginning it looks difficult, the more you go the more it is easy. Just listen to your body and be gentle with it. :)

Laura: how interesting to be able to do Yoga on the bed, specially for some people when they are sick, or very fragile. Can we have a reference? And tell us how it works!

 

[Erykah]

It was suggested I start a new topic about my experience with yoga rather than hijack the iodine thread. I bought the Richard Hittleman's Yoga 28 day exercise plan book. I've now done three days of it and all I can really say is; I'm not very good at it!

I've never been very limber. I have no previous experience or training in yoga. It's hard to remember all the details of the exercises and postures. How long was I supposed to hold this position for? What was the position of the hands again? Was my knee supposed to be straight or bent? etc.

But I'll keep plugging along anyway and do the best I can. That's it folks!

Thank you for starting this new topic thread genero81 :)

I wanted to address a few of your questions based on personal experience and working with others new to the practice. We never start out very limber, that is normal. The idea to keep in mind is to work with the body you have and as you stretch and breath you develop flexibility, it's like learning anything new - you have to start small - like riding a bike or learning how to read with practice you gain knowledge and with yoga you slowly develop muscle memory.

When it comes to holding a position or posture, think of it more as how can you make the shape and still breath and be comfortable at the same time, paying attention to body sensations and internal feed back. I suggest that you take at least 5 to 10 breaths in each pose to start, really focusing on making the inhalation and exhalation even and steady, for some counting (like pipe breathing) is helpful.

Depending on what postures/poses you are working on I wouldn't worry too much about hand position unless you are feeling pain in the wrists (down dog or table top posture) in which case you want to try and balance out the weight of the body so you are not putting too much force or pressure on the wrists.

When it come to the knees always start with bent knees, knee injuries are common in people who stretch 'to much to quickly' in yoga classes. The muscles behind the knees take time to loosen and stretch so take it easy.

I always share that slow and steady wins the race Be open to what you are experiencing in the moment and be kind to your self and your body! Yoga is just a practice with no final destination, with practice comes experience and before long you will remember and your body will remember (muscle memory) what comes next.

 

[France]

[quote='Awapuhi]
Thank you for starting this new topic thread genero81 :)


When it come to the knees always start with bent knees, knee injuries are common in people who stretch 'to much to quickly' in yoga classes. The muscles behind the knees take time to loosen and stretch so take it easy.

I always share that slow and steady wins the race Be open to what you are experiencing in the moment and be kind to your self and your body! Yoga is just a practice with no final destination, with practice comes experience and before long you will remember and your body will remember (muscle memory) what comes next.
[/quote]

Thanks to write that. I agree with your post.

I have been practicing movements that resemble yoga for several years in order to reduce the conscious or unconscious tensions that can accumulate in my body. Having had good results on different levels, I decided to go for a training in Holistic Gymnastic.

By mixing the conscious breathing and the mobility of the joints, this helps to free the postural compensations that often bring pain, thus it makes the body aligned and free in its gait. In addition to circulating these energies that were blocked in the muscles, tendons or joints, this work also makes it possible to make conscious the patterns that are retained in these postural compensations.

I have been teaching Holistic Gymnastics for 10 years to small groups because I like to give tools to people for a better autonomy in their daily life. They leave with small movements that helped them and they can do it again at home.

You can see on my website the video: http://eveilholistique.wixsite.com/francelemire/gymnastique-holistique (the website is in french but the video at the bottom of the page is only visual - no word)

In the last 4 years, I have introduced Brain Gym in my classes. This helps to have a better balance, memory, coordination, emotional stability while decreasing stress to facilitate learning.

There are practitioners in Toulouse (Jackie Labadens) in Holistic Gymnastics or you can find other practionners through the website of http://gymnastiqueholistique.fr/ there are good teachers.

For Brain Gym you can visit http://www.braingym.org/ for more details. This is very complementary to Holistic Gymnastics but it does not focus on breathing and relaxation which for me is very important for body repair. By having both formations, I combine the essential of Brain Gym through my courses of Gymnastic Holistic.

I wanted to share my experience and some references in hoping that it can help some people.

 

[Anamarija]

[quote='Awapuhi]
Thank you for starting this new topic thread genero81 :)
When it come to the knees always start with bent knees, knee injuries are common in people who stretch 'to much to quickly' in yoga classes. The muscles behind the knees take time to loosen and stretch so take it easy.

