Spiritual fitness yoga
The incoming yoga sign was not only framed by the habitus of spiritualism but also by the upcoming fitness discourse, which to an increasing degree engulfed Western societies. Some colonial modernist yoga styles (investigated in a separate chapter) fitted better than others into this mixture of New Age spiritualism and Western fitness culture. For instance Sivananda’s yoga-as-a-part-of-a-healthy-Hindu-lifestyle and Krishnamacharya’ s spiritual fitness yoga seem to have fared best. They are both strongly body posture oriented discourses (as the fitness culture requires) and they both claim that yoga postures can deliver individual spiritual bliss’.
It is then up to the local spiritual yoga popularisers to explain to the surprised newcomer to the yoga class, how the slow and conscious stretching of the body accompanied with calm breathing patterns can produce such transcendental spiritual truth’. Hence I have labelled this hybridisation spiritual fitness yoga . This discourse of fitness-cum-spiritualism often leads to curious student enquiries, like: are the most flexible persons in the class those who are closest to spiritual truth or samadhi; is spiritual development congruent to bendable elasticity; are acrobats and circus artists enlightened people without knowing it?
PRESSURE COOKER See 73. This pose uses isometric strength to Pigeon Pose Yoga widen the pelvic bones. In this twist we stabilize the pelvis while moving the spine, Pigeon Pose Yogawhich is a good skill to practice. Purpose: To stretch Pigeon Pose Yoga the iliotibial band and widen the back of the pelvis. Contraindication: Severe hypertension. Prop Pigeon Pose Yoga : A chair. Avoiding pitfalls: If this is painful, stick to Pressure Cooker 73 as an alternative. Sit at the front of a chair and manually widen your buttocks and upper thighs.