I always share that slow and steady wins the race Be open to what you are experiencing in the moment and be kind to your self and your body! Yoga is just a practice with no final destination, with practice comes experience and before long you will remember and your body will remember (muscle memory) what comes next.

[/quote]

Agree, nice and easy. For me yoga is one of way to meet yourself and not only on just physical level. The reason why I love yoga so much is because connects breathing (life) and physical movement. Helps you to be more conscious and very calm. And that's all I need.

Also, so many different types of yoga is result of commercialization of origins. Yoga is simple and if you try to 'improve' the thing that is already precious you will not get better results.

The best book about yoga for me is Yoga in Daily Life. If you scroll down the link you will found The Chapters. Each level has is own poses/asanas with great explanation when to inhale and when to exhale. Also, explains what are the benefits of each pose.

My yoga routine always start with stretching, from head to the toes. After that one of the most important asana is Anandasana/Lie on the back or abdomen or Deadman pose ;). This is starting position and final. In this pose when you reach moment when is hard to move part of your body that is indicator that you are fully relaxed. Don't stay to long in this position because you have work to do :P.

After that I usually practice poses that I need the most, depends the problem that I'm try to solving. On the end of this book you have also categories of asanas for each problem that you dealing with.

One other thing, if you're doing pose to lean towards you feet the next one should be streaching on opposing side. And always try to listen what your body tells you.

Sometime I practice yoga in the bed also, and most of the yoga poses one could easily do it in the bed:

Marjari - The Cat
Benefits:Relaxes the muscles along the spine making it supple and flexible. Strengthens the digestion, relieves menstrual problems and encourages deep breathing into the abdomen and back.

For people that spend lot of times in the front of computes something like this is very helpfull:

Twisting with Legs Bent
Benefits:
Relaxes the neck and entire back. Promotes flexibility of the spine. Deepens and harmonises the breath.
Caution: This Asana should not be practiced with a slipped disc in the acute stage.

This one is really awesome:
Manduki Asana
Benefits:
Stretches the muscles of the inner hip, which is good preparation for meditation posture. Strengthens the back, especially in the area of the shoulder-blades and helps to counter a rounded back. The exercise promotes flexibility of the spine and hips, and also encourages deep breathing.
Caution:
This exercise should not be practiced when there is pain in the knee or hips.

And the last one that everyone likes:
Shashankasana or The Hare
Benefits:
Improves blood supply to the head and therefore nourishes the eyes and all brain functions. Helps to relieve fatigue and promotes concentration. Anxiety and depression are relieved due to its calming effect. The whole spine and muscles of the back relax in this position and the breath deepens into the back of the lungs. Abdominal breathing gently massages the digestive organs.
Caution:
Avoid this Asana with high blood pressure, glaucoma or dizziness.

After this I feel like I have to do it right now ;).

 

[genero81]

It was suggested I start a new topic about my experience with yoga rather than hijack the iodine thread. I bought the Richard Hittleman's Yoga 28 day exercise plan book. I've now done three days of it and all I can really say is; I'm not very good at it!

I've never been very limber. I have no previous experience or training in yoga. It's hard to remember all the details of the exercises and postures. How long was I supposed to hold this position for? What was the position of the hands again? Was my knee supposed to be straight or bent? etc.

But I'll keep plugging along anyway and do the best I can. That's it folks!

Thank you for starting this new topic thread genero81 :)

I wanted to address a few of your questions based on personal experience and working with others new to the practice. We never start out very limber, that is normal. The idea to keep in mind is to work with the body you have and as you stretch and breath you develop flexibility, it's like learning anything new - you have to start small - like riding a bike or learning how to read with practice you gain knowledge and with yoga you slowly develop muscle memory.

When it comes to holding a position or posture, think of it more as how can you make the shape and still breath and be comfortable at the same time, paying attention to body sensations and internal feed back. I suggest that you take at least 5 to 10 breaths in each pose to start, really focusing on making the inhalation and exhalation even and steady, for some counting (like pipe breathing) is helpful.

Depending on what postures/poses you are working on I wouldn't worry too much about hand position unless you are feeling pain in the wrists (down dog or table top posture) in which case you want to try and balance out the weight of the body so you are not putting too much force or pressure on the wrists.

When it come to the knees always start with bent knees, knee injuries are common in people who stretch 'to much to quickly' in yoga classes. The muscles behind the knees take time to loosen and stretch so take it easy.

I always share that slow and steady wins the race Be open to what you are experiencing in the moment and be kind to your self and your body! Yoga is just a practice with no final destination, with practice comes experience and before long you will remember and your body will remember (muscle memory) what comes next.

Those sound like some great suggestions! Thanks so much. I definitely need to improve my breathing and be more conscious of it. I'm becoming more flexible but I definitely need to go more gently. My lower back hurts after today's practice. It has a tendency to hurt periodically anyway. I'm guessing it's an old injury that got aggravated rather than the yoga practice. But I slept well last night and found myself looking forward to the stretches today. Apparently a little too much enthusiasm.

 

[Thebull]

It was suggested I start a new topic about my experience with yoga rather than hijack the iodine thread. I bought the Richard Hittleman's Yoga 28 day exercise plan book. I've now done three days of it and all I can really say is; I'm not very good at it!

I've never been very limber. I have no previous experience or training in yoga. It's hard to remember all the details of the exercises and postures. How long was I supposed to hold this position for? What was the position of the hands again? Was my knee supposed to be straight or bent? etc.

But I'll keep plugging along anyway and do the best I can. That's it folks!

Thank you for starting this new topic thread genero81 :)

I wanted to address a few of your questions based on personal experience and working with others new to the practice. We never start out very limber, that is normal. The idea to keep in mind is to work with the body you have and as you stretch and breath you develop flexibility, it's like learning anything new - you have to start small - like riding a bike or learning how to read with practice you gain knowledge and with yoga you slowly develop muscle memory.

When it comes to holding a position or posture, think of it more as how can you make the shape and still breath and be comfortable at the same time, paying attention to body sensations and internal feed back. I suggest that you take at least 5 to 10 breaths in each pose to start, really focusing on making the inhalation and exhalation even and steady, for some counting (like pipe breathing) is helpful.

Depending on what postures/poses you are working on I wouldn't worry too much about hand position unless you are feeling pain in the wrists (down dog or table top posture) in which case you want to try and balance out the weight of the body so you are not putting too much force or pressure on the wrists.

When it come to the knees always start with bent knees, knee injuries are common in people who stretch 'to much to quickly' in yoga classes. The muscles behind the knees take time to loosen and stretch so take it easy.

I always share that slow and steady wins the race Be open to what you are experiencing in the moment and be kind to your self and your body! Yoga is just a practice with no final destination, with practice comes experience and before long you will remember and your body will remember (muscle memory) what comes next.

Those sound like some great suggestions! Thanks so much. I definitely need to improve my breathing and be more conscious of it. I'm becoming more flexible but I definitely need to go more gently. My lower back hurts after today's practice. It has a tendency to hurt periodically anyway. I'm guessing it's an old injury that got aggravated rather than the yoga practice. But I slept well last night and found myself looking forward to the stretches today. Apparently a little too much enthusiasm.

I saw my chiropractor today and I advised him I'd been practicing yoga. I have felt tired this week after my sessions, I'm on day 4 now. He stressed to be very careful not to force positions and really be gentle as to not cause injuries. Today when I practiced I tried to be more aware and was comfortable with the fact that certain postures I am very stiff jointed and I get no where near the postures demonstrated in the book. I'm starting to be comfortable with where I am with this process and I realised I enjoy yoga.

 

[Ant22]

Thank you for starting the topic genero81! I was actually wondering whether it would be appropriate to post possible questions I may have in the iodine thread where Gaby recommended the 28 days yoga book, since that would be off topic. You solved the problem nicely

My book arrived today and I'm totally looking forward to starting the plan tomorrow! Although I must say that some of these exercises look like they are designed for someone with slightly less bones in their body and a bit more liberal approach to gravity

I really appreciate reading about the experiences of those who started before me as I've never done yoga before.

(...) I definitely need to improve my breathing and be more conscious of it. I'm becoming more flexible but I definitely need to go more gently. My lower back hurts after today's practice. It has a tendency to hurt periodically anyway. I'm guessing it's an old injury that got aggravated rather than the yoga practice. But I slept well last night and found myself looking forward to the stretches today. Apparently a little too much enthusiasm.

I have an old neck injury from a couple of years back to be careful with too. It didn't even cross my mind to pay attention to my neck as it hasn't been giving me problems for a longer while.

I hope I'm not an entirely lost cause. Actually, I've always been very flexible and the physiotherapist I was seeing after the injury told me she suspected joint hypermobility syndrome. But when I looked at symptoms of it I don't seem to have too many problems associated with it. She did recommend yoga back then but somehow I never took her advice.

(...) After that I usually practice poses that I need the most, depends the problem that I'm try to solving. On the end of this book you have also categories of asanas for each problem that you dealing with.

I just had a look at it and it looks really interesting. I like the fact that specific benefits are indicated there. I'll check it out in more detail when I'm done with the 28 day plan. Thanks for sharing Dakota.

 

[thorbiorn]

One thing I learned at a course in yoga, I once attended, was to let the awareness rest with the feeling of the stretch, since this will help resolve issues in the area where the stretch is felt. Besides, if the awareness is with the stretch, one is less likely to overdo it. An experience I have made is that breathing exercises as done in EE, pranayama or qigong tends to promote flexibility in the body.

In this book, Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha by Swami Satyananda Saraswati (He was a student of Swami Sivananda and founded the Bihar School of Yoga; the book is now in its fourth edition _https://www.amazon.com/Asana-Pranayama-Bandha-Fourth-Revised/dp/8186336141/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8 ) there are some initial exercises called pawanmuktasana that can be very helpful if one has some area of the body that needs attention. In the 1994 version, 2.nd edition, it says

Pawanmuktasana is divided into three distinct groups of asanas: the anti-rheumatic group, the digestive/abdominal group and the shakti bandha or energy block group. All three groups supplement each other, stimulating and encouraging a free flow of energy throughout the body. Practitioners are advised to perfect each group before attempting the major asanas. Daily practice of pawanmuktasana parts 1, 2 and 3 over a period of months brings about a profound relaxation and toning of the entire psycho-physiological structure which is necessary for the practice of advanced techniques. [...]

In order to avoide overdoing it, one can look up contraindications. The following two articles about contraindications overlap but not completely: _http://healthyliving.azcentral.com/contraindicated-yoga-poses-2406.html
_http://my.yoga-vidya.org/forum/topics/contraindications-for The above two I found looking up "yoga poses contraindication" If one wishes to be specific, and since many poses both have a name in Sanskrit and English/local language, one can try both: "shirsasana contraindication" or "head stand contraindication". Here is however one page that has several subpages which give contraindications for particular diseases: _http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/contraindications-modifications

On the other hand, if one is suffering from a condition, one can also try the other way around and look up "yoga poses for <condition>" and "asanas for <condition>" I tried and the suggestions the searchengine brings are different.

 

[luc]

Me too, I've had very good results with Yoga (and also Pilates).

I started with taking a course in Pilates 4-5 years ago, and I especially liked the breathing technique taught there. Now I'm doing mild Yoga exercises using Youtube videos once or twice a week. It really changed a lot for the better, especially since I never was very sporty, had a terrible posture and still am far from being flexible.

As others have mentioned, don't be discouraged if you are still very stiff (especially if you are male :D) - the important thing is to start small, on your level. Even small, awkward-looking exercises can have great effect.

I found it extremely important to get the breathing right: I get in a pose and try to feel where the stretch happens in my body, and then I use both belly breathing (as in pipe breathing) and deep rip cage breathing (Pilates breathing). While breathing in, I sense the mild pain where the stretch is, while breathing out, I let those parts of my body "sink in the mat". I also try to simultanously relax other parts of the body (like one side of the shoulder, one side of the hips etc., depending on the pose) - with great results.

I'd say start small, experiment with different breathing techniques, learn how to sense and work your body parts. And don't expect to become very flexible very fast - that isn't the goal anyway, the way I see it. The goal is to feel better, get a better posture, and be better able to control and handle your body in daily life.

I re-started weight training once a week as well, which is VERY helpful for my whole well-being. Right now, that's my ideal training plan: at least one Yoga/Pilates session a week and at least one basic (body-)weight training session a week (push-ups, pull-ups, ab training/"air bike", Rowing, and squats).

 

[Konstantin]

A few years ago my brother who lives in Melbourne, Australia, felt so down and so depressed. He went to the hospital to ask for a help but after many checkups and examinations, doctors told him that everything is fine with him and that it is probably just all in his head.

But he was in a big depression. So he found some yoga course and somebody told him to try it. He went to that course because he was desperately asking for help.
After one month his depression was much better. He started to exercise few times per week and to have regular yoga classes for a few months.

After few months he was no longer depressed and when we talk about yoga he was very excited to talk about that.

 

[Ant22]

A few years ago my brother who lives in Melbourne, Australia, felt so down and so depressed. He went to the hospital to ask for a help but after many checkups and examinations, doctors told him that everything is fine with him and that it is probably just all in his head.

But he was in a big depression. So he found some yoga course and somebody told him to try it. He went to that course because he was desperately asking for help.
After one month his depression was much better. He started to exercise few times per week and to have regular yoga classes for a few months.

After few months he was no longer depressed and when we talk about yoga he was very excited to talk about that.

Wow, that's a great testimonial! Although I've never actually experienced depression I can definitely relate to the bolded part. Luckily they didn't put your brother on antidepressants and he found a much better cure.

Depression is now apparently the leading cause of disability worldwide and it's close to the top of the list of most common reasons for absence from work where I live. When I think that there are places in the world where taking time off because you're depressed is not even an option it's just heartbreaking.

Over the last couple of years I had two colleagues who suffered from depression and at the time I didn't know what to do. I was just doing their work for them, especially the client facing bits which seemed to be the most challenging parts for them. I guess it wasn't really helping much in the long run since loads of overtime for a couple of months straight was also taking its toll on me.
I did some research into depression at the time and said that physical exercise may be helpful but the responses were usually something in the lines of "I can hardly get out of bed and you want me to run?" I guess not everyone has the strength to try and help themselves like your brother did.

Just out of curiousity, was your brother doing any specific type of yoga Konstantin?

 

[Konstantin]

A few years ago my brother who lives in Melbourne, Australia, felt so down and so depressed. He went to the hospital to ask for a help but after many checkups and examinations, doctors told him that everything is fine with him and that it is probably just all in his head.

But he was in a big depression. So he found some yoga course and somebody told him to try it. He went to that course because he was desperately asking for help.
After one month his depression was much better. He started to exercise few times per week and to have regular yoga classes for a few months.

After few months he was no longer depressed and when we talk about yoga he was very excited to talk about that.

Wow, that's a great testimonial! Although I've never actually experienced depression I can definitely relate to the bolded part. Luckily they didn't put your brother on antidepressants and he found a much better cure.

Depression is now apparently the leading cause of disability worldwide and it's close to the top of the list of most common reasons for absence from work where I live. When I think that there are places in the world where taking time off because you're depressed is not even an option it's just heartbreaking.

Over the last couple of years I had two colleagues who suffered from depression and at the time I didn't know what to do. I was just doing their work for them, especially the client facing bits which seemed to be the most challenging parts for them. I guess it wasn't really helping much in the long run since loads of overtime for a couple of months straight was also taking its toll on me.
I did some research into depression at the time and said that physical exercise may be helpful but the responses were usually something in the lines of "I can hardly get out of bed and you want me to run?" I guess not everyone has the strength to try and help themselves like your brother did.

Just out of curiousity, was your brother doing any specific type of yoga Konstantin?

He was going here _http://www.yoga-path.com.au/

I dont know what type of Yoga were they doing.At the beginning, he said that it was very hard to do the positions because his body was not so flexible and not used to do them At the beginning he has a lot od sore muscles.And he was wondered how can he get such a sore muscles from just beigh static in one position for a few seconds. Later he became more flexible and his body get used to the exercises.

 

[Anamarija]

I dont know what type of Yoga were they doing.At the beginning, he said that it was very hard to do the positions because his body was not so flexible and not used to do them At the beginning he has a lot od sore muscles.And he was wondered how can he get such a sore muscles from just beigh static in one position for a few seconds. Later he became more flexible and his body get used to the exercises.

Ant22, it's Hatha yoga. You can read about it here: _http://www.yoga-path.com.au/yoga-level/beginners (scroll down)

 

[Ant22]

A few years ago my brother who lives in Melbourne, Australia, felt so down and so depressed. He went to the hospital to ask for a help but after many checkups and examinations, doctors told him that everything is fine with him and that it is probably just all in his head.

But he was in a big depression. So he found some yoga course and somebody told him to try it. He went to that course because he was desperately asking for help.
After one month his depression was much better. He started to exercise few times per week and to have regular yoga classes for a few months.

After few months he was no longer depressed and when we talk about yoga he was very excited to talk about that.

Wow, that's a great testimonial! Although I've never actually experienced depression I can definitely relate to the bolded part. Luckily they didn't put your brother on antidepressants and he found a much better cure.

Depression is now apparently the leading cause of disability worldwide and it's close to the top of the list of most common reasons for absence from work where I live. When I think that there are places in the world where taking time off because you're depressed is not even an option it's just heartbreaking.

Over the last couple of years I had two colleagues who suffered from depression and at the time I didn't know what to do. I was just doing their work for them, especially the client facing bits which seemed to be the most challenging parts for them. I guess it wasn't really helping much in the long run since loads of overtime for a couple of months straight was also taking its toll on me.
I did some research into depression at the time and said that physical exercise may be helpful but the responses were usually something in the lines of "I can hardly get out of bed and you want me to run?" I guess not everyone has the strength to try and help themselves like your brother did.

Just out of curiousity, was your brother doing any specific type of yoga Konstantin?

He was going here _http://www.yoga-path.com.au/

I dont know what type of Yoga were they doing.At the beginning, he said that it was very hard to do the positions because his body was not so flexible and not used to do them At the beginning he has a lot od sore muscles.And he was wondered how can he get such a sore muscles from just beigh static in one position for a few seconds. Later he became more flexible and his body get used to the exercises.

I looked at the website and I think they do a pretty standard version of yoga - although I'm nowhere near and expert. I just recognised a couple of the poses. :)

Like I said before, I came across information that physical exercise helps with depression before so it's likely that it doesn't matter much which type of yoga someone's doing.

I dont know what type of Yoga were they doing.At the beginning, he said that it was very hard to do the positions because his body was not so flexible and not used to do them At the beginning he has a lot od sore muscles.And he was wondered how can he get such a sore muscles from just beigh static in one position for a few seconds. Later he became more flexible and his body get used to the exercises.

Ant22, it's Hatha yoga. You can read about it here: _http://www.yoga-path.com.au/yoga-level/beginners (scroll down)

Thank you Dakota :) I will be sticking with my 28 day book myself but I thought I'd ask in case I need this info at some point in the future - for myself or someone else.

 

[thorbiorn]

Yesterday, after rediscovering the warm up exercises for doing yoga poses, Pawanmuktasanas, in the book Asanas Pranayama Mudra Bandha by Swami Satyananda, which I mentioned earlier in https://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,44080.msg713295.html#msg713295 - I did some of them later in the day just before doing Reiki.

What I noticed was that the flow of Reiki afterwards felt stronger than usual. The difference with Reiki practice could be explained by these Pawanmuktasanas exercises being designed to remove blockages.

There are articles about the exercises here http://www.yogamag.net/archives/1997/ajan97/pawanmuk.shtml and http://www.yogabasics.com/connect/pawanmuktasana-heal-the-body-humble-the-ego/ In the last article, someone wrote in the comments that the Pawanmuktasana concept was created by Janardhan Swami of Nagpur before 1960. Janardhan Swami founded the school in 1951, that has the page: _http://jsyog.org/ Be it as it may, the version in the above book is functional.

Apart from the book, one can also find the exercises explained on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzQU4lQUnwA for series one
Comparing the book with the video 1, the video is close, but there are details of the exercises that are ommitted, therefore relying on the video alone, is not all to it. For example the initial toe and footbending is done quicker in the video, and the knee cap contraction, that I felt was very good, was skipped in the video. Below are links for the other two videos from the same studio.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHNo_AQT50o for series two
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28MQuj_TC78 for series three

The school of Janardhan Swami that I mentioned previously, writes on their page that their speciality is teaching and doing asanas in groups http://jsyog.org/news-updates/21st-june-international-yoga-day/ as shwon in this video from around minute 12: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acixLrAmTms They do the poses s l o w l y, also moving in and out of the poses s l o w l y. Honestly, I usually don't have that much time.